Barcelona 5 Panathinaikos 1:LIONEL MESSI netted two superb goals, had a penalty saved and twice rattled the woodwork as Barcelona romped to a comeback victory over Panathinaikos in Champions League Group D at Camp Nou last night.
The Greek champions stunned the home side in the 20th minute when Sidney Govou fired them in front on their first foray upfield.
But World Player of the Year Messi levelled with a sublime chip two minutes later.
Spain striker David Villa swept home from a corner just after the half hour, and Messi scored with a low shot after exchanging passes with Xavi and Pedro and ripping through the Panathinaikos defence on the stroke of half-time.
Pedro was on hand with just over 10 minutes remaining to poke the ball in after Messi’s effort from an acute angle struck both uprights.
Daniel Alves completed the rout with a looping header in added time.
Barca were smarting from a shock La Liga defeat to promoted Hercules at the weekend and were utterly dominant at a packed Camp Nou arena.
The away side continued to focus on defending in the second half and only looked dangerous once or twice when Sebastian Leto got involved.
Barca on the other hand got some good chances to score a fourth goal, with Messi getting the best chance from the spot in the 57th minute after the Argentine had been felled by Jean-Alain Boumsong. However, Tzorvas saved his weak shot with ease.
Tzorvas saved his team on numerous other occasions and the biggest surprise of the night was that Messi was unable to complete his hat-trick.
In the group’s other game, Dame N’Doye struck a late winner to give Danish champions FC Copenhagen a 1-0 victory over Rubin Kazan.
In a scrappy game devoid of any real scoring chances, the Senegalese forward outjumped a Rubin defender to head a free kick into the net off the far post with three minutes remaining.
The goal came a few minutes after Rubin substitute Alan Kasayev had wasted the best chance for the visitors when he misplayed the final pass to an open team mate.
The Russian champions, missing Spanish defender Cesar Navas because of suspension, also lost Italian fullback Salvatore Bocchetti to injury midway through the second half.
BARCELONA: Valdes, Dani Alves, Pique (Milito 75), Puyol, Abidal, Xavi (Mascherano 79), Busquets, Iniesta, Messi, Villa (Bojan 69), Pedro. Subs not used: Pinto, Keita, Maxwell, Adriano Correia.
PANATHINAIKOS: Tzorvas, Marinos, Boumsong, Kante, Vyntra, Silva, Simao, Govou (Luis Garcia 71), Katsouranis (Karagounis 64), Leto (Ninis 80), Cisse. Subs not used: Karnezis, Sarriegi, Ioannidis, Dimoutsos. Booked: Karagounis.
Referee: Nicola Rizzoli(Italy).
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