Barcelona took control of Group D in the Champions League this evening courtesy of a 1-0 win over Sporting Lisbon at the Estadio Jose Alvalade.
The visitors enjoyed the lion's share of possession throughout the match, but clear-cut chances were hard to come by against a stubborn and organised home defence.
In the end it was a stroke of fortune which provided the telling moment of the contest as a Sebastian Coates turned the ball into his own net early in the second half for the only goal of the game.
Find out how all of the action unfolded courtesy of our minute-by-minute updates below.
This match pits the top two in Group D against each other after both sides impressed on their way to victory on matchday one, each scoring three goals against Olympiacos and Juventus respectively. Both have been in fine form on the domestic front too, so this promises to be a high-quality contest this evening.
Before we take a closer look at the two teams, though, let's first check out the team news...
Well, the hosts have a clean bill of health for this evening's match and sure enough name a strong starting XI for the visit of the mighty Barcelona. It is a side which includes Jeremy Mathieu, who joined Sporting from Barca during the summer and has since criticised some of the club's hierarchy. The Frenchman made 63 league appearances during his time at the Camp Nou, scoring three goals.
Perhaps the main threat for the home side will be Gelson Martins, though, with the 22-year-old winger enjoying a growing reputation in football. He was linked with a move to Liverpool during the summer and has scored three goals in his four league outings so far this season.
Further back in midfielder there are starts for William Carvalho - another highly-rated midfielder who has been linked with a move away in recent years - and Battaglia. Acuna, who is an international teammate of Messi and Mascherano for Argentina, completes the midfield.
That switch comes at left-back as Fabio Coentrao starts having previously played for Real Madrid, of course. The Portuguese full-back was a Madrid player for six years, so this fixture will carry a little more importance for him.
The Argentine was at his dazzling best on matchday one with two goals and effectively an assist to fire Barcelona past Juventus, maintaining his stunning form so far this season. There were questions raised about how Barcelona would deal with the loss of Neymar, but with Messi in your team you are always going to have the best at your disposal.
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One player who isn't far away from those three is Luis Suarez. The Uruguayan was the only Barcelona player on the scoresheet at the weekend and remains arguably the deadliest number nine in world football at the moment.
Mascherano, Vidal and Paulinho are the men to drop out for that trio, with Sergi Roberto maintaining his place but seemingly starting a little further forward than at the weekend due to the presence of Semedo. It looks as though Barca will again go for a 4-4-2 formation having switched to that system since losing Dembele to injury.
Even with the absence of Dembele, there is plenty of quality in this Barcelona side, with Iniesta still capable of unlocking any defence in world football on his day. There are plenty of players for the hosts to look out for tonight!
Sporting will still be confident, though, having made a blistering start to the season. The home side are still yet to taste defeat in any competition this term, winning eight and drawing three of their 11 matches - including eight wins from their first nine games of the campaign.
Those were their first dropped points of the season in the league, but unfortunately for them they weren't the only team to have made a 100% start to the campaign and the draw saw them drop two points behind the perfect Porto at the top of the table. Only Porto have scored more and conceded fewer than them this season too.
A draw or a defeat this evening would see them go three games without a win for the first time since January, although against a team the quality of Barcelona I'm sure they would regard a third straight draw as a fairly satisfactory result.
Jorge Jesus's side have conceded just one goal from their five home games this season, but they have also only scored five goals, failing to score in two of their games. Indeed, two of their three draws this term have come in front of their own fans, so they have actually been more impressive on the road so far this season.
Sporting have lost their last two Champions League home games - against Dortmund and Real Madrid - and another loss this evening would make it three in a row for the first time in more than a decade. Last season Sporting won five of their six group games, but their solitary victory did come at home.
The final scoreline of that made the game look a lot closer than it was too. Sporting could have been five or six up by half time, instead settling for a 3-0 lead before the interval, and it was only a couple of late goals from Pardo that made things look a little more respectable for the Greek hosts.
The Portuguese outfit have only won one of their last 10 European meetings with teams from Spain, losing six of those and still being eliminated from the tie which provided that solitary win - a 2-1 triumph over Athletic Bilbao in the semi-finals of the 2011-12 Europa League.
