Guernsey Press

Lionel Messi reaches European goals century as Barcelona see off Olympiacos

Messi helped 10-man Barcelona to victory.

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Lionel Messi scored his 100th goal in Europe as 10-man Barcelona maintained a winning start to their Champions League campaign with a 3-1 victory over Olympiacos.

Leading through Dimitris Nikolaou’s 18th-minute own goal, Barcelona suffered a setback when defender Gerard Pique, who had earlier been booked for pulling back Vadis Odjidja-Ofoe, received a second yellow card. That was shown to him for handling as he attempted to turn Gerard Deulofeu’s cross home.

However, Messi’s fine 61st-minute free-kick and a third goal from Lucas Digne eased the home side well clear. Nikolaou’s late header provided little consolation as victory left the Catalan side clear at the top of Group D with three wins from three.

A late winner from Mario Mandzukic kept Juventus hot on Barcelona’s heels as they came from behind to see off Sporting Lisbon 2-1.

Sporting went ahead through Alex Sandro’s 12th-minute own goal, but Miralem Pjanic equalised in the first half to set the stage for Mandzukic to win it six minutes from time.

There was drama too in Group C, where Chelsea needed an Eden Hazard headed equaliser to claim a 3-3 draw with Roma at Stamford Bridge.

Antonio Conte’s men raced into a 2-0 lead with 37 minutes gone, with David Luiz’s early effort and Hazard’s first goal of the season seemingly putting them in the driving seat.

However, Aleksandar Kolarov pulled one back before the break and Edin Dzeko struck twice inside six second-half minutes to leave the Blues needing Hazard’s 75th-minute contribution.

Atletico Madrid, however, are in danger of being cut adrift after a 0-0 draw at 10-man Qarabag left them with only two points from their first three fixtures.

Ibrahim Sehic denies Antoine Griezmann
Ibrahim Sehic denies Antoine Griezmann (Aziz Karimov/AP)

Qarabag, who had striker Dino Ndlovu sent off with 15 minutes remaining, managed to hold out to collect a first ever Champions League point.

Kylian Mbappe struck early as Paris St Germain maintained their 100 per cent record in Group B with a resounding 4-0 victory at Anderlecht.

Mbappe needed just three minutes to get his name on the scoresheet and Edinson Cavani added a second before the break.

Neymar’s free-kick killed off any hopes of a fightback with 24 minutes still to play and substitute Angel Di Maria chipped a fourth at the death to leave the Belgians still without a point or a goal.

Two goals inside the opening 29 minutes ensured Bayern Munich collected a second victory of the campaign as Celtic succumbed in Germany.

Thomas Muller and Joshua Kimmich put the home side in complete control and Mats Hummels 51st-minute header allowed Bayern to cruise to the finishing line as 3-0 winners.

Mats Hummels made it 3-0
Mats Hummels made it 3-0 (Steven Paston/Empics)

Eighteen-year-old Mile Svilar suffered a nightmare evening as the Benfica youngster became the youngster goalkeeper to start in the competition. The teenager could only carry Manchester United striker Marcus Rashford’s speculative 64th-minute free-kick into his own net to hand the visitors a 1-0 win.

Goals from Taulant Xhaka and Dimitri Oberlin secured an impressive 2-0 victory for United’s Group A rivals Basel at CSKA Moscow.

Xhaka’s 29th-minute strike set them on their way and although both Aleksandr Golovin and Mario Fernandes came close to snatching a point for the Russian side after the break, substitute Oberlin’s late second finally killed them off.

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