Theo Janssen starred for FC Twente on their Champions League debut as they held holders Inter to a 2-2 draw last night.
Wesley Sneijder gave the visitors the lead on his return to his homeland but Janssen smacked in a stunning free-kick before Diego Milito’s own goal gave the hosts the lead only for Samuel Eto’o to earn the Italians a point.
All four goals came in a pulsating first half before both teams seemed to settle for their first Group A point.
The second half was low-key by comparison.
The first piece of action came halfway through the period after teenage Brazilian Coutinho had replaced the injured Pandev but his shot from 12 yards hit countryman Maicon and flew away to safety.
That was the only chance of note but the home fans were delighted with their point and gave their team a rousing reception on the whistle.
Alex Ferguson made sweeping changes to his Manchester United side and paid the price in a 0-0 draw with Glasgow Rangers at Old Trafford.
To add to the possible cost of the result, United winger Antonio Valencia was stretchered off with what appeared to be a serious ankle injury after twisting the joint as he ran down the touchline early in the second half.
Ferguson created a stir even before kick-off, making 10 changes to the United line-up that drew at Everton on Saturday, although two of those alterations saw the return of Wayne Rooney, controversially rested at the weekend, and injury-prone defender Rio Ferdinand.
Still, the fact that the United manager was clearly choosing a team with one eye upon the weekend Premier League fixture with Liverpool was always likely to be perceived as a calculated gamble and little that occurred over the opening 45 minutes at least, altered that view.
The injury to Valencia brought Ryan Giggs into the fray and, following the lengthy delay, finally seemed to breathe some life into United.
Giggs made a couple of threatening bursts, one of which in the 70th minute resulted in a cross which Rooney headed disappointingly wide.
Lionel Messi-inspired Barcelona recovered from the shock of going a goal down against Panathinaikos to get their campaign off to a convincing start at the Nou Camp.
Panathinaikos took the lead against the run of play through Sidney Govou in the 20th minute but Barca hit back in merciless fashion to take a 3-1 lead by half-time through two goals from the irrepressible Messi and another from David Villa.
Messi, having also hit the crossbar in the first half, spurned the chance to net his hat-trick in the 55th minute when his weak penalty was saved by Alexandros Tzorvas.
However, Messi recovered and set up two more goals for Pep Guardiola’s side late on.
For the fourth, Pedro Rodriguez slotted in after the unlucky Messi had seen his shot strike both posts before falling perfectly to the Spain international.
Then, with the last action of the match, Dani Alves headed in Messi’s magnificent scooped pass over the Greek side’s overwhelmed defence.
Tottenham Hotspur let a two-goal lead slip as hosts Werder Bremen fought back to clinch a 2-2 draw.
Tottenham started strongly and with Wales defender Gareth Bale and Dutch midfielder Rafael van der Vaart causing havoc in the home defence, Spurs, making their tournament debut, raced into a 2-0 lead after just 18 minutes.
An own goal from Bremen defender Petri Pasanen and a Peter Crouch header put Spurs ahead before striker Hugo Almeida pulled one back just prior to the break before Marin hit the equaliser.
Summaries
Group A
Twente 2
Janssen 20; Milito 30 og
Inter 2
Sneijder 14; Eto’o 41
W. Bremen 2
Almeida 43; Marin 48
Tottenham 2
Pasanen 12 og; Crouch 18
Group B
Benfica 2
Luisao 20; Cardozo 68
Hapoel TV 0
Lyon 1
Bastos 21
Schalke 0
Red card: Howedes (S) 38
Group C
Bursaspor 0
Valencia 4
Costa 16; Aduriz 41; Hernandez 68; Soldado 76
Man. United 0
Rangers 0
Group D
Barcelona 5
Messi 22, 45; Villa 33; Pedro 78; Alves 90
Panathinaikos 1
Govou 20
Missed penalty: Messi (B) 55
Copenhagen 1
N’Doye 87
Rubin Kazan 0
Playing today
Group E
B. Munich vs Roma
CFR Cluj vs Basel
Group F
Marseille vs S. Moscow
Zilina vs Chelsea
Group G
Real Madrid vs Ajax
Milan vs Auxerre
Group H
Arsenal vs Braga
S. Donetsk vs Partizan