Lionel Messi leads attack after latest milestone: Champions League team of the week

The second round of Champions League group stage matches were played out this week and it was another record-setting outing for Argentine superstar Lionel Messi.

In scoring the equaliser after Paris Saint-Germain fell behind to Maccabi Haifa on Wednesday night, Messi has now scored against 39 clubs in the Champions League, edging ahead of the previous record he shared with Cristiano Ronaldo. Further goals from Kylian Mbappe and Neymar secured a 3-1 victory and ensured PSG avoided a major shock after earlier conceding to Tjaronn Chery.

While PSG avoided a shock result, that wasn't the case for several of Europe's heavy hitters. Former champions Porto were thrashed 4-0 at home by Belgian side Club Brugges, Italian giants Juventus were beaten 2-0 in Turin by Portugal's Benfica, and 2021 winners Chelsea were held to a 1-1 draw by Austrian champions RB Salzburg.

In the blockbuster match of the round Bayern Munich defeated Barcelona 2-0 at the Allianz Arena, a result that left Barca manager Xavi "angry", while holders Real Madrid needed two late goals to beat RB Leipzig 2-0 at the Bernabeu.

So too did Manchester City, with John Stones and Erling Haaland guiding the Premier League champions past Borussia Dortmund, 2-1, after Jude Bellingham had given the Germans an earlier lead.

Liverpool also left it late to secure all three points against Ajax, Joel Matip's injury-time header ultimately proving the difference having seen Mohamed Salah's opener cancelled out by Mohammed Kudus' superb strike. The Reds remain second in the group, though, after Napoli cruised past Rangers 3-0 in Glasgow.

There was a defeat for the fourth English club in the competition as Tottenham lost 2-0 at Sporting - a result that could have been worse were