PARIS: Manchester United got their Champions League campaign underway in emphatic style when Marcus Rashford’s late goal earned them a 2-1 victory at Paris St Germain last night, handing the French champions their first group-stage home defeat in 16 years.
Rashford netted three minutes from time, 18 months after scoring the decisive goal in a 3-1 win at PSG that sent United into the quarter-finals after a 2-0 first-leg home defeat.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s United side went ahead in the Group H encounter with a twice-taken Bruno Fernandes first-half penalty before Anthony Martial’s own goal after the break gifted PSG the equaliser, only for Rashford to wrap up the win with a precise low shot.
It was PSG’s first Champions League group-stage defeat at the Parc des Princes in 25 games, having last lost 3-1 to CSKA Moscow in 2004.
Lionel Messi became the first player to score in 16 consecutive Champions League seasons as he guided 10-man Barcelona to a 5-1 victory over Hungarian side Ferencvaros in their Group G opener at the Camp Nou.
Messi netted from the penalty spot in the first half for his 116th career goal in the competition, before the lively Ansu Fati added a second.
Philippe Coutinho grabbed another goal early in the second half but Barca defender Gerard Pique was dismissed for impeding the lively Tokmac Nguen, leading to a penalty for the visitors that was converted by Igor Kharatin.
Any thoughts of a dramatic comeback were quashed though as 17-year-old Pedri netted his first Barca goal after arriving from second-tier Las Palmas at the start of the season, and Ousmane Dembele added the fifth late on.
Juventus made a winning start as they defeated Dynamo Kiev 2-0 thanks to a pair of classic poacher’s goals from Alvaro Morata in Group G.
Juventus host Barcelona in their next group game on Oct. 28