Messi finds his stride for winning start

Lionel Messi wasted little time in finding his stride as he struck twice to lead 10-man Barcelona to a 3-0 victory over Elche and hand new coach Luis Enrique a winning start to the La Liga season.

Youngster Munir El Haddadi hit the woodwork as did Andres Iniesta before Messi made the breakthrough, turning well in the box and slotting in after 42 minutes.

Barca's job was complicated with Javier Mascherano sent off for bringing down Garry Rodrigues a minute later but Munir, drafted into the side as a replacement for the injured Neymar, clipped home to make it 2-0 shortly after the restart.

Messi, whose Argentine side were beaten in the World Cup final by Germany, was the talisman once again for Barca.

He made space for himself on the edge of the area and found the back of the net again after 63 minutes. The result handed Luis Enrique a promising start.

Meanwhile, promoted Paderborn were denied a dream start to life in the Bundesliga when Mainz salvaged a 2-2 draw with a stoppage-time penalty yesterday.

Borussia Moenchengladbach needed a 90th-minute equaliser from World Cup winner Christoph Kramer to draw 1-1 with VfB Stuttgart in the other match. - (Reuters)