The world's best player lit up the opening night of the Champions League for Barcelona but holder Inter Milan and Manchester United endured less than sparkling starts Tuesday. Lionel Messi, as he did last season, treated Europe's blue riband club competition as his personal playground, scoring twice before missing a penalty as Barcelona recovered from an early shock to thrash Panathinaikos 5-1 at the Nou Camp. The Argentine bagged eight goals in the competition last season and judging by his display against an overwhelmed Greek side he will be aiming for double figures again, as Barca set about trying to reclaim the trophy. Messi would have celebrated a hat trick but for the second-half penalty save, while he also rattled the goal frame before half-time. David Villa, Pedro and Dani Alves also found the net for the Catalans. Diego Milito was not far behind Messi in the goal charts last season but he scored at the wrong end as Inter was given a scare by Dutch debutant Twente Enschede. His own-goal put Inter 2-1 behind before halftime but Samuel Eto'o spared his blushes with an equalizer in a 2-2 draw. The other game in Group A also ended 2-2, Tottenham Hotspur wasting a two-goal lead against Bundesliga side Werder Bremen on its first appearance in the European Cup since 1962. A much-changed Manchester United could find no way past obdurate Scottish visitor Rangers in Group C, drawing 0-0 in a game overshadowed by a serious ankle injury to Antonio Valencia. Turkish side Bursaspor was handed a lesson in soccer by Valencia, losing 4-0 at home in Group C's other game. In Group B, Benfica and Olympique Lyon both started with victories. Benfica beat Israel's Hapoel Tel Aviv 2-0 and Lyon scraped a 1-0 win over Schalke 04, which played the entire second half with 10 men after Benedikt Hoewedes was sent off. Russian champion Rubin Kazan, who stunned Barcelona last season and will face it again later in Group D, was beaten 1-0 by FC Copenhagen. Stoke beats Villa Robert Huth scored with virtually the last kick of the match to earn Stoke City its first Premier League points of the season with a 2-1 win over Aston Villa Monday. Almeria holds Real Sociedad Substitute Jose Leonardo Ulloa scored during injury-time as Almeria rallied to draw 2-2 against Real Sociedad in the Spanish league Monday. Champions get more UEFA has increased cash payments for the clubs involved in the Champions League group-stage. The elite 32 teams are set to get more than ¤750m ($968m) combined in bonuses, prize money and shares of television rights. UEFA says it's giving each team ¤3.9m for taking part - up ¤100,000 on last season's fee. Bonuses for group-match results and reaching the knockout rounds remain the same until the semifinals, when the last four each receive an extra ¤4.2 million, up ¤200,000. The winner again gets a further ¤9 million, while the beaten finalist's reward rises ¤400,000 to ¤5.6m. Teams, which also sell more tickets and merchandising because of the Champions League, will get similar payouts in next season's competition.
