Barcelona: Lionel Messi scored his second hat-trick in as many Champions League games to give Barcelona a 4-0 win over Manchester City as Pep Guardiola and Claudio Bravo endured harrowing returns to the Nou Camp, Wednesday.
A slip by Fernandinho allowed Messi to round former teammate Bravo and open the scoring in the 17th minute and the keeper completed a miserable night by getting sent off in the second half for handling outside the area after losing the ball.
The magical Messi hammered in his second from the edge of the area after turning two City defenders and pounced on a Luis Suarez lay-off to complete his treble in the 69th minute.
Barca substitute Jeremy Mathieu was then dismissed for two bookable offences. Neymar had a late penalty saved by substitute keeper Willy Caballero but the Brazilian made amends by scoring the fourth goal in the 89th minute.
“It’s difficult to play with Barcelona against 11 men. With 10, it was over,” said Guardiola, while being adamant that he would not blame Bravo for the error which effectively ended his side’s night. “Mistakes happen. He is sad but he will learn a lot. As long as I’m a coach I’ll keep playing out from the goalkeeper,” the coach added.
Luis Enrique’s team lead the group with nine points from three games followed by Guardiola’s City on four. Borussia Moenchengladbach have three points while Celtic are bottom with one.
Guardiola, who surprisingly left out key marksman Sergio Aguero to accommodate more midfield strength, watched his old side pressed back in their own half for 15 minutes until Fernandinho’s error and Messi’s determination changed the course of events.
Messi began the move and fought to win the ball back before threading a pass to Andres Iniesta. Fernandinho tripped over just as he looked set to clear, leaving the Argentine an easy task to score.
City did not wilt, Nolito and Ilkay Guendogan having shots saved by Marc-Andre ter Stegen, while at the other end Suarez was denied by Bravo and also shot wide.
Bayern, Gunners shoot down rivals
Paris: Bayern Munich shook off their recent patchy form with a 4-1 demolition of PSV Eindhoven while Arsenal riding on Mesut Ozil’s first hat-trick of the competition routed Ludogorets Razgrad of Bulgaria 6-0 in matches of the Champions League played Wednesday.
In Munich, Carlo Ancelotti’s Bayern dismissed concerns about their performance of late by ending a three-match winless run at home. Thomas Mueller grabbed a 13th-minute opener at the Allianz Arena before fellow Germany international Joshua Kimmich netted his seventh goal in all competitions this season.
Luciano Narsingh gave PSV hope when he halved the deficit shortly before the break, but Poland striker Robert Lewandowski eased fears of another setback with Arjen Robben netting Bayern’s fourth.
However, the Bundesliga giants still trail Atletico Madrid in Group D after Yannick Carrasco’s second half strike steered last year’s finalists to another 1-0 victory away to Russian side Rostov.
Meanwhile Ozil netted a second half hat-trick in Arsenal’s home victory. The German piled on the misery for the visitors after goals from Alexis Sanchez, Theo Walcott and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain had given the Gunners a comfortable cushion at the breather.
Agencies
