UEFA Champions League 2018: Messi’s hat-trick helps Barcelona trounce PSV Eidhoven

The first round of the UEFA Champions League fixtures got underway with Liverpool and Barcelona clinching memorable wins over Paris Saint Germain and PSV Eindhoven respectively on Tuesday.

Lionel Messi starred for Barcelona with a superb hat-trick as the Catalan giants began their hopes of winning the coveted European title since their second-place finish in 2015.

The left-footed talismanic forward opened the scoring from a trademark free-kick that went into the top corner of the net in the 31st minute.

But Barcelona’s second goal of the match came through a thunderous strike from the young Ousmane Dembele. The French forward unleashed a powerful right-footed shot after a good turn as he doubled the lead in the 74th minute.

But it was the Messi show. The 31-year old, who has been a subject of criticism after a poor World Cup campaign with Argentina, proved his worth at the biggest stage in club football with goals in the 77th and 87th minute as the Spanish champions cruised to an easy 4-0 win.

However, Ernesto Valverde’s happiness was marred with defender Samuel Umtiti’s send-off in the 79th minute.

The French centre-back saw two yellow cards-one in the 56th minute and the other in the 79th as the World Cup winner will miss Barcelona’s trip to Wembley to face Tottenham Hotspur on October 3.

At Anfield, Jürgen Klopp and his champions edged past the French champions 3-2 on Tuesday.

Super sub-Roberto Firmino came on and scored the winner for the Reds in the stoppage time as the runners-up from last year began their campaign on a good note.

Liverpool went ahead 2-0 courtesy goals from Daniele Sturridge in the 30th minute and a James Milner penalty in the 36th. But Thomas Tuchel’s side fought back in the 40th minute through a goal from Thomas Meunier and even levelled the scores when the sensational Kylian Mbappe pumped one in, in the 83rd minute.

But Brazilian forward Firmino, who had sustained an eye injury during a Premier match against Tottenham this weekend came off the bench to score the winner for Klopp’s side as they looked to emulate their successful run in the competition from last year.

In San Siro, Inter Milan staged a dramatic fightback to clinch a 2-1 win over Tottenham after being down by a goal for a good part of the match. Danish mideo Christian Eriksen gave Tottenham the lead in the 53rd minute but strikes for Mauro Icardi (85′) and Matias Vecino (90+2′) gave Luciano Spalletti’s side a thrilling win.

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