Inter draw, Barcelona rout Panathinaikos

LONDON (AP):

Inter Milan opened the defence of their Champions League title with a 2-2 draw at tournament newcomer FC Twente yesterday, while Barcelona signalled their intent with a 5-1 home thrashing of Panathinaikos.

Inter went ahead in the Netherlands through Wesley Sneijder but needed a 41st-minute goal by striker Samuel Eto'o to earn a point from the Group A opener.

Lionel Messi scored twice and missed a penalty as Barcelona, which lost to Inter in the semi-finals last season, started group play with a convincing victory at the Camp Nou. David Villa, Pedro Rodriguez and Daniel Alves also scored for the Spanish champions.

In Group C, Manchester United were held to a goalless draw at home to Rangers in a match marred by a serious ankle injury to United winger Antonio Valencia, and Valencia thrashed newcomer Bursaspor 4-0 away.

Sneijder, who starred for the Netherlands at the World Cup, tapped in a rebound to open the scoring after Twente goalkeeper Nikolay Mihaylov failed to hold on to Diego Milito's shot.

Theo Janssen equalised for Twente with a curling free kick in the 20th before Milito's own goal put the Dutch side ahead 10 minutes later.

Struggling

Eto'o, who scored the winner against Udinese at the weekend, found the target again with a low 25-yard drive to rescue Inter, who are struggling for form in the early part of the campaign after winning an unprecedented treble - Champions League, Serie A and Italian Cup - last season.

In the other match in the pool, Werder Bremen recovered from going two goals down to draw 2-2 with Tottenham, who were making their debut in the tournament.

A Petri Pasanen own goal and a header by Peter Crouch gave Spurs a great start, but goals by Hugo Almeida and Marko Marin brought Werder level.

Dame N'Doye's late winner handed FC Copenhagen a 1-0 victory against Rubin Kazan in the other Group D match.

In Group B, Brazil international Michel Bastos scored an opportunist 21st-minute lob as last season's semi-finalist Lyon won 1-0 against 10-man Schalke.

Schalke centre half Benedikt Hoewedes was sent off 13 minutes later for a high tackle on Lyon forward Jimmy Briand.

In the other group match, goals from Luisao and Oscar Cardozo gave Benfica a 2-0 win over debutant Hapoel Tel Aviv.