Bate vs. Barcelona: Lionel Messi Proves Only 1 Set of Champions in BATE Match

Barcelona and BATE met up Wednesday night in Champions League play. I am still waiting for the Catalans to take their foot off of BATE's throat. 

This was the rare exception to Champions League's rule, that being parity rules the European competition. On Wednesday, there was just one thing doing the ruling, and that was Barcelona. 

The game was in hand well before the intermission came at Horodskiy Stadium in Minsk. By that time, we had seen one of what would be two goals from the feet of Lionel Messi. 

That double made the event a record evening as Messi tied the record for second-highest goals scored for the Spanish giants. His 194 tied the goals scored by Hungary’s Laszlo Kubala in the 1950s.

As group play starts to ramp up, we have to ask which side is the clear-cut favorite to win the all-important tournament. 

Manchester United had a rude awakening by FC Basel in their match on Tuesday. Chelsea took a draw against Valencia, leaving Real Madrid as the other contender worth noting. 

Los Blancos are the only other club having an easy time of things in the Champions League. If we are talking about a club that can win it all next year in the final, my vote still goes to last season's champions. 

Barcelona has delivered the poise, pace and depth it takes to maneuver all the way to the later rounds unscathed. 

Against BATE, all the best parts of the Catalans' game were highlighted. An aged Carlos Puyol even looked spry when he made a stirring tackle on an attacking Aliaksandr Volodko. 

If they can get that sort of performance from a defender that has shown a decline in mobility, they will be an unstoppable force. 

Nothing went right for BATE as Volodko lead off the match with an own goal. From there, it was all Barcelona. 

That may be the case for the rest of the field in Champions League play. There really is Barcelona and everyone else at this point.