Chelsea’s annual pursuit of the continent’s biggest club prize that has so far eluded them began in encouraging fashion for the latest coach tasked with the mission as Andre Villas-Boas’s team beat Bayer Leverkusen 2-0 in Group E.
The other Anglo-German tussle amongst the eight matches in Groups E-H ended in a 1-1 draw between Bundesliga champions Borussia Dortmund and Arsenal in northern Germany.
While Chelsea and Arsenal still seek a first Champions League crown, former European champions Porto and Olympique Marseille began with victories.
Porto beat Shakhtar Donetsk 2-1 although they were helped by their Ukrainian opponents having two players sent off. Marseille edged out Olympiakos Piraeus 1-0 in Greece.
Newcomers Viktoria Plzen got their first point on the board with a 1-1 draw at home to BATE Borisov of Belarus although with Barcelona and Milan waiting in Group H life is about to get much tougher for the Czechs.
The standout fixture of the night in the Nou Camp took less than 30 seconds to explode into life when Milan’s Alexandre Pato surged through a flat-footed Barca backline to score the fifth fastest goal in the competition, timed at 24 seconds.
It took Barcelona a while to clear their heads but the Catalans were level before halftime when Lionel Messi, top scorer in the competition for the past three years, turned provider with a perfect cut back for Pedro to tap in.
David Villa’s sublime curling free kick after 50 minutes put Barca in front and with their former striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic missing through injury, Milan rarely threatened to get back on level terms.
However, the Serie A champions struck again at the death when Thiago Silva rose above the home defense to head home from a corner in the second minute of stoppage time.
Chelsea welcomed back Michael Ballack to Stamford Bridge but it was to be no happy return for the German midfielder as goals by Brazil defender David Luiz and Spain forward Juan Mata gave Villas-Boas the perfect start to the campaign.
London rivals Arsenal were heading for a notable triumph at Borussia Dortmund thanks to Robin van Persie’s clinical finish just before halftime but a stunning 88th minute volley by Ivan Perisic denied the Gunners whose manager Arsene Wenger had to watch the match from the stands because of a touchline ban.
Cypriots Apoel Nicosia, making their second appearance in the competition, were up against Russian opposition for the first time and marked the occasion with a 2-1 defeat of visitors Zenit St. Petersburg.
Valencia, who are favorites with Chelsea to progress from Group E, drew 0-0 at Belgium side Genk.
