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On Tuesday, the UEFA Champions League 2011-2012 season started in Europe. The clubs from groups E, F, G, and H were the first to enter the battles.
Defending champions "Barcelona" dropped two points from their hands, playing a 2-2 draw at home with "Milan". The Italian champions saved themselves during added time when defender Thiago Silva sent the ball into the net.
The visitors took the lead right at the beginning of the match when Brazilian Alexandre Pato took advantage of a gap in the defense, broke through from midfield towards the goal, and calmly beat the goalkeeper.
However, after that, "Barcelona" took initiative and restored the balance before half-time: after a great pass from Lionel Messi, Pedro sent the ball into the net from a few meters away.
In the second half, the Catalans gained the advantage: David Villa scored an impressive penalty goal, but in the third minute of added time, Silva's header leveled the score and snatched a point for the Italians.
An impressive goal by Ivan Perisic helped Dortmund's "Borussia" team earn a deserved 1-1 draw in the duel with London's "Arsenal".
Just before half-time, the English took the lead when Robin van Persie sent the ball into the net after a sharp pass from Theo Walcott.
However, after coming on as a substitute, Perisic equalized the score in the 88th minute with an impressive shot. Additionally, "Borussia" could have snatched the victory, but goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny spectacularly saved Lewandowski's shot during added time.
Results:
Group E:
London's "Chelsea" 2 - 0 Leverkusen's "Bayer"
67' [1 - 0] D.Luiz
90' [2 - 0] J.Mata
Genk" 0 - 0 "Valencia"
Group F:
Dortmund's "Borussia" 1 - 1 London's "Arsenal"
42' [0 - 1] R.van Persie
88' [1 - 1] I.Perisic
Piraeus' "Olympiakos" 0 - 1 "Marseille"
51' [0 - 1] L.Gonzalez
90' R.Fanni ("Marseille") sent off
Group G:
Nicosia's APOEL 2 - 1 St. Petersburg's "Zenit"
63' [0 - 1] K.Zyrianov
73' [1 - 1] G.Manduca
75' [2 - 1] A.Almeida
76' B.Alves ("Zenit") sent off
"Porto" 2 - 1 Donetsk's "Shakhtar"
12' [0 - 1] L.Adriano
28' [1 - 1] Hulk
51' [2 - 1] Kleber
40' Y.Rakitskiy ("Shakhtar") sent off
80' D.Chigrinskiy ("Shakhtar") sent off
Group H:
"Barcelona" 2 - 2 "Milan"
1' [0 - 1] A.Pato
36' [1 - 1] Pedro
50' [2 - 1] D.Villa
90' [2 - 2] T.Silva
Plzen's "Viktoria" 1 - 1 BATE Borisov
45' [1 - 0] M.Bakos
69' [1 - 1] R.Bressan
