<p>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 in the hot seat as Andre Villas-Boas' team beat Bayer Leverkusen 2-0 in Group E.<br /><br />The other Anglo-German tussle among the eight matches in Groups E-H ended in a 1-1 draw between Bundesliga champions Borussia Dortmund and Arsenal in northern Germany.<br /><br />While Chelsea and Arsenal still seek a first Champions League crown, former European champions Porto and Olympique Marseille began with victories.<br /><br />Porto beat Shakhtar Donetsk 2-1 in Group G although they were helped by their Ukrainian opponents having two players sent off -- Yaroslav Rakitskiy for a straight red card in the 40th minute for a poor tackle and Dmytro Chygrynskiy for a second booking late on.<br /><br />In Group F, French side 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 stand-out fixture of the night in the Nou Camp exploded 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.<br /><br />It took Barcelona a while to clear their heads but the Catalans went level before half time 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 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 defence to head home from a corner in the second minute of stoppage time.<br /><br />A frustrating night for Barca was summed up by a leg muscle injury sustained by midfielder Andres Iniesta that will keep him out for four weeks. Iniesta was replaced before half time by new signing Cesc Fabregas.<br /><br />Chelsea welcomed back Michael Ballack to Stamford Bridge but it was not to be a 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.<br /><br />Both goals were set up by Spain striker Fernando Torres, recalled to the side after being left out of Chelsea's Premier League victory at the weekend because of poor form.<br /><br />Arsenal looked on course for a notable win at Borussia Dortmund, thanks to Robin van Persie's clinical finish just before half time, 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.</p>
<p>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 in the hot seat as Andre Villas-Boas' team beat Bayer Leverkusen 2-0 in Group E.<br /><br />The other Anglo-German tussle among the eight matches in Groups E-H ended in a 1-1 draw between Bundesliga champions Borussia Dortmund and Arsenal in northern Germany.<br /><br />While Chelsea and Arsenal still seek a first Champions League crown, former European champions Porto and Olympique Marseille began with victories.<br /><br />Porto beat Shakhtar Donetsk 2-1 in Group G although they were helped by their Ukrainian opponents having two players sent off -- Yaroslav Rakitskiy for a straight red card in the 40th minute for a poor tackle and Dmytro Chygrynskiy for a second booking late on.<br /><br />In Group F, French side 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 stand-out fixture of the night in the Nou Camp exploded 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.<br /><br />It took Barcelona a while to clear their heads but the Catalans went level before half time 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 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 defence to head home from a corner in the second minute of stoppage time.<br /><br />A frustrating night for Barca was summed up by a leg muscle injury sustained by midfielder Andres Iniesta that will keep him out for four weeks. Iniesta was replaced before half time by new signing Cesc Fabregas.<br /><br />Chelsea welcomed back Michael Ballack to Stamford Bridge but it was not to be a 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.<br /><br />Both goals were set up by Spain striker Fernando Torres, recalled to the side after being left out of Chelsea's Premier League victory at the weekend because of poor form.<br /><br />Arsenal looked on course for a notable win at Borussia Dortmund, thanks to Robin van Persie's clinical finish just before half time, 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.</p>
