The 55 teams have been divided into 10 groups of five or six, and the top two teams in each qualify directly.
Samuel Eto'o scored a spectacular goal to set Inter Milan on their way to a 2-0 win over Parma on Sunday while AS Roma came from behind to beat Siena 2-1 in Claudio Ranieri's first match in charge.
Chelsea's World Cup winning coach Luiz Felipe Scolari becomes the latest to try to guide the rich London club to European club football's big prize on Tuesday when the Champions League groups stages kick off.
Chelsea returned to their early-season form to open up a five-point lead in the Premier League, Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi continued to make mincemeat of La Liga defences and Juventus extended their lead in Serie A. In France, Olympique Lyonnais retained top spot with a 2-0 win at RC Lens.
Manchester United had English Premier League leaders Liverpool looking anxiously over their shoulders after a 3-0 drubbing of Chelsea on Sunday put the champions just five points off the pace with two games in hand. Barcelona left it late to win at Osasuna and go 12 points clear in Spain while David Beckham played almost all the match on his debut for AC Milan, a 2-2 draw at AS Roma.
David Beckham was handed a surprise start for AC Milan's Serie A game at AS Roma on Sunday.
On-loan AC Milan midfielder David Beckham will be a substitute for his first Serie A game at AS Roma on Sunday (7:30 p.m. British time), coach Carlo Ancelotti said.
Holders Manchester United will face familiar foes Celtic in this season's Champions League group stage.
Inter, Liverpool sweating on last-16 spots
The door is open for AS Roma captain Francesco Totti to come out of international retirement before the 2010 World Cup, the head of the Italian Football Federation (FIGC) said on Tuesday. The 32-year-old took a break from Italy action after being part of Lippi's 2006 World Cup-winning team and then decided to quit the national team last year, citing fitness problems.
A long-range strike from Alessandro Diamanti helped struggling Bologna beat Genoa 1-0 and move out of the relegation zone, relieving some of the pressure on manager Stefano Pioli.
Manchester City conceded four goals in 36 hapless minutes on Saturday as they slumped to a 4-2 defeat by VfB Stuttgart in a pre-season friendly.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
Striker Julio Cruz headed in 10 minutes from time to spare defender Nicolas Burdisso's blushes and give Inter Milan a 3-3 draw at Anorthosis Famagusta in Champions League Group B on Tuesday. A win would have put the Serie A champions through to the last 16 but instead the group leaders gifted Anorthosis three goals.
Barcelona reached the last 16 of the Champions League despite being held to a 1-1 draw by a determined Basel at the Nou Camp on Tuesday.
Chelsea have another chance to show off their new expansive style on Wednesday when AS Roma visit Stamford Bridge in the Champions League.
The world champions face Belgium in a friendly in Florence on Friday ahead of their Euro 2008 Group C matches against the Netherlands, Romania and France.
Substitute Lionel Messi scored two late goals, including one in stoppage time, to lead 2006 winners Barcelona to a 2-1 victory at Shakhtar Donetsk in the Champions League on Wednesday. Last season's runners-up Chelsea were held to a 0-0 draw at surprise packages CFR Cluj, who were playing in Romania's third division just six years ago.
Inter Milan signed Ricardo Quaresma from Porto on a five-year deal on Monday after the Portugal winger passed a medical, the Serie A champions said on their website (www.inter.it).
Francesco Valiani scored a stunning goal as promoted Bologna beat AC Milan 2-1 at the San Siro on Sunday to spoil Ronaldinho's Serie A debut.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field.
Two goals in three minutes from Napoli's Goran Pandev were not enough to secure victory as his side threw away a two-goal lead to draw 3-3 at home to Udinese in an end-to-end Serie A thriller on Saturday.
Manchester United completed a 3-0 aggregate win over AS Roma while Barcelona beat German side Schalke 04 by a single goal at home to secure a 2-0 aggregate victory in the quarter-final of the Champions League.
Manchester United, Chelsea, Arsenal and Liverpool switch their attention away from European glory and back to the English title race at the weekend.
Goals from Cristiano Ronaldo and Wayne Rooney gave Manchester United a 2-0 win at AS Roma in the first leg of their Champions League quarter-final. In the other match of the night, Barcelona struck early through teenager Bojan Krkic for a 1-0 win over Schalke 04.
Images from the football matches played across Europe on Sunday.
Dani Alves appeared to have won the game for Juventus when he headed them in front in the 83rd minute but Remo Freuler pounced to equalise six minutes later as he punished some sloppy defending.
AS Roma captain Francesco Totti will miss Tuesday's Champions League quarter-final first leg against Manchester United at the Olympic stadium with a thigh injury.
'I haven't always expressed myself well. I said I would like to play with Neymar and Mbappe, but that doesn't mean I want to go to PSG'
Serie A leaders Inter Milan went nine points clear on Saturday after celebrating their centenary with a regulation 2-0 win over second-from-bottom Reggina.
Raul scored his 200th league goal to move Real Madrid eight points clear in the Primera Liga after a 2-1 comeback win over Espanyol on Saturday.
Some of soccer's biggest names are cheering the rescue of 12 Thai boys and their coach from a flooded cave
Giorgio Chiellini's last minute header gave Juventus a 3-2 win at Cagliari in Serie A.
Unstoppable duo Andres Iniesta and Lionel Messi helped Barcelona thrash Sevilla 5-0 to win the King's Cup final for the fourth consecutive season on Saturday as they close in on a likely domestic double.
The Egyptian becomes the fastest player to score 50 goals for Liverpool, achieving the feat in 65 games.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic scored twice as Inter Milan retained their Serie A title with a 2-0 win at Parma.
World No 1 Novak Djokovic maintained his perfect tournament record and advanced to his fifth China Open final with a 6-3, 6-4 victory against Andy Murray on Saturday.
Alessandria became the first third tier club to reach the Italian Cup quarter-finals in more than 30 years as their giant-killing run continued with a 2-1 extra-time victory at Serie A strugglers Genoa on Tuesday.
Cristiano Ronaldo became the first player to score 400 goals in Europe's top five leagues as Juventus dropped points for the first time this season following a 1-1 Serie A draw with Genoa on Saturday. The Portuguese striker's fifth league goal for Juve carried him to the milestone, adding to his 84 strikes for Manchester United in the Premier League and 311 for Real Madrid in La Liga.
Coach Roberto Mancini has insisted that he never doubted his captain Mauro Icardi after the striker scored two goals in Inter Milan's 4-0 victory at Udinese in Serie A.
