After a troubled summer, a home meeting with
last season's runners-up may not have been what Barcelona wanted, but
Messi was at his brilliant best to give the Catalans the three points.
New
signing Ousmane Dembele was handed a first Barcelona start at the Camp
Nou but it was Messi who got the opening goal on the stroke of half-time
after a brilliant exchange of passes with Luis Suarez.
It
was fine play from the Argentine that led to Ivan Rakitic doubling
Barca's lead on 56 minutes and Messi saved the best for last with a
sublime goal to complete the victory midway through the second half.
"I
have suffered many times playing against Messi and now I have the luck
to have him on my side," said Barca coach Ernesto Valverde.
The
result gave Barcelona revenge for their defeat to Juventus in last
season's quarter-finals and leaves them on top of Group D alongside
Sporting Lisbon, who won 3-2 away to Olympiakos in Greece.
Sporting, who had been three goals up at half-time, host Barcelona next.
While
Barcelona adapt to life without Neymar, the Brazilian is enjoying life
with PSG and scored the opener in their superb 5-0 victory over Celtic
in Glasgow.
Neymar silenced the Parkhead
crowd in the 19th minute for his fifth goal in five appearances for PSG,
and he then set up Kylian Mbappe to make it 2-0.
Edinson
Cavani -- the third member of PSG's 'MCN' front three -- won and
converted a penalty to put the visitors out of sight before the
interval.
A Mikael Lustig own goal on 83
minutes and another for Cavani put the seal on PSG's victory and left
Celtic to contemplate their heaviest ever home defeat in Europe.
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Paris
Saint-Germain's striker Neymar (C) celebrates with strikers Kylian
Mbappe (L) Edinson Cavani (R) after scoring the opening goal of the UEFA
Champions League Group B football match against Celtic September 12,
2017(AFP)
"It
was a great match and very important to win. It is always a pleasure to
play alongside great players," Neymar told beIN Sports.
PSG's
next opponents in Group B will be five-time European champions Bayern
Munich, who began their campaign by brushing aside Anderlecht 3-0 at the
Allianz Arena.
The game was conditioned
by the early sending-off of Anderlecht's Sven Kums for giving away a
penalty that Robert Lewandowski converted.
Alexandru
Chipciu did hit the post for the 10 men when it was still 1-0 but
Bayern added two more goals in the second half, with Joshua Kimmich
setting up Thiago Alcantara to score before wrapping up the win himself.
Fellaini United's fixer
Substitute
Marouane Fellaini was an unlikely source of inspiration as Manchester
United comfortably defeated Basel 3-0 in Group A on their return to the
Champions League.
Fellaini came on for
the injured Paul Pogba and gave United a 35th-minute lead at a drizzly
Old Trafford. He later teed up Marcus Rashford for the hosts' third goal
after Romelu Lukaku had struck early in the second period.
It
was United's first Champions League game since December 2015, with Jose
Mourinho's side having engineered a return to the competition by
winning the Europa League last season.
In
the same group, CSKA Moscow came from behind to beat Portuguese
champions Benfica 2-1 in Lisbon with Timur Zhamaletdinov getting their
winner. CSKA entertain United later this month.
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Manchester
United's midfielder Marouane Fellaini (L) vies with Basel's midfielder
Luca Zuffi during the UEFA Champions League Group A football match
September 12, 2017(AFP)
Mourinho's
old club Chelsea were the biggest winners on the night, thrashing group
stage newcomers Qarabag 6-0 at Stamford Bridge in Group C.
A
superb Pedro Rodriguez strike set Chelsea on their way before recent
signing Davide Zappacosta's intended cross flew in to make it 2-0 before
the interval.
Cesar Azpilicueta and
Tiemoue Bakayoko scored after the break and Michy Batshuayi added the
fifth before forcing Maksim Medvedev into the own goal that completed
the rout.
Chelsea next go to Atletico Madrid, who drew 0-0 at Roma on Tuesday.
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