Images from the UEFA Champions League matches played on Tuesday night.
Sweet 16 for Messi as Barcelona cruise to victory
Lionel Messi became the first player to score in 16 consecutive Champions League seasons as he guided 10-man Barcelona to a 5-1 victory over Hungarian side Ferencvaros in their Group G opener at the Camp Nou on Tuesday.
Messi netted from the penalty spot in the first half for his 116th career goal in the competition, before the lively Ansu Fati added a second.
Philippe Coutinho grabbed another goal early in the second half but Barca defender Gerard Pique was dismissed for impeding Tokmac Nguen, leading to a penalty for the visitors that was converted by Igor Kharatin.
Any thoughts of a dramatic comeback were quashed though as 17-year-old Pedri netted his first Barca goal after arriving from second-tier Las Palmas at the start of the season, and Ousmane Dembele added the fifth late on.
The Catalan side move above Juventus on goal difference at the top of the table after the Italian champions won 2-0 away at Dynamo Kyiv earlier on Tuesday. The pair meet in Turin on October 28.
Barca coach Ronald Koeman left stalwart midfielder Sergio Busquets and striker Antoine Griezmann on the bench, perhaps with one eye on Saturday’s ‘El Clasico’ against bitter rivals Real Madrid.
Ferencvaros are in the group stages for the first time in 25 years and had their moments. Pacey striker Nguen produced a mazy run and fine finish, but his effort was correctly ruled offside, while Brazilian midfielder Isael struck the angle of post and crossbar with a fierce drive.
Messi handed his side the lead after he both won and converted a penalty, bringing up another milestone in his career.
Former Manchester United winger Ryan Giggs is the only other player to net in 16 Champions League seasons, though the run was not consecutive.
Fati then beat the offside trap from Frenkie de Jong’s lobbed pass and steered the ball into the net on the volley, before Coutinho profited from intricate build-up play by Messi and Fati to score.
Ferencvaros, however, created what looked like being a nervous final 20 minutes as Pique could not handle the pace of Nguen and hauled the striker back in the box, seeing red for his indiscretion as Kharatin easily converted the spot-kick.
But late goals from substitutes Pedri and Dembele against the tiring visitors sealed a satisfactory night for Koeman.
Rashford strikes late as United sink PSG again
Manchester United got their Champions League campaign underway in emphatic style when Marcus Rashford’s late goal earned them a 2-1 victory at Paris St Germain on Tuesday, handing the French champions their first group-stage home defeat in 16 years.
Rashford netted three minutes from time, 18 months after scoring the decisive goal in a 3-1 win at PSG that sent United into the quarter-finals after a 2-0 first-leg home defeat.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s United side went ahead in the Group H encounter with a twice-taken Bruno Fernandes first-half penalty before Anthony Martial’s own goal after the break gifted PSG the equaliser, only for Rashford to wrap up the win with a precise low shot.
It was PSG’s first Champions League group-stage defeat at the Parc des Princes in 25 games, having last lost 3-1 to CSKA Moscow in 2004.
Thomas Tuchel’s side looked nothing like the one who reached the final of last season’s competition as they lacked energy throughout in an empty Parc des Princes.
Paul Pogba surprisingly started on the United bench while Marquinhos was not included in PSG’s starting 11, having not recovered in time from a groin injury he sustained on Brazil duty.
He was replaced by Abdou Diallo, who fouled Anthony Martial in the box, handing the visitors a penalty which was converted by Fernandes on his second attempt.
Keylor Navas had saved the first spot kick but it had to be retaken after the keeper was judged to have moved off his goal line.
It was a poor start from PSG, who had two chances through Angel Di Maria and Layvin Kurzawa, but lacked aggression.
Fernandes went close to doubling United’s tally six minutes before the break with a thumping right-footed effort that Navas just tipped around the post.
Kylian Mbappe slalomed through the defence before curling a shot towards the top-right corner, but United keeper David de Gea stretched to tip the ball away three minutes into the second half.
Seven minutes later, Martial headed a Neymar corner into his own net, handing PSG an unexpected equaliser.
