PARIS: Lionel Messi struck twice as Barcelona inflicted more Champions League pain on Tottenham with a 4-2 win at Wembley on Wednesday, while Neymar hit a brilliant hat-trick in Paris Saint-Germain’s 6-1 rout of Red Star Belgrade.
Philippe Coutinho scored after just two minutes for Barcelona, who arrived in London winless in three La Liga matches, with Ivan Rakitic drilling in a magnificent second. Messi, then got on the scoresheet in between goals from Harry Kane and Erik Lamela, before the Argentina superstar grabbed his second late on to seal victory. “After a few bad results it was important to do well today. Our response was very good,” said Barca coach Ernesto Valverde.
Barca head Group B on six points alongside Inter Milan, but Mauricio Pochettino’s side face a vital double-header against PSV Eindhoven after failing to collect a point from their opening two matches. The Tottenham boss admitted Spurs had few answers for Messi as his team was left with an uphill struggle to reach the knockout stages. “He’s a fantastic player,” said Pochettino. “His average performance is this type of game. He’s always above everything.” Inter, the last Italian club to win the Champions League in 2010, again recovered from a goal down to beat PSV 2-1 in the Netherlands. A cracking Pablo Rosario strike put PSV ahead, but Inter levelled through Radja Nainggolan moments after visiting goalkeeper Samir Handanovic somehow escaped a red card for handling outside his area.
Mauro Icardi, whose late goal stunned Spurs a fortnight ago, was the hero again for Luciano Spalletti’s men as he pounced on hesitant defending to net the winner on the hour. PSG rebounded from their 3-2 defeat by Liverpool with an attacking masterclass against 1991 European Cup winners Red Star at the Parc des Princes. Neymar curled in a sublime free-kick to open the scoring on 20 minutes, quickly doubling his tally before Edinson Cavani, Angel di Maria and Kylian Mbappe also found the target. Former Germany international Marko Marin popped up with a consolation for Red Star, with Neymar completing his hat-trick from another stunning free-kick. “I really liked the effort made by the whole team, but Neymar was sensational,” said PSG coach Thomas Tuchel. (AFP)
