Barcelona's Lionel Messi (forefront) celebrates scoring against Celtic with teammate Thierry Henry during their Champions League Round of 16 football match at Celtic Park Stadium, Glasgow, Scotland, yesterday. Barcelona won 3-2. - AP
LONDON (AP)
FC Barcelona twice rallied to beat Celtic 3-2 in the first leg of the second round of the Champions League yesterday, and defending champion AC Milan held Arsenal to a 0-0 draw.
Lionel Messi scored two goals for Barcelona, with Thierry Henry adding the other in Glasgow.
Manchester United needed a late goal from Carlos Tevez to draw 1-1 at Lyon, and Fenerbahce beat Sevilla 3-2 with a late goal from Semih Senturk.
Celtic, which won all three of its home games in the group stage, twice went ahead against Barcelona, but the visitors took the lead for good in the 79th minute when Messi took advantage of a poor Celtic clearance.
Celtic striker Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink scored in the 16th minute with a diving header to give the hosts the lead, but Messi scored his first goal two minutes later after playing a one-two with Deco.
Barry Robson headed Celtic ahead again in the 38th with a goal on his Champions League debut. Henry then levelled in the 52nd by curling the ball into the net from a tight angle after being fed the ball by Ronaldinho.
"I don't think any of us were good enough tonight," Robson said. "I thought we could have done a bit better at home, individually and collectively as a team."
Barcelona started three of its so-called 'Fantastic Four' - Messi, Henry and Ronaldinho. Samuel Eto'o replaced Ronaldinho in the 73rd.
"It's very difficult to play at the pitch of Celtic because of results they've had before," Barcelona assistant coach Johan Neeskens said. "Over the whole 90 minutes, I think we have controlled the game."
Emmanuel Adebayor hit the crossbar in injury time for Arsenal, but the Milan defence was able to keep the hosts out of the net at Emirates Stadium.
The visitors resolutely defended against Arsenal, which was rebounding from Saturday's 4-0 loss to Manchester United in the fifth round of the FA Cup.
Adebayor had Arsenal's best chances - he had the ball in the net in the 53rd but it was called offside before his header in injury time. Emmanuel Eboue, Eduardo da Silva and Cesc Fabregas also had attempts on goal.
"I think we should go home disappointed after the chances we created," Fabregas said. "We deserved more than we got tonight."
Do
you have a problem? Is something bothering
you? Write to