The home side, who were also without the injured Mauro Icardi and Marco Verratti, started to find spaces in the defence of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side but they could not capitalise.
The visitors pressed harder in the closing stages and deservedly regained the advantage when Rashford beat Navas with a low, diagonal shot into the bottom corner from just inside the box.
United next host RB Leipzig, who beat Basaksehir 2-0, while PSG will travel to Istanbul to face the Turkish side.
Chelsea frustrated in 0-0 draw with Sevilla
Chelsea were frustrated by a disciplined Sevilla as their opening Group E fixture in the Champions League ended in a cagey 0-0 draw at Stamford Bridge on Tuesday.
Europa League winners Sevilla, who have been a thorn in the side of English clubs in Europe, contained Chelsea’s attacking threats in a game of few clear chances.
Sevilla dominated possession in the first half with Nemanja Gudelj’s header forcing a save from Edouard Mendy.
Chelsea’s most productive spell came after the restart when Kurt Zouma and Ben Chilwell both headed good chances straight at Sevilla keeper Yassine Bounou.
Yet it was a night of defensive superiority as Chelsea manager Frank Lampard experienced his first 0-0 draw since taking over before the start of last season.
Sevilla had lost only four of their previous 17 matches against English sides, one of the last nine, and beat Wolverhampton Wanderers and Manchester United on their way to their fourth Europa League title in seven seasons in August.
Julen Lopetegui’s side showed again that they are a tough nut to crack with a measured away performance, restricting Chelsea to six goal attempts, their lowest total in the Champions League since February 2015 against Paris St Germain.
Chelsea striker Timo Werner, making his first start in the competition for the Londoners, barely had a sight of goal while youngster Kai Havertz was a peripheral figure.
On the plus side Chelsea’s defending was a vast improvement on their 3-3 Premier League draw with Southampton on Saturday with Thiago Silva and Mendy calming influences.
"I think the important thing was a clean sheet," former Leicester City fullback Chilwell told BT Sport. "People were looking at us after conceding three on Saturday but definitely we were solid and they didn’t have that many chances."
Mendy dealt comfortably with Sevilla’s three attempts on target and showed fine reactions to claw away Gudelj’s awkward header in the first half.
After Chelsea’s initial burst at the start of the second half, when Christian Pulisic began to threaten and Werner had one decent effort from long range, Sevilla ended strongly.
The Spanish side came closest when Joan Jordan, who had replaced injured Sergi Gomez in the first half, met a deep corner with a dipping a volley that brushed the roof of the net.
Morata double gives Juve win over Kyiv
Juventus made a winning start in the Champions League as they defeated Dynamo Kyiv 2-0 thanks to a pair of classic poacher’s goals from Alvaro Morata in their Group G opener on Tuesday.
Juve coach Andrea Pirlo enjoyed his first win as a manager in Europe’s elite club competition, which he won twice with AC Milan during his playing days as a midfielder.
With Cristiano Ronaldo ruled out following a positive test for COVID-19, Dejan Kulusevski was twinned with Morata up front and Federico Chiesa created some early chances for the visitors.
However, Juve suffered an early setback when defender Giorgio Chiellini had to be substituted in the 19th minute with what appeared to be a hamstring injury, forcing Pirlo to reshuffle his defence before Morata came to the rescue.
A clever backheel by Aaron Ramsey set up Kulusevski and although the Swedish winger’s shot was saved, Morata was on hand to fire home the rebound and the Spaniard then stole in front of his marker to head home from close range in the 84th minute.
The COVID-19-limited crowd roared on the hosts but Kyiv struggled to create decent chances on their return to the Champions League after a four-year absence as Juve comfortably closed out the win.
"The goal early in the second half helped us because we had more space afterwards," said Juventus winger Chiesa. "We wanted this victory badly because it’s important to have a great start in the UEFA Champions League.
"The expectations are always high at Juve, but we try to win every time we take the pitch," he added.
Juventus host Barcelona in their next group game on Oct. 28, while Dynamo Kyiv travel to Hungarian side Ferencvaros.
