Firmino stuns PSG
Messi bags eighth hat trick in ECL
Roberto Firmino’s last-gasp strike gave Liverpool a 3-2 win over Paris SaintGermain (PSG) in a thrilling encounter on the opening night of the European Champions League (ECL) group stage on Tuesday, after Lionel Messi’s latest hat trick handed Barcelona a winning start.
There were dramatic late goals around Europe, including for Inter Milan against Tottenham Hotspur, and winning starts for several of the leading contenders, with Atletico Madrid battling back to beat Monaco.
But the heavyweight encounter of the evening was at Anfield, and the Group C match between last season’s beaten finalists and the ambitious PSG lived up to expectations.
Liverpool were rewarded for their excellent start as they found themselves two goals up after 36 minutes, Daniel Sturridge getting the opener before James Milner netted a penalty.
But the French champions pulled one back before the interval through Thomas Meunier.
The two most expensive players in the world then combined for the 83rdminute equalizer that looked set to earn PSG a draw, Neymar assisting Kylian Mbappe to score.
Those two had not played well though, and Mbappe was caught in possession just before Firmino, on as a substitute, struck the winner in the second minute of stoppage time.
PSG next face Red Star Belgrade, who marked their return to the big time with a 0-0 draw against Napoli. UEFA have introduced a handful of earlier kickoffs in every Champions League midweek this season, and it was still light at the Camp Nou as Barcelona kicked off against PSV Eindhoven in Group B.
Messi has made clear his determination to go all the way in Europe this season and the Argentine duly scored the first goal of the 2018-19 group stage from a superb first-half free kick.
Barca ran away with the game in the second half, with Ousmane Dembele scoring a stunner before Messi added two more to complete his eighth Champions League hat trick and seal a 4-0 win.
The Spanish champions next go to London to face Tottenham Hotspur, who suffered a wounding 2-1 defeat at Inter.
Having lost their last two Premier League games, Spurs were on course for a welcome win via Christian Eriksen’s second-half opener, which went in via a wicked deflection.
But Mauro Icardi’s brilliant late volley brought the hosts level, and Matias Vecino headed in a stoppage-time winner for Inter2.