Lionel Messi rains goals on Celtic as downpour denies Man City

Lionel Messi’s first goal of the Champions League season took three minutes.

Lionel Messi’s three goals for Barcelona took his Champions League career tally to 86. Picture: AP

Lionel Messi’s first goal of the Champions League season took three minutes. ­Edinson Cavani needed just 44 seconds for Paris Saint-­Germain. Manchester City never got the chance to start.

Messi’s fast start was the first of a hat-trick in Barcelona’s 7-0 rout of Celtic, and fellow superstar forwards Neymar and Luis Suarez also scored.

Cavani’s even faster strike was the end of PSG’s scoring in Paris against Arsenal, and Alexis Sanchez’s late equaliser earned a 1-1 draw.

Heavy rain in Manchester forced City’s game against Borussia Moenchengladbach to be called off 20 minutes before kick-off. Manager Pep Guardiola’s team will try again tonight.

Messi’s hat-trick included two goals in the first half-hour, while Neymar struck with a free kick and set up another four goals. Suarez did his part with two goals against the new team of his former Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers.

The result surpassed Barcelona’s biggest win in the competition — a 7-1 victory over Bayer Leverkusen in 2012. It also improved on a 6-1 win over Celtic from their last meeting in 2013.

Messi’s three goals took his Champions League career tally to 86 goals, to still trail Cristiano Ronaldo’s record of 94. Celtic’s 5-1 rout of Scottish rival Rangers on Saturday seemed long ago.

Bayern Munich showed Champions League debutant Rostov what life is like among the big boys. A 5-0 drubbing was begun by Robert Lewandowski’s penalty and Thomas Mueller’s shot in the first half. Joshua ­Kimmich scored twice and Juan Bernat finished the rout.

AP