Lionel Messi scored twice in a dominant Barca performance on a rainy night in Minsk as the Spaniards went joint top of Group H, along with Milan after the Italians needed second-half goals to break the deadlock against Plzen.

English sides Arsenal and Chelsea had mixed fortunes in nervy endings to their games as Arsene Wenger’s side held on to an early lead to beat visitors Olympiakos Piraeus 2-1 while Chelsea conceded a late penalty to draw 1-1 in Valencia.

Arsenal, whose eighth-minute opener came from teenager Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain on his European debut, have four points in Group F, sitting behind Olympique Marseille who maintained their perfect start with a 3-0 victory over Borussia Dortmund.

Chelsea’s Juan Mata had been on the verge of a winning return to his old stomping ground in Valencia after Frank Lampard’s opener before substitute Salomon Kalou handled to give away an 87th-minute penalty that Roberto Soldado converted.

Chelsea lead Group E with four points, one ahead of Bayer Leverkusen who beat visitors Racing Genk 2-0 with Chelsea old boy Michael Ballack making sure of the points with a stoppage-time goal after Lars Bender’s first-half strike.

In the night’s other games, Zenit St. Petersburg beat 10-man Porto 3-1 in Group G with Roman Shirokov netting a double in Russia, while in the same group Shakhtar Donetsk drew 1-1 at home with APOEL Nicosia.