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Munich, Germany (SportsNetwork.com) - Jerome Boateng's last-gasp strike proved to be the difference on Wednesday as Bayern Munich opened its Champions League campaign with a hard-fought 1-0 victory over Manchester City at the Allianz Arena.

Coming off a comfortable 2-0 win over Stuttgart in Bundesliga play, the Bavarians were hoping to get their European schedule off to a positive start, but Manchester City proved to be quite the challenge, as Boateng's fantastic strike late on held up to give Bayern the three points.

Both teams looked up for the occasion early on as scoring opportunities were created on both sides of the pitch, but Bayern had the better of the play.

German World Cup veteran Thomas Muller had a golden chance for the hosts just moments into the match, but couldn't get his foot around the ball from close range at the near post.

Muller had another chance as he nodded an excellent header on goal in the 19th minute, but Manchester City goalkeeper Joe Hart came up with a good save.

City created a handful of opportunities but never truly tested Bayern goalkeeper Manuel Neuer and the defining moment came in the final minute of normal time as a loose ball in the area fell kindly to the feet of Boateng, who lashed his strike into the top right corner, leaving Hart with little chance for a save.

The result puts Bayern into a first-place tie in Group E with AS Roma with three points apiece.

Also in Group E on Wednesday, Gervinho scored a first-half double to go with goals from Juan Iturbe and Maicon as Roma rolled to a 5-1 thrashing of CSKA Moscow.

In Group F action, Edinson Cavani gave Paris Saint-Germain an early lead with a 14th-minute tally, but Lasse Schone answered with an equalizer 14 minutes from time as PSG and Ajax played to a 1-1 draw.

Also, Gerard Pique scored in the 28th minute to help Barcelona to a 1-0 win over APOEL at the Camp Nou.

In Group G play, Chelsea's Champions League campaign got off to a bit of a rocky start as the Blues were held to a 1-1 draw with Schalke at Stamford Bridge.

Jose Mourinho's squad got off the mark first as Cesc Fabregas curled home a right-footed effort, but Klaas-Jan Huntelaar cut into the box from the left side of the field and ripped it low past Blues goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois.

Group G's other clash saw Nani and Luka Zahovic trade goals as Maribor and Sporting Lisbon played to a 1-1 stalemate.

In Group H, Yasine Brahimi bagged a hat trick, while Jackson Martinez, Adrian and Vincent Aboubakar all netted goals to send FC Porto to a 6-0 thrashing of BATE Borisov, while Shakhtar Donetsk and Athletic Bilbao played to a scoreless draw.