Not a bad day for Argentines in Europe on Wednesday. Lionel Messi scored for Barcelona, obviously, but he wasn’t alone – Carlos Tevez opened his Champions League account for Manchester United – his first goal in continental competition since the first leg of the 2006 Copa Libertadores second round tie with Corinthians, against River. And Esteban Cambiasso, who’d already scored once for Inter at the weekend, went goal crazy against CSKA, bagging two goals for himself.
Messi’s goal, which put Barcelona 2-0 up against Rangers just before half-time, came after he’d helped create Thierry Henry’s sixth-minute opener, and was reward for his attempted setting-up of Ronaldinho, who exchanged a one-two with Messi but saw his shot saved. Messi, following up, was in the perfect position to capitalise on the rebound.
Tevez needed no such good fortune, winning the ball himself deep in the midfield and surging upfield, offloading to Wayne Rooney who returned the ball immediately. The pass was slightly behind his team-mate, but Carlitos hardly broke stride, dug it out from under his feet and rammed an unstoppable shot past Oleksander Shovkvskiy in the Dynamo Kiev goal.
Cambiasso particularly enjoyed the night, though. First he burst into the box to latch onto a through ball from Hernán Crespo and stick it into the bottom corner of the CSKA goal to level the scores at 2-2 (CSKA had earlier lead 2-0), and later strolling through a stationary defence to stab home a corner from close range and make it 3-2. Goals either side of his double from a rather more predictable source – Zlatan Ibrahimovic – made it 4-2 at full time.
Messi: Barcelona 2 – 0 Rangers (final score 2-0)
Tevez: Manchester United 2 – 0 Dynamo Kiev (final score 4-0)
Cambiasso: Internazionale 2 – 2 CSKA Moscow
Cambiasso: Internazionale 3 – 2 CSKA Moscow (final score 4-2)
There was one yesterday as well. Lisandro López (who, bafflingly, still doesn’t seem to be considered for the selección by Alfio Basile) scored the winner for Porto, who beat Olympique Marseille 2-1.
López: Porto 2 – 1 Marseille (final score 2-1)
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