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| Pep Guardiola calms the troops in Ukraine [AFP] |
Lionel Messi saved Barcelona from defeat as came off the bench to score two late goals and beat Shakhtar Donetsk in Group C.
Robbie Keane scored his first goal for Liverpool on the night Steven Gerrard scored his 100th for the club as PSV Eindhoven were beaten 3-1 at Anfield in Group D.
Atletico Madrid keep pace with Liverpool in the group after beating Marseilles 2-1, while Sporting Lisbon beat Basle 2-0 in Group C.
Barca leave it late
Substitute Messi scored two late goals, including one in stoppage time, to lead 2006 winners Barcelona to a 2-1 victory at Shakhtar Donetsk.
Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola's decision to leave Messi on the bench backfired as Shakhtar took the lead on the stroke of half time through Brazilian striker Ilsinho.
Messi's introduction on the hour finally paid dividends when the Argentine forward capitalised on a goalkeeping howler in the 87th minute before he silenced the home crowd with a brilliant lob from a tight angle in injury time.
Barcelona were struggling until Shakhtar keeper Andriy Pyatov, who had made several good saves, spilled a simple low cross at Messi's feet.
Samuel Eto'o should have equalised shortly after the hour when he was put through by Messi but stumbled as he shaped to finish and placed the ball wide of the near post.
Shakhtar's Croatian captain Darijo Srna could have put the Ukrainian team two up in the 77th minute but his fierce shot from the right after a corner was parried away by Valdes.
The result will be a huge disappointment for Shakhtar, who had beaten Barca 2-0 the previous time the teams met in Donetsk in December 2004.
Defeat adds to the woes of the Ukrainian champions who are a lowly 11th in the domestic league.
Keane gives Kop comfort
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| Robbie Keane celebrates his first for the club [GALLO/GETTY] |
Robbie Keane scored his first goal for Liverpool since his $34 million move from Spurs as Rafael Benitez's men completed a comfortable 3-1 win over PSV Eindhoven at Anfield on Wednesday.
Dirk Kuyt opened the scoring after four minutes before Keane struck his first goal in his ninth start for Liverpool by converting a Fernando Torres cross in the 34th.
Steven Gerrard blasted home from a second half free-kick in front of the famous Kop stand to net his 100th goal in Liverpool colours and give Benitez victory in his 250th game in charge of the Reds.
Substitute Danny Koevermans was allowed to get between sleeping defenders
to score a consolation goal quickly after Gerrard's 76th minute strike.
Irishman Keane showed poise to guide Torres' cross past Andreas Isaksson in the PSV goal after the Sweden keeper should have dealt better with Dutchman Kuyt's early goal.
"It was almost a perfect night," Benitez said.
"Only a clean sheet would have made it better. It was good that Robbie scored. Everyone was talking about this, so it was really important for him and us too."
Aguero on hand again
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| Sergio Aguero can't stop scoring for Atletico [AFP] |
Sergio Aguero scored his third goal in two Champions League games to help Atletico beat Olympique Marseille 2-1 in their first home game for 11 years in Europe's top club competition.
The 20-year-old Argentine stole in between two Marseille defenders and perfectly controlled a Maxi Rodriguez through ball before calmly slotting past Marseille goalkeeper Steve Mandanda in the fourth minute.
The visitors pulled one back after Senegal's Mamadou Niang rose to head in after 16 minutes but Atletico's Raul Garcia sealed the win six minutes later, nicking in Mariano Pernia's low free kick after Aguero had been fouled by the corner flag.
Maxi came within a whisker of a spectacular goal as his cheeky back heel went just wide after some neat interplay with Aguero before Mandanda kept Marseille in the game with a full stretch save to deny fellow Frenchman Florent Sinama-Pongolle.
It almost saved the 1993 champions as they pressed for an equaliser in the last 10 minutes but Atletico held on to leave the visitors without a point after two games following their opening defeat to Liverpool.
Sporting take chances
Midfielder Leandro Romagnoli and striker Derlei scored second half goals to give Sporting a 2-0 home win over Basle in Group C.
Sporting broke the deadlock when Argentine playmaker Romagnoli took advantage of a mistake in the Swiss side's defence to open the scoring after 55 minutes.
Veteran striker Derlei made sure of victory with the second goal four minutes from the end from a fine, long pass by Romagnoli.
Sporting, who lost their opening match at Barcelona, are equal on three points with Shakhtar Donetsk. Barcelona lead with six points and Basle have none.
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