Oscar could not have asked for a better debut as a starter for Chelsea, scoring two goals - the second one an absolutely brilliant strike - but Juventus showed why they were unbeaten the entire last season in the Serie A, as the Italians fought back from two goals down to salvage a 2-2 draw in the Champions League.
A Michael Carrick goal was enough to give Manchester United all three points at Old Trafford against Galatasaray, while Barcelona had, who else, but Lionel Messi to thank as the pre-tournament favorites eked out a 3-2 win against Spartak Moscow. Last year's finalists Bayern Munich edged out Valencia 2-1, with Bastian Schweinsteiger scoring for the German side.
At Stamford Bridge, Oscar was given the start ahead of Juan Mata, and the Brazilian repaid Roberto Di Matteo's faith in him in spades. Almost invisible for the first thirty minutes, the 21-year-old, after receiving the ball just outside the box, took his time before taking a shot from 25 yards, which took a wicked deflection off Leonardo Bonucci, to fly past Gianluigi Buffon into the back of the net in the 31st minute.
If that goal had a bit of luck in it, the second, two minutes later, was pure brilliance. A fired-in pass from Ashley Cole, saw the playmaker flick the ball past a crowd of Juve defenders, and take an absolutely unstoppable strike from 25 yards, which smashed into the top corner.
Juventus, refusing to lay down, reduced the deficit in the 38th minute, the excellent Arturo Vidal finding space inside the Chelsea box, and having the fortitude to swivel and strike a low shot past Petr Cech.
Juventus huffed and puffed in the second half, but the goal kept eluding them, and Mata, who came on for Oscar late on, should have put the game to bed for Chelsea. After a neat one-two with Eden Hazard, Mata found himself in space, but struck a left-footed strike into the side netting.
That miss proved to be costly, when Fabio Quagliarella equalized in the 80th minute. Caludio Marchisio's through pass found Quagliarella, free after a bad mistake from John Terry, who tried to step up too late, allowing the Italian striker all the time in the world to squeeze the ball past Cech.
Quagliarella then almost found the winner, when he conjured a left-footed strike from the edge of the penalty area, but saw his shot clip the top of the crossbar with Cech well beaten.
At Old Trafford, Carrick was the unlikely match-winner against an impressive Galatasary side, which will feel unlucky not to have left with at least a point. United scored in the seventh minute through Carrick, after the England international exchanged a couple of passes with Shinji Kagawa, before slotting past goalkeeper Fernando Muslera.
Nani then should have made it 2-0, but the Portuguese missed from the spot, following a soft penalty awarded to the home side, after Rafael went down under the challenge of Burak Yilmaz. United weathered the storm from the Turkish side in the second half, to hold on for the win.
At the Nou Camp, Messi scored the equalizer as well as the the winner to inspire Barca to a 3-2 victory, after Spartak had taken a 2-1 lead, following Cristian Tello's opener for the Catalans.
Results: Group E: Chelsea 2-2 Juventus; Shakhtar Donetsk 2-0 Nordsjaelland. Group F: Bayern Munich 2-1 Valencia; Lille 1-3 BATE Borisov. Group G: Celtic 0-0 Benfica; Barcelona 3-2 Spartak Moscow. Group H: Braga 0-2 CFR Cluj; Manchester United 1-0 Galatasaray.
