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Lionel Messi scored a brilliant winner four minutes into stoppage time to give Barcelona a 2-1 victory away to Shakhtar Donetsk in Champions League Group C.

Ilsinho's superb finish late in the first-half had given Shakhtar a precious lead and they looked set to take a deserved victory as they repelled Barca in the second half.

However the introduction of Messi, rested at the start by Pep Guardiola, with 30 minutes to go added incision to their possession - and they drew level in the 86th minute.

With the Shakhtar players stood expecting Barcelona to put the ball out of play so a player could receive treatment, referee Howard Webb waved play on and Bojan Krkic, also a substitute, took possession on the right.

His low ball across should have been dealt with by goalkeeper Andriy Pyatov, but he spilled the ball to the feet of Messi who passed it into the open goal.

And in stoppage time, Xavi threaded a pass through the home defence for the speeding Messi, whose deft chip over Pyatov from the left as the keeper went to ground sparked wild celebrations on the Barca bench.

Shakhtar had attacked with pace in the first-half with Brazilians Ilsinho, Luiz Adriano and the imposing Brandao causing problems on the break while captain Darijo Srna also had chances.

They took the lead in the 44th minute when Ilsinho raced through to hold off visiting captain Carles Puyol and dink the ball over the advancing Victor Valdes.

In contrast Samuel Eto'o and Thierry Henry were woeful up front for the Catalan club, with the Cameroon man missing a clear-cut one-on-one when he stumbled at the last.

Indeed their only spark prior to the arrival of Messi came from the dancing Andres Iniesta, who once again played in an advanced role.

Guardiola replaced Eto'o and Henry, as well as midfielder Seydou Keita, throwing on Eidur Gudjohnsen after Messi and Bojan.

It was Messi that made the main difference, his stunning finish making it two wins out of two in the Champions League this season.

Sporting 2-0 Basel

Midfielder Leandro Romagnoli and striker Derlei scored second half goals to give Sporting a 2-0 home win over Basel.

Sporting broke the deadlock when Argentine playmaker Romagnoli took advantage of a mistake in the Swiss side's defence to open the scoring after 55 minutes.

Veteran striker Derlei, who hit the post after 75 minutes, made sure of victory with the second goal four minutes from the end from a fine, long pass by Romagnoli.

After a disappointing first-half, Sporting improved with Brazilian midfielder Fabio Rochemback's substitution by Montenegrin forward Simon Vukcevik.

Sporting, who lost their opening match at Barcelona, are equal on three points with Shakhtar Donetsk. Basel have none.

Basel, who defended in numbers and relied on counter-attacks, had their best chance when David Abraham missed the target in front of Sporting goalkeeper Rui Patricio after 23 minutes.

Jonathan Symcox and Reuters / Eurosport