Lionel Messi scored as Barcelona overcame a depleted Dynamo Kiev 2-1 in the Champions League on Wednesday, while Juventus eased Ferencvaros aside and Manchester United slumped to an unexpected defeat in Turkey.
Nine-man Paris Saint-Germain lost to RB Leipzig in a repeat of last season’s semi-final and Chelsea proved too strong for Rennes, with Timo Werner twice converting from the penalty spot.
Making his 150th appearance in European competition, Messi dispatched an early penalty at Camp Nou after he was fouled in the area and Gerard Pique headed in Ansu Fati’s cross on the hour.
Cristiano Ronaldo made his first start for the Italian champions since September after testing positive for Covid-19 in a 4-1 win at Hungarian side Ferencvaros.
However, the Portuguese star was outshone in Budapest by Alvaro Morata, whose two goals put Andrea Pirlo’s team in control.
United produced a shambolic first-half defensive display as Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side lost 2-1 against Istanbul Basaksehir.
Demba Ba collected the ball just inside his own half and raced through to beat goalkeeper Dean Henderson on 13 minutes, with Edin Visca smashing in a second after Juan Mata was stripped of possession.
Anthony Martial’s header cut the deficit before half-time but United saw its momentum in Group H halted after wins over PSG and RB Leipzig last month.
Emil Forsberg’s penalty earned Leipzig a 2-1 victory as it came from behind to beat a weakened Paris Saint-Germain, dealing a major blow to the Champions League aspirations of last season’s runners-up.
Angel di Maria had given PSG an early lead in Germany but he then crucially missed a penalty for the French champion, which was missing both Neymar and Kylian Mbappe due to injury and ended the contest with nine men.
The results: Group E: Chelsea 3 (Werner 10-pen, 41-pen, Abraham 50) bt Rennes 0; Sevilla 3 (Rakitic 42, En-Nesyri 69, 72) bt Krasnodar 2 (Suleymanov 17, Berg 21-pen).
Group F: Club Brugge 0 lost to Borussia Dortmund 3 (T. Hazard 14, Haaland 18, 32); Zenit St. Petersburg 1 (Erokhin 32) drew with Lazio 1 (Caicedo 82).
Group G: Barcelona 2 (Messi 5-pen, Pique 65) bt Dynamo Kiev 1 (Tsygankov 75); Ferencvaros 1 (Boli 90) lost to Juventus 4 (Morata 7, 60, Dybala 73, Dvali 81-og).
Group H: RB Leipzig 2 (Nkunku 42, Forsberg 57-pen) bt PSG 1 (Di Maria 6); Istanbul Basaksehir 2 (Ba 13, Visca 40) bt Manchester United 1 (Martial 43).
