European champions AC Milan began the defence of their trophy with a battling 1-0 win over Ajax Amsterdam with the irrepressible Filippo Inzaghi on the scoresheet again.
Inzaghi pounced on a loose ball after 67 minutes to fire home his sixth goal in four matches as Milan went to the top of Champions League Group H following the 1-1 draw between Club Bruges and Celta Vigo in the same section.
But the night ended on a sour note for Milan who had Gennaro Gattuso sent off in stoppage time at the end of the match. Bruges ended their game with nine men after two sendings-off.
The opening night of action in this season's competition proper saw Manchester United and Real Madrid race to high-scoring wins in their groups.
Manchester United beat Panathinaikos 5-0 at Old Trafford in Group E.
Rangers beat VfB Stuttgart 2-1 at Ibrox in the other match in the group with two late goals.
Real Madrid beat Olympique Marseille 4-2 at the Bernabeu Stadium where Ronaldo scored twice in their Group F match.
The other game in the section between Partizan Belgrade and Porto ended in a 1-1 draw.
Big-spending Chelsea had to wait until five minutes from the end for their solitary strike and a 1-0 win at Sparta Prague. Defender William Gallas was the scorer in their Group G match, but Lazio secured an impressive 2-0 away win over Besiktas to take the early lead in the same group.