Lionel Messi magic guides Barcelona to crushing Champions League win over Juventus

  • 13/09/2017

A mesmeric Lionel Messi scored twice and inspired Barcelona to a 3-0 win over Juventus as the Catalans got off to a flying start in Champions League Group D, avenging last season's quarter-final elimination by the Italian champions.

Messi broke the deadlock on the stroke of halftime by playing a slick one-two off Luis Suarez and arrowing the ball beyond Gianluigi Buffon, finally getting the better of the veteran Italian in his fourth game against him.

The Argentine was also the catalyst for the second goal, forcing Juve to scramble the ball off the line and allowing Ivan Rakitic to shoot into an empty net in the 56th minute and add to his strike against Juve in the 2015 Champions League final.

Messi was far from done.

For his second and Barca's third he received a pass from Andres Iniesta and ripped more holes in a depleted Juventus defence before lashing beyond a dejected Buffon, scoring his seventh goal in three games.

Juventus, who were missing five key players including defensive warrior Giorgio Chiellini, looked a shadow of the team that beat Barca 3-0 on aggregate last season and reached the Champions League final.

Fellow Spaniards Atletico Madrid were held to a scoreless draw by Roma in their Group C opener but Chelsea were emphatic.

The English champions put six past Azerbaijan entrant Qarabag in a display that showed the new boys just how far out of their depth they are.

It was 2-0 at halftime but a second half brace to Michy Batshuayi helped to embarrass Qarabag.

The London side weren't the only team to record a rout.

French giants Paris St Germain put five past a poor Celtic side in Glasgow.

A first half incident saw a fan invade the pitch and try to kick PSG striker Kylian Mbappe after the visitors made it 3-0.

Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers then injected Socceroos star Tom Rogic into action in the second half but it meant little as Mikael Lustig made it 4-0 late before a second from Edison Cavani completed the rout.

Bayern Munich also collected a win in Group B, defeating Anderlecht 3-0 with Robert Lewandowski scoring his first goal for the competition from the penalty spot.

Manchester United celebrated their return to the Champions League by recording a 3-0 win over Swiss club Basel.

Marouane Fellaini opened the scoring on 35 minutes before Romelo Lukaku added a goal just after halftime and Marcus Rashford completed the rout in the 84th minute.

CSKA Moscow beat Benfica 2-1 in Group A action and Portuguese club Sporting CP beat Greek champs Olympiacos in Group D.

Reuters