In a frenetic Matchday Three Tuesday, Manchester United came back from 2-0 down to pull off a 3-2 victory over Braga, while European champions Chelsea were shocked by Shakhtar Donetsk.
Barcelona found their way through Celtic in the fourth minute of stoppage time, eventually sealing a 2-1 victory, as Bayern Munich bounced back from their defeat to BATE Borisov with a vital 1-0 win over Lille.
At Old Trafford, Javier Hernandez reminded everyone of his own capabilities, scoring two wonderfully taken headers, sandwiched between a Jonny Evans equalizer, to keep United perfect in the Champions League.
It began disastrously for the home side, with United, like they have all season, making a poor start to the game.
The excellent Alan gave Braga the lead in the second minute, heading home off a corner from Hugo Viana - United falling behind for the eighth time in twelve games. It went from bad to worse in the 20th minute, when Alan again got in on the scoresheet.
Eder made a brilliant run from the left - leaving Michael Carrick, who was playing at center-back, for dead - before pulling the ball back to the Brazilian, who provided the perfect finish.
Five minutes later, though, United reduced the deficit. A nice run from Robin Van Persie down the left saw the striker brought down just outside the box; however when it would have been extremely easy for referee Milorad Mazic to blow the whistle for a foul, he let the game move on as Shinji Kagawa latched onto the ball before playing in a perfect cross for Hernandez to head in off the far post.
Everything good about United was coming through either Van Persie or Wayne Rooney, with the latter again having a decent game in a withdrawn role. However, Braga held on to their lead as the two teams went into the half-time break.
United had to wait until just after the hour mark to find the equalizer - Evans stabbing home off a corner from Van Persie, and from there on you knew a winner was coming.
The third goal - in the 75th minute - was well worth the wait. A wonderfully flighted cross from Tom Cleverley was powered home by an unmarked Hernandez, with the home side comfortably seeing off the remaining 15 minutes to take complete control of their group. The other match of Group H saw Galatasaray play out a 1-1 draw with CFR Cluj.
In Ukraine, Shakhtar now look favorites to qualify after pulling off a 2-1 victory over Chelsea. Alex Teixeira netted after just three minutes - slotting home past Petr Cech after the ball fell kindly to him off a deflection from John Terry.
Shakhtar took a deserved 2-0 lead in the 52nd minute. Fernandinho robbed Eden Hazard in the middle of the park, before Luis Adriano powered through the Chelsea midfield, to lay on a pass to the man that started the move - Fernandinho -- to score the second.
Oscar scored with two minutes remaining to reduce the deficit, but it was too little too late for the Blues as they now lie second in the table with four points and three behind Shakhtar.
Juventus failed to take advantage of Chelsea's slip-up, as FC Nordjaelland held the Italian champions to a 1-1 draw.
At the Camp Nou, Jordi Alba scored off the last kick of the game to break Celtic hearts in a 2-1 victory. Giorgios Samaras had opened the scoring for the Scottish champions in the 18th minute, before Andres Iniesta scored a fantasy equalizer on the stroke of half-time.
Results: Group E: Nordjaelland 1-1 Juventus; Shakhtar 2-1 Chelsea. Group F: Lille 0-1 Bayern; BATE 0-3 Valencia. Group G: Barcelona 2-1 Celtic; Spartak Moscow 2-1 Benfica. Group H: Galatasaray 1-1 Cluj; Manchester United 3-2 Braga.
