Argentina 2-2 Paraguay: Nelson Valdez and Lucas Barrios cancel out Sergio Aguero and Lionel Messi's first-half strikes in stunning Copa America comeback

From embarrassing Victor Caceres with a nutmeg to harassing Miguel Samudio into a sloppy backpass that allowed Sergio Aguero to score the opener and slotting home a penalty himself, Messi was Argentina's architect.

But he can't do it alone.

Seven days on from leading Barcelona to Champions League glory in Berlin, he swapped one formidable front three for another as Aguero and Angel di Maria replaced Neymar and Luis Suarez.

That meant Juventus' Carlos Tevez had to make do with a place on the bench despite scoring 29 goals for the Serie A champions last season.

His former Manchester City team-mate Pablo Zabaleta missed out through injury but his cross-city rival Marcos Rojo was included at the back.

Paraguay, who reached the final four years ago without winning a match, will rely on an ageing squad to drag them out of the group stage in Chile, something that now looks a distinct possibility thanks to Lucas Barrios' late strike.

The opening stages were dominated by Rojo and his marauding runs down the left flank with the Manchester United full-back seeing his early effort deflected before a pinpoint cross was nodded over by Nicolas Otamendi.

But despite the abundance of attacking talent in their ranks, Argentina almost took the lead through a slice of luck as Javier Mascherano's drive was inadvertently deflected wide by Messi.

The treble winner, reunited with former Barcelona boss Tata Martino, had looked isolated on the right touchline but his influence grew as he drifted threateningly inside.

It was Aguero, Messi's international room-mate for the last decade, who benefited as he latched on to Samudio's loose ball and slotted calmly past Antony Silva. 

And the Paraguay defender's night went from calamitous to disastrous as he conceded a penalty minutes later. Although Di Maria was fouled in the area, Messi had again pulled the strings, jinking his way past four players before threading the ball through to his team-mate.

Argentina's captain stroked the ball to Silva's left to leave Paraguay with a mountain to climb and they were fortunate not to concede another penalty before the break when Paulo da Silva appeared to barge into Messi.

Having made a change at half-time, Paraguay almost fell further behind when Messi played a delightful one-two with Javier Pastore only for Silva to stand firm.