Iniesta weaves his magic

Barcelona 2 Plzen 0:A SPOT of Andres Iniesta magic and a late David Villa strike lifted wasteful Barcelona to a 2-0 home win over competition newcomers Viktoria Plzen in Champions League Group H last night.

Spain playmaker Iniesta netted for the holders in the 10th minute at their Nou Camp arena but in the face of near-constant pressure on their goal the Czech side somehow managed to hold firm until Villa scored eight minutes from time.

World Player of the Year Lionel Messi had a frustrating night, twice hitting the post and several times being denied by last-ditch tackles.

The Argentine, competition top scorer the past three seasons, curled a long-range free kick on to the inside of an upright in first-half stoppage time and flicked the ball on to the post after a dazzling run early in the second half.

Iniesta’s goal came after a trademark quickfire passing move that left the visiting defenders in disarray. He twice exchanged passes with Messi before dinking the ball around his marker and sidefooting narrowly inside the near post from close range.

Villa made sure of the three points when he followed up after a Messi effort and swept the ball high into the net.

Plzen, the Czech champions who are making their first appearance in Europe’s elite club competition, barely threatened the home goal.

In last night’s other Group H game Zlatan Ibrahimovic scored to set erratic AC Milan on the way to a 2-0 win over outsiders BATE Borisov. The Swede fired the Serie A champions ahead in the 33rd minute, just after Renan Bressan had missed an outstanding chance to give the Belarus side a shock lead.

Kevin-Prince Boateng calmed nervy Milan with a superb long-range strike in the 70th minute after Borisov had looked capable of snatching an equaliser.

Milan have seven points from three games and look certain to qualify from Group H along with Barcelona. Borisov have one point.

A lively opening saw Ibrahimovic, who was also on target in last month’s 2-0 win over Viktoria Plzen, nearly score with a spectacular effort when he saw Aleksandr Gutor off his line and just missed the target from 40 metres.

Alberto Aquilani hit the foot of the post minutes then Ibrahimovic nonchalantly sidefooted over after latching on to Alberto Cassano’s floated pass.

Milan nearly paid when a loose ball gave Borisov’s Renan Bressan a clear run at goal but the Brazilian’s effort was saved by Christian Abbiati.

One minute later, Ibrahimovic fired Milan in front with a first time shot after the Borisov defence only partially cleared the ball.

Borisov created several chances early in the second half but their hopes sank when Boateng scored with a powerful 25-metre shot which went in off the underside of the bar.

BARCELONA: Valdes, Dani Alves, Mascherano, Abidal, Adriano, Xavi, Busquets, Iniesta (Keita 85), Messi, Pedro,Villa (Cuenca 87). Subs not used: Pinto, Puyol, Thiago, Maxwell, Fontas.

VIKTORIA PLZEN: Cech, Rajtoral, Bystron, Cisovski, Limbersky, Jiracek, Horvath, Kolar, Petrzela (Darida 86), Pilar (Fillo 74), Bakos (Duris 57). Subs not used: Pavlik, Trapp, Reznik, Sevinsky.

Referee: Aleksandar Stavrev (Macedonia).