Champions League: Messi stars as Barcelona beat Juventus

Manchester United hammer Leipzig as PSG and Chelsea get off their marks

epa08782034 Barcelona’s Lionel Messi celebrates after scoring the 0-2 goal during the UEFA Champions Legue soccer match between Juventus FC and FC Barcelona, in Turin, Italy, 28 October 2020.  EPA/ALESSANDRO DI MARCO
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Ousmane Dembele's early goal and Lionel Messi's late penalty saw Barcelona overcome Juventus 2-0 in the Champions League in Turin.

The Italian champions suffered their first defeat under new manager Andrea Pirlo but could take encouragement from their performance without Cristiano Ronaldo, and with Alvaro Morata having three goals ruled out.

Ronaldo's absence, confirmed by another positive Covid-19 test on Tuesday, drained a little of the fixture's star quality without a head-to-head with Messi, but Barcelona did not care.

Dembele's strike may have had a touch of luck about it, but it came courtesy of a delightful Messi assist and was backed up by an assured and dominant display by the Spanish club.

The other game in Group G saw Ferencvaros come from two goals down to draw 2-2 with Dynamo Kiev as Franck Boli equalised in the final minute.

Super sub Marcus Rashford's first Manchester United hat-trick inspired Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's men to a 5-0 win against last year's semi-finalists, RB Leipzig.

Manchester United's English striker Marcus Rashford (C) vies with RB Leipzig's French defender Dayot Upamecano during the UEFA Champions league group H football match between Manchester United and RB Leipzig at Old Trafford stadium in Manchester, north west England, on October 28, 2020. Manchester United won the match 5-0. / AFP / Anthony Devlin
Marcus Rashford vies with Leipzig defender Dayot Upamecano. AFP

A week on from their deserved triumph at finalists Paris Saint-Germain, United continued their 100 per cent start to Group H by securing a first home win of the season in some style.

Rashford was the hero in the French capital and was key again on Wednesday, netting a treble off the bench as Anthony Martial and Mason Greenwood also scored against Bundesliga leaders Leipzig.

PSG got off the mark in Turkey with a 2-0 win against Istanbul Basaksehir thanks to Moise Kean's second-half double, although Neymar went off injured.

Chelsea delivered a commanding performance to seal an emphatic 4-0 win at Krasnodar.

Callum Hudson-Odoi, Timo Werner, Hakim Ziyech and Christian Pulisic all found the net after Jorginho had a penalty saved as the Blues eased to their first Group E victory in Russia.

Soccer Football - Champions League - Group E - FC Krasnodar v Chelsea - Krasnodar Stadium, Krasnodar, Russia - October 28, 2020 Chelsea's Hakim Ziyech celebrates scoring their third goal with Ben Chilwell, Mason Mount and N'Golo Kante REUTERS/Anton Vaganov
Chelsea's Hakim Ziyech celebrates scoring their third goal with Ben Chilwell, Mason Mount and N'Golo Kante. Reuters

The other game in Group E saw Europa League champions Sevilla win 1-0 at home against Rennes thanks to Luuk De Jong's strike early in the second half.

Jadon Sancho scored from the penalty spot and Erling Haaland was on target in injury time as Borussia Dortmund gained their first points in Group F with a 2-0 win over Zenit St Petersburg, who have lost both of their matches.

Club Brugge and Lazio are both on four points, one ahead of Dortmund, after sharing a 1-1 draw.

Hans Vanaken's spot kick cancelled out Joaquin Correa's opener for the visitors.