An Andrea Pirlo free kick and stunning team move finished off by Pippo Inzaghi gave Milan a confident 2-1 win over Benfica while Lazio returned from Greece with a point.

Manuel Rui Costa returned to San Siro to face his former club as captain of Benfica and was given a warm welcome by the fans, players and Coach Carlo Ancelotti. Rui Costa helped the Rossoneri to win the trophy in 2003 and they started this new campaign as holders. Ronaldo was out injured, but Pippo Inzaghi was picked as lone forward. 

In the opening minutes Kaka had a shot charged down on the edge of the area, then Inzaghi just failed to redirect a wayward Massimo Ambrosini volley from Massimo Oddo's cross.

The pressure paid off on nine minutes, as Andrea Pirlo curled one of his trademark free kicks from 25 metres into the near top corner. The goalkeeper managed to get a hand to it, but the ball was too perfectly placed for him to keep it out.

As Benfica tried to push forward, Milan struck with a magnificent counter-attacking move. Kaka ran the entire length of the pitch to cross for the unmarked Pirlo, but instead of shooting he chipped the ball over to Inzaghi for a volley into the ground.

Coach Antonio Camacho substituted Rui Costa late on so that he could receive a standing ovation from the entire Stadio Giuseppe Meazza, including the Milan players on the bench. He responded by patting his heart, as his five years here were not forgotten.

The game wasn't over yet, though, as in the final seconds Nuno Gomes was at full stretch to turn a Katsouranis cross past Dida and tear the clean sheet.  

Luciano Zauri's controversial goal secured a precious away point in Athens for Lazio, holding Olympiakos 1-1.

The Biancocelesti opened their Champions League campaign in the silence of Athens, as the game was played behind closed doors due to crowd trouble in last season's match with Shakhtar Donetsk. Lazio were dealing with an injury crisis, but welcomed Stefano Mauri back and gave a rare start to Under-21 international Lorenzo Di Silvestri. Channel4.com

In Italian: Il Milan è uno spettacolo

Prestazione straordinaria dei rossoneri, che annientano il Benfica nel primo tempo con Pirlo e Inzaghi (60 gol in Europa) e subiscono il 2-1 di Nuno Gomes nel recupero. A Kakà manca solo il gol dopo una partita ricca di numeri e sostanza. Rui Costa non delude ma per i portoghesi non c'è storia.

Balbettante in campionato. Senza limiti in Europa. Aria di Champions League. Che equivale a qualcosa di travolgente. Termine azzeccato per raccontare l'esordio in Coppa dei rossoneri. Troppo Milan per il Benfica, battuto 2-1 con una prestazione imperiosa, in cui l'armata di Ancelotti sbaglia gol a raffica. Unico neo, dopo le prodezze di Pirlo e Inzaghi, il gol di Nuno Gomes nel recupero; crepa su una prestazione quasi perfetta.

 Milan: Dida; Oddo (Bonera 81), Nesta, Kaladze, Jankulovski; Gattuso, Pirlo, Ambrosini; Kakà, Seedorf (Emerson 75); Inzaghi (Gilardino 84)
Benfica: Quim; Luis Filipe, Edcarlos, Katsouranis, Leo; Rui Costa (Nuno Assis 87), Maxim Pereira, Cristian Rodriguez, Di Maria; Miguel Vitor (Binya 73), Cardozo (Nuno Gomes 63) 

Lazio, pari d'oro ad Atene

I biancocelesti pareggiano 1-1 in casa dell'Olympiacos nella gara d'esordio del tabellone principale di Champions. Greci avanti con l'ex Napoli Galletti, poi pari di Zauri. Nel finale Pandev e Rocchi vicini alla rete della vittoria.

La Lazio continua l'abbonamento al pareggio. Dopo i tre di campionato in altrettante giornate, arriva quello in Champions. Positivo. Perchè ottenuto fuori casa, e in rimonta, ad Atene con l'Olympiacos, e perchè nel girone C il Real Madrid, grande favorito, ha battuto i tedeschi del Werder Brema. E così i biancocelesti si propongono subito avanti di un'incollatura sulle rivali nella lotta per il presumibile secondo posto.