The world's best player Lionel Messi lit up the opening night of the Champions League for Barcelona although holders Inter Milan and Manchester United endured less than sparkling starts on Tuesday.
The Argentine, like last season, treated Europe's blue riband club competition as his personal playground, scoring two classy goals before missing a penalty as Barca recovered from an early shock to thrash visiting Panathinaikos 5-1 in Group D.
Inter took the lead but then had to come from behind to draw 2-2 at Dutch debutants Twente Enschede in Group A with the Italians losing forward Goran Pandev to a knee injury.
A much-changed Manchester United could find no way past obdurate Scottish visitors Rangers in Group C, drawing 0-0 in a game overshadowed by a serious ankle injury to Antonio Valencia.
The impish Messi bagged eight goals in the competition last season and judging by his display at the Nou Camp 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 and he also rattled the goal frame before halftime as he resumed normal service after failing to hit the target at the World Cup finals.
David Villa, Pedro and Dani Alves also found the net for the irresistible Catalans who emphatically made up for their shock defeat by promoted Hercules in La Liga at the weekend.
"He is the best player in the world by some distance from the rest," said Barca coach Pep Guardiola. "It hurts him to miss and he has this amateur spirit of always wanting to play."
Own goal
Inter forward Diego Milito was not far behind fellow Argentine Messi in the Champions League goal charts last season but scored at the wrong end as they began the defense of their crown under new manager Rafael Benitez in jittery fashion.
Milito's own goal briefly left Inter 2-1 behind at Twente after Wesley Sneijder had given the Italians an early lead.
Samuel Eto'o spared his blushes with an equalizer but Inter had to settle for a point after a goalless second half.
"In the first half we deserved nothing,” former Liverpool coach Benitez, who faces a colossal task filling the shoes of Jose Mourinho, told reporters.
“We opened the scoring but after that we faced serious problems.”
The other game in Group A also ended 2-2, Tottenham Hotspur wasting a two-goal lead against Bundesliga side Werder Bremen on their first appearance in the European Cup since 1962.
Manchester United struggled to find inspiration in their goalless draw with Rangers and Valencia's misfortune capped a poor night for manager Alex Ferguson, whose decision to make 10 changes to the side that drew with Everton on Saturday misfired.
Wayne Rooney did return after being left out at the weekend as he deals with marital problems but the England striker, like his team mates, huffed and puffed against the massed ranks of Rangers' eight-man defense without making a serious dent.
Winger Valencia fell to the turf after a seemingly innocuous tackle in the 63rd minute and manager Alex Ferguson told Sky Sports he feared the Ecuadorean had broken his ankle.
Fiery Baprism
Turkish side Bursaspor were given a baptism of fire against Valencia, losing 4-0 at home in Group C's other game.
In Group B, Benfica and Olympique Lyon started with victories, neither of them particularly convincing.
Benfica beat Israel's Hapoel Tel Aviv 2-0 and last year's semifinalists Lyon chiseled out a 1-0 win over Schalke 04, who played the second half with 10 men after central defender Benedikt Hoewedes was harshly sent off before the break.
Russian champions Rubin Kazan, who stunned Barcelona last season and will face them again later in Group D, were beaten 1-0 at Denmark's FC Copenhagen.
Wednesday marks Mourinho's Champions League bow with his new team Real Madrid hosting Martin Jol's Ajax Amsterdam while last season's runners-up Bayern Munich host AS Roma as the opening games in the competition continue with matches in groups E-H.
