London, September 19:

AC Milan opened the defence of its Champions League title with a 2-1 win over Benfica on Tuesday, and Chelsea and 10-man Liverpool had to settle for 1-1 draws.

Andrea Pirlo scored one goal and set up the other for Milan. Nuno Gomes tapped in a consolation goal for Benfica in injury time. The win gives Milan three points in Group D, the same as Shakhtar Donetsk, which beat Celtic 2-0 with goals from Brandao and Cristiano Lucarelli. Chelsea drew 1-1 with Rosenborg, and Liverpool finished 1-1 at FC Porto.

In the other Group C game, Luciano Zauri scored a late in the 77th minute to help Lazio hold Olympiakos to a 1-1 draw. Andriy Shevchenko scored a second-half equaliser to earn the draw for Chelsea in Group B. Miika Koppinen gave the visitors the lead in the 24th minute.

David Villa scored in Valencia’s 1-0 win at Schalke in Group B. Marseille beat Besiktas in another Group A match, with goals from Julien Rodriguez and Djibril Cisse.