Barcelona held by Milan

LONDON (AP):

Barcelona conceded a goal after 24 seconds and another in stoppage time as their Champions League title defence opened with a 2-2 draw against AC Milan yesterday, while Arsenal were also left stunned by Borussia Dortmund's late equaliser.

Alexandre Pato opened the scoring for Milan and, after goals from Pedro Rodriguez and David Villa looked to have put Barcelona in control, Thiago Silva's header secured a point in Group H.

Dortmund levelled in the 88th minute, with Ivan Perisic's volley cancelling out Robin van Persie's first-half goal for Arsenal in the 1-1 draw in Group F.

Chelsea manager Andre Villas-Boas oversaw a 2-0 victory over Bayer Leverkusen in Group E in his first Champions League match, while his former club Porto recovered to beat nine-man Shakhtar Donetsk 2-1 in Group G.

While Porto won the Europa League in May, Barcelona lifted the European Cup for the second time in three years.

The Wembley Stadium triumph cemented Barcelona's status as world football's superpower and Pep Guardiola's men are favourites to become European champions for the fifth time in May.

But the script went against them at the Nou Camp yesterday against a Milan side missing Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Robinho to injury.

Just 24 seconds had elapsed when Pato coolly slid the ball under goalkeeper Victor Valdes after dashing through Barcelona's half.

A determined Lionel Messi led the Spanish champions' response as the Argentina forward created Pedro Rodriguez's 36th-minute equaliser, before David Villa curled a long-range free kick into the net five minutes into the second half.

"We could have played better after Barcelona took the lead," AC Milan coach Massimiliano Allegri said. "But I'm happy because the team did not collapse until we found the late equaliser."

That came deep into stoppage time when Thiago leapt high to meet Clarence Seedorf's corner to secure a point for Milan.

"In the Champions League teams can create goals out of nothing against you and you can end up with egg on your face, as was the case tonight," Barcelona winger Daniel Alves told UEFA's website. "We played a great game but we didn't kill it off and we saw the consequences against a great rival."

All four teams in Group H are on one point after BATE Borisov and Viktoria Plzen drew 1-1.