Five-star Barca fire warning

Barcelona came from behind to easily beat Panathinaikos 5-1 in their Champions League Group D opener.

Messi hits brace as Catalans come from behind to win 5-1

Barcelona came from behind to easily beat Panathinaikos 5-1 at Camp Nou in their UEFA Champions League Group D opener. Argentina ace Lionel Messi was in inspired form - netting twice and setting up two other goals - as the 2009 winners fired an early warning to their rivals for this year's crown. The Catalans dominated from the off and Messi forced Alexandros Tzorvas into a save with a close range header in the third minute. The Panathinaikos keeper did well to deny Xavi from close range shortly afterwards before again saving from Messi on 11 minutes. The Greek champions then took a shock lead against the run of play on 20 minutes when Djibril Cisse flicked on Tzorvas' goal kick and Sidney Govou latched onto the ball to slot home from inside the box. But their lead lasted less than two minutes as Messi scored with a left footed effort from close range after being found with an exquisite pass by Xavi. The Spanish champions then went ahead on 33 minutes when new signing David Villa converted Sergio Busquet's headed flick on. Messi hit the crossbar three minutes before the interval after being teed-up by Xavi but made no mistake on the stroke of half-time with the best goal of the night. The Argentinean received the ball 25 yards out on the right and played one-twos with first Xavi and then Pedro to cut into the visitors' box before slotting home. After the interval, Messi won a penalty off Cedric Kante in the 54th minute but hit a woeful spot-kick which Tzorvas saved easily diving to his left. The Catalans continued to dominate and Pedro finally added a fourth with a tap in on 78 minutes after Messi's shot hit both posts. Messi then chipped the ball into Dani Alves to head home the fifth in injury time to seal the emphatic win. The victory sees Pep Guardiola's side sit joint top of the early Group D table after Copenhagen beat Rubin Kazan 1-0 in Denmark.

Barcelona	Team Statistics	Panathinaikos
5	Goals	1
3	1st Half Goals	1
12	Shots on Target	1
9	Shots off Target	0
7	Blocked Shots	0
4	Corners	0
9	Fouls	17
3	Offsides	1
0	Yellow Cards	1
0	Red Cards	0
93.1	Passing Success	70.7
20	Tackles	15
70	Tackles Success	53.3
85.9	Possession	14.1
74.5	Territorial Advantage	25.5