MONACO: Argentine Lionel Messi lit up the European Super Cup on Friday as Champions League winners Barcelona defeated UEFA Cup holders Shakhtar Donetsk 1-0 after extra-time to claim the trophy.

With five minutes of extra-time left, and with a penalty shootout beckoning, Messi played a delightful one-two, between a line of defenders, with Pedro Rodriguez before the 22-year-old substitute slotted the ball past Andriy Pyatov in the Ukrainians’ goal. It was Barcelona’s third Super Cup and already their second piece of silverware of the season having captured the Spanish Super Cup.

Barcelona, who face a major battle to hold on to their Spanish title in the face of Real Madrid’s chequebook power, were the better of the two sides throughout. In a poor

first-half, Thierry Henry flashed a shot over the crossbar of Pyatov while the Shakhtar goalkeeper was also quick to pull off a save, low down from Messi.

It wasn’t until the 74th minute that a goal

looked as if it might arrive. Pyatov parried away a powerful drive from Messi

and then back-pedalled smartly to tip over a

clever chip from Henry. Ten minutes from time, Barcelona newboy Zlatan Ibrahimovic, who had struggled all night to make any sort of impression, was replaced by Pedro Rodriguez. Messi and Olexandr Kucher were booked for squaring up to each other in the penalty area.