Messi Joins 100-Goal Club in Europe as Barca Stroll to Victory

Lionel Messi scored his 100th goal in European competition as Barcelona moved close to qualifying for the Champions League knockout stages by outclassing Olympiakos 3-1 on Wednesday despite playing the entire second half with 10 men.

Gerard Pique was sent off two minutes before halftime for two bookings, one for tugging an opponent's shirt and the other for slapping the ball into the net, but Barca were barely threatened by a hapless Olympiakos side who are badly under-performing in their Greek title defence.

The Athens club, who won three league titles and two domestic Cups under current Barca coach Ernesto Valverde, are fifth in the standings in the Greek top flight and have lost all their games in the Champions League.

Barca took the lead in the 18th minute on a rainswept evening at a sparsely attended Nou Camp when visiting defender Dimitrios Nikolaou turned Gerard Deulofeu's cross into his own net. It was the fifth own goal Barca have benefited from this season in all competitions.

Soccer-Freak Rashford Goal Gives Man United 1-0 Win at Benfica

Manchester United ground out a 1-0 win at Benfica in Champions League Group A on Wednesday after forward Marcus Rashford scored a bizarre goal, which embarrassed the home team's 18-year-old goalkeeper Mile Svilar.

The result left United top of the section with a maximum nine points from three games, three ahead of second-placed Swiss side Basel who won 2-0 at CSKA Moscow.

Belgian Svilar became the youngest keeper to make his Champions League debut and after enjoying a sound opening hour, he gifted United victory with a calamitous error which highlighted his lack of experience.

Rashford drove an innocuous-looking long range free kick from the left touchline straight at the youngster, who caught the ball but back-pedalled with it beyond the goalline with his arms outstretched.

The result flattered United's toothless performance which was almost a carbon copy of Saturday's 0-0 Premier League draw at Liverpool but it extended their unbeaten run in both competitions this season under manager Jose Mourinho.

Chelsea and Roma Share Spoils in Six-Goal Thriller

Chelsea and Roma served up a rip-roaring 3-3 draw at Stamford Bridge on Wednesday as both clubs stayed firmly on course for a place in the last 16 of the Champions League. Edin Dzeko scored twice for Roma as the Italians stormed back from 2-0 down to lead 3-2 with 20 minutes remaining, only for Eden Hazard to salvage a point for Group C leaders Chelsea.

David Luiz’s curler put Chelsea ahead in the 11th minute and Hazard doubled the home side’s advantage in the 35th.

Aleksandar Kolarov fired Roma back into contention before the interval and Dzeko's double in the space of six minutes, the first a scorching volley, looked to have earned Roma only their second win in 16 attempts on English soil.

Bayern Beat Celtic 3-0 as Heynckes Makes Winning European Return

Bayern Munich eased past Celtic 3-0 in the Champions League on Wednesday to hand coach Jupp Heynckes a victorious return to the competition he won with them in 2013.

First-half goals from Thomas Mueller and Joshua Kimmich put them in the driving seat and Mats Hummels grabbed a third in the 51st minute to round off a dominant performance in which the 72-year-old Heynckes became the oldest coach in the competition's history.

Celtic were no match for the aggressive Bavarians, who were out to get their European campaign back on track after their 3-0 loss to Paris St Germain last month that prompted the sacking of coach Carlo Ancelotti and the return of treble-winning Heynckes. Bayern are now second outright on six points from three matches, three ahead of Celtic and three behind leaders PSG.

(With inputs from Reuters and AP)

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