Messi hat trick leads Barca rout of Celtic
GENEVA— Lionel Messi’s first goal of the Champions League season took three minutes. Edinson Cavani needed just 44 seconds for Paris Saint-Germain. Manchester City never got the chance to start, with its match against Borussia Moenchengladbach washed out.
GROUP A
PSG 1, Arsenal 1: Arsenal’s Alexis Sanchez scored in the 78th minute against the run of the play when he fired home a rebound from10 metres after PSG keeper Alphonse Areola parried Alex Iwobi’s powerful shot.
Ludgorets 1, Basel 1: Ludogorets scored freely on the road in three qualifying rounds, but was limited to Jonathan Cafu’s 45th goal to finish a twisting run. Basel levelled in the 79th when Renato Steffen took advantage of a goalkeeping error.
GROUP B
Napoli 2, Dynamo Kyiv 1: Napoli took early control of the group with a come-from-behind win at Dynamo Kyiv, which had Serhiy Sydorchuk sent off in the 68th minute.
Poland forward Arkadiusz Milik twice scored with headers in the first half, the second in stoppage time, to cancel out Denys Garmash’s 26thminute opener for Dynamo.
Benfica 1, Besiktas 1: Benfica was held 1-1 at home by Besiktas when one of its own players scored late for the visitors. Playing against his parent club while on loan to the Turkish champion, midfielder Talisca scored with a curling free kick in stoppage time.
GROUP C
Barcelona 7 Celtic 0: In a recordsetting night at Camp Nou, Barcelona’s trio of stars teamed up to outclass Celtic. Lionel Messi’s hat trick included two goals in the first halfhour, while Neymar struck with a free kick and set up four goals and Luis Suarez had two goals against the new team of his former Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers.
GROUP D
Bayern Munich 5 Rostov 0: Bayern Munich showed Champions League debutant Rostov what life is like among the big boys of Europe. Germany’s great defensive prospect Joshua Kimmich scored twice and Juan Bernat finished the rout. Atletico Madrid 1 PSV Eindhoven 0: In a rematch of a Round-of-16 encounter last season, Atletico Madrid won in the Netherlands.