Barcelo, Bayern set the pace in Champions League

Messi scores first hat-trick of the season

Barcelo, Sept 14: FC Barcelo and Bayern Munich shone in their opening matches of the Champions League football tourment with resounding victories over Celtic and FC Rostov respectively.

Atletico Madrid posted a solid away win and Paris Saint-Germain had to settle for a draw at home, reports Efe.

The highly anticipated match between Manchester City and Borussia Monchengladbach was postponed till late Wednesday due to a flooded pitch amid torrential rain in the English metropolis.

Star striker Lionel Messi’s first hat-trick of the season powered Barcelo to a 7-0 win over the visitors from Glasgow.

Fellow goal scorer Luis Suarez contributed a pair of goals and the home side got one apiece from Neymar and Andres Iniesta.

Barcelo goalkeeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen also played his part, stopping Moussa Dembele on a pelty kick when the score was only 1-0.

In Munich, Bayern trounced Champions League newcomer FC Rostov 5-0, getting two goals from young defender Joshua Kimmich.

Robert Lewandowski put Bayern ahead 1-0 with a pelty in the 28th minute and Thomas Muller doubled the lead with a goal in first-half stoppage time.

Kimmich scored his pair in a span of seven minutes early in the second half and Juan Bert rubbed salt into the Russian club’s wounds with a goal in the 90th minute.

Atletico Madrid, last season’s runner-up, beat PSV Eindhoven 1-0 thanks to Saul Niguez’s goal in the 43rd minute.

PSG’s Edinson Cavani scored inside the first minute of the match at Parc des Princes stadium against visiting Arsel to give his squad a 1-0 lead.

The hosts outplayed the visitors, but could not get a second goal, and Alexis Sanchez equalised for the English club in the 78th minute.

Basel fell behind at home to Bulgaria’s Ludogorets, who took a 1-0 lead just before courtesy of Jothan Cafu, and the Swiss team needed a goal from Reto Steffen in the fil 10 minutes to salvage a draw.

Arkadiusz Milik scored two goals to lead poli to a 2-1 come-from-behind away victory over Dymo Kiev, who got a goal in the 26th minute from Denis Garmash.

Benfica jumped out to an early lead at home over Turkey’s Besiktas with a goal in the 12th minute by Franco Cervi, only to let the visitor pull even on Anderson Talisca’s strike in the 93rd minute. (IANS)