Lionel Messi has scored a vital double to lead Barcelona to a come-from-behind victory over Spartak Moscow in their Champions League opener at the Nou Camp tonight.
The Argentine ace netted in the 71st and 80th minutes as the Catalan giants' blushes were saved against a Spartak outfit who conceded first before coming back to take a 2-1 lead.
Cristian Tello's 14th minute finish was cancelled out by Dani Alves' own-goal on the half-hour mark prior to Romulo edging the Russians ahead but enter Messi who did what was required of him once again to secure maximum points for Tito Vilanova's side.
Elsewhere in Europe, reigning champions Chelsea skipped away to a two-goal lead at home against Juventus before the Italian Serie A winners crawled back to force a 2-2 draw.
The Blues young Brazilian midfielder Oscar scored a double in two minutes just after the midway stage of the first half - the second an absolute stunner - before Arturo Vidal and Fabio Quagliarella saved the day for Juventus.
Sir Alex Ferguson became the first manager to oversee 100 wins in the Champions League as Manchester United defeated Galatasaray 1-0 at Old Trafford courtesy of Michael Carrick's seventh minute goal whilst Scottish giants Celtic were held to a 0-0 draw by Portugal's Benfica.
Last season's runners-up Bayern Munich were able to hold off Valencia with a 2-1 result at home as BATE Borisov of Belarus surprised Lille 3-1 in France in the other Group F fixture.
In the remaining matches, Shakhtar Donetsk beat newcomers Nordsjaelland 2-0 in Ukraine and Romanian outfit CFR Cluj kicked off their campaign with a 2-0 triumph at Sporting Braga.
2012/13 Champions League scores
Group E
Chelsea (ENG): 2 (Oscar 31'/33') Juventus (ITA): 2 (Arturo Vidal 38', Fabio Quagliarella 80') Stamford Bridge, London, England - 40,918
Shakhtar Donetsk (UKR): 2 (Henrik Mkhitaryan 44'/76') Nordsjaelland (DEN): 0 Donbass Arena, Donetsk, Ukraine - 51,624
Group F
Bayern Munich (GER): 2 (Bastian Schweinsteiger 38', Toni Kroos 76') Valencia (SPN): 1 (Nelson Haedo Valdez 90+1') Allianz Arena, Munich, Germany - 65,374
Lille (FRA): 1 (Aurelien Chedjou 60') BATE Borisov (BLR): 3 (Aliksandr Volodko 6', Vitali Rodionov 20', Edgar Olekhnovich 43') Stade Lille Metropole, Lille, France - 43,215
Group G
Celtic (SCO): 0 Benfica (POR): 0 Celtic Park, Glasgow, Scotland - 57,759
Barcelona (SPN): 3 (Cristian Tello 14', Lionel Messi 71'/80') Spartak Moscow (RUS): 2 (Dani Alves (og) 29', Romulo 58') Nou Camp, Barcelona, Spain - 73,580
Group H
Manchester United (ENG): 1 (Michael Carrick 7') Galatasaray (TUR): 0 Old Trafford, Manchester, England - 74,653
Sporting Braga (POR): 0 CFR Cluj (ROM): 2 (Rafael Bastos 19'/34') Estadio AXA, Braga, Portugal - 24,000