While Sporting have slipped up with back-to-back draws to bring an end to their winning run, Barcelona have been relentless so far this season and come into this match off the back of seven consecutive wins across all competitions, scoring 23 goals and conceding just twice in the process.
Back-to-back defeats against arch-rivals Real Madrid in the Super Cup then piled more misery on the club as Ernesto Valverde's troubled start continued, but since then it has been all smiles and Barca are already looking good bets for trophies at home and abroad.
Seven points is a substantial gap in any division, but in La Liga it could possibly be an insurmountable one already. Barcelona do not drop points all too often throughout the course of a campaign, and for Real Madrid to make up that seven-point gap is already a big ask.
They did so in some style too, with a 3-0 victory over last season's beaten finalists Juventus on matchday one leaving them top of Group D. It gave Barca an element of revenge over the side that knocked them out in the quarter-finals last season, not to mention sending out a statement to the rest of Europe that they are still a force to be reckoned with.
Those two wins have been memorable ones - beating PSG 6-1 and Juventus 3-0 - but they have also suffered heavy defeats to both of those sides in that time in addition to a home draw against the latter.
They have not lost three Champions League away games on the bounce since March 2005, but they have lost three of their last four away outings and four of their last six on the road. Indeed, looking even further back Barca have won just four of their last 11 trips in this competition, which is a record they will need to improve if they are to lift the trophy again this season.
Another win would see them string together four away victories on the bounce for the first time almost exactly a year, while also putting them another step towards reaching the last 16 yet again. This is Barca's record-equalling 22nd Champions League group stage campaign, and they last failed to reach the last 16 in 2000-01.
This game sees two confident and in-form sides go up against each other, but sporting don't often come up against teams of Barcelona's quality and - when they do - they usually fall short. The hosts won't make it easy, but I'll have to go for an away win tonight.
Sports Mole says: Sporting Lisbon 0-2 Barcelona
The Blaugrana's last visit here saw them run out 5-2 winners over the 10 men of Sporting, with Messi and Pique amongst those on the scoresheet alongside Henry and Bojan. The reverse, meanwhile, saw Marquez, Eto'o and Xavi score as Barcelona won 3-1 at the Camp Nou in a season which would end with them lifting the trophy.
Barcelona, though, are unbeaten in their last 14 matches against Portuguese opposition home and away, winning 11 of those games in a run which stretches back to the first round of that 1987-88 UEFA Cup campaign. Their most recent trip to Portugal came in the 2012-13 Champions League group stages, when they won 2-0 to make it four wins, three draws and four defeats from their 11 visits to these shores.
SPORTING LISBON STARTING XI: Rui Patrício; Piccini, Mathieu, Coates, Coentrão; Acuña, William, Battaglia, Gelson; Bruno Fernandes; Doumbia
BARCELONA STARTING XI: Ter Stegen; Semedo, Pique, Umtiti, Alba; Rakitic, Busquets, Roberto, Iniesta; Suarez, Messi
Romelu Lukaku has continued his hot streak in front of goal by opening the scoring against CSKA Moscow, while Basel are ahead against Benfica, which will delight Sporting fans.
Basel, meanwhile, have also made it 2-0 against Benfica.
Paris Saint-Germain, meanwhile, are now two goals to the good against Bayern Munich courtesy of an Edinson Cavani strike.
Barcelona have dominated possession, enjoying 65% of the ball, but chances have been few and far between for either side. Hopefully we will see an improvement in the second half!
Jorge Jesus will still be delighted with what he has seen from his side so far tonight, though.
Messi's free kick is delivered into a dangerous area as always and Suarez is the first man able to get his head to it. His effort bounces off Coates before going over the line, though, and it will go down as an own goal from the former Liverpool man.
Basel also now lead Benfica 3-0, whereas Celtic have doubled their lead against Anderlecht.
It was not a vintage Barcelona display by any stretch of the imagination, and they needed an own goal from Sebastian Coates to give them the victory, but it is a win nonetheless and their perfect streak now stretches to eight games.
Thank you very much for joining Sports Mole for tonight's match as Barcelona edge past Sporting to take control of Group D. I will leave you with our match report, and be sure to check back in for plenty of Europa League action tomorrow night.
From me, though, it is goodbye for now!
