Chelsea held by Juventus, Messi rescues Barca

Stage Win

BATE, the champions of Belarus, earned a first ever group stage win when they beat French side Lille 3-1 away in Group F.

Romanians Cluj impressed in a 2-0 victory at Portuguese side Braga with Rafael Bastos returning to score twice before halftime against his former club.

Scottish side Celtic drew 0-0 at home to Benfica on their return to the group phase for the first time since 2008. Danish newcomers Nordsjaelland got a taste of the challenges to come when they were beaten 2-0 by Ukraine's Shakhtar Donetsk.

Didier Drogba, the man whose goals finally ended Chelsea's long wait for Champions League glory, is no longer in their ranks but the Stamford Bridge faithful roared their approval as Oscar grabbed centre stage.

The Brazilian's deflected shot beat Gianluigi Buffon after 31 minutes and while there was an element of luck about that effort, his second two minutes later was a moment of magic.

Turning sharply into space on the edge of the area, he curled an audacious shot into Buffon's top corner.

Despite Oscar's electrifying first start for Chelsea since his 25 million-pound move, Juventus showed their resilience and returned with a deserved share of the spoils.

Vidal's low shot halved the deficit after 38 minutes and Claudio Marchisio's precise pass allowed Quagliarella to slip a shot under Petr Cech with 10 minutes remaining.

"It's terrific for Oscar," Chelsea coach Roberto di Matteo said. "We were waiting for the right game to put him in the team. His second goal was fantastic.

"We feel a little bit deflated. We were ahead and have come away with a draw, but now we move on to the next game."

While Oscar may be the latest south American to light up the Champions League, Messi is undeniably the main man.

Without him Barcelona may have suffered another Russian uprising in the Nou Camp as Spartak threatened to become the first side to win there in the Champions League since Rubin Kazan returned east with a victory in 2009.

Cristian Tello, scorer of the game's opening goal, set up Messi's equaliser and the Argentine maestro then headed the winner from a cross by substitute Alexis Sanchez, taking his Barca tally to an astonishing 109 goals in 100 official matches.