Champions League review: Messi masters Milan and more
Published 22:37 23/11/11 By MirrorFootball
Lionel Messi turned on a supershow and World Cup winner Xavi scored a sublime winner as Barcelona beat AC Milan 3-2.
In a pulsating Group H game, a typical fast-paced Barca break saw the visitors take the lead after 14 minutes.
Cesc Fabregas found Messi down the right, and Messi switched the attack to Keita on the left. Keita’s ball to the back post was turned into his own net by Mark van Bommel under pressure from Xavi.
Six minutes later, Alberto Aquilani and Clarence Seedorf worked a great opening for Zlatan Ibrahimovic scored against his former side but after half an hour, Messi had Barca back in front with a low-driven penalty after Aquilani brought down Xavi.
The moment of the match however, saw Milan back on level terms again as Boateng won a loose ball, beat Eric Abidal with an outrageous piece of skill and lashed past Victor Valdes at his near post.
But Barca restored their advantage when Messi’s exquisite pass left Milan chasing shadows as Xavi slid home.
Roberto Soldado’s first-half hat-trick put Valencia in pole position to qualify from Chelsea’s Group E with a thumping 7-0 win over Genk.
Brazilian Jonas headed home his third in three Champions League games after 10 minutes before Soldado grabbed his first three minutes later.
The Valencia captain then added two more in the space of three minutes before the interval and Pablo Hernandez made it five midway through the second half and Aduriz added a sixth moments later. Tino Costa added a seventh late on.
A late Giannis Fetfatzidis goal gave Olympiacos a 1-0 win over Marseille to give them a chance of qualifying from Arsenal’s group.
In the other game in Group H, Viktoria Plzen claimed their first win of the group stages 1-0 over BATE Borisov in Minsk.
Marek Bakos netted in the 42nd minute to put the Czech side in pole position to seal a Europa League slot.
APOEL Nicosia made history by becoming the first Cypriot side ever to get past the group stages with their gutsy goalless draw away to Zenit St Petersburg confirming their top-two place.
In a match which was held up due to smoke from flares set off by the home fans, APOEL staged a classic rearguard action to claim a point against a Zenit side unbeaten in their last 12 matches.
Porto's 2-0 win at Shakhtar Donetsk lifted them to within a point of the Russians with a winner-takes-all tie in Portugal to come.
A second-half opener from Hulk and an own goal from Razvan Rat gave Porto the points.
