Berlin, Sept. 30 (BNA): The devastated Bayern Munich confirmed its place among the Champions League favorites with a 5-0 victory over Dynamo Kiev on Wednesday while other big names suffered, including defending champion Chelsea.
A half-double by Robert Lewandowski, Serge Gnabry, Leroy Sane and Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting after the first half kept Bayern ahead in Group E while Barcelona continued to struggle with a second 3-0 loss, this time away to Benfica.
Lewandowski broke the deadlock with a penalty kick in his hand and then converted a pass from Thomas Muller for the second time.
Georgi Pushchan made various saves but was well beaten by Gnabry high under the bar and then grabbed by Sane from a tight angle.
Chubu-Moting’s header completed the defeat for the brilliant Bayern yet to lose a competitive game under coach Julian Nagelsmann, who said he was “satisfied with the long stints” and “a big step has already been taken” towards the knockout stage, reports the dpa.
Barcelona improved from their 3-0 loss to Bayern on the opening day but fell behind Darwin Nunez’s solo effort in just three minutes and Rafa Silva pounced on a rebound in the 69th.
Nunez scored a penalty kick after 10 minutes to complete the humiliation and increase the pressure on coach Ronald Koeman with his team at the bottom of the group.
“It is difficult to clarify where we are,” Barcelona midfielder Sergio Busquets said. “The matches were won in both penalty areas and we were not decisive on either side.”
Luc de Jong, though offside, at the post with the open goal summed up Barcelona, whose miserable day ended with the sacking of Eric Garcia.
It was Benfica’s first win over Barcelona since they clinched their first European title against them in 1961.
Cristiano Ronaldo set a record 178th appearance in the Champions League and capped his gala with an injury-time win to beat Villarreal 2-1 to exact revenge for their defeat in last season’s Europa League final.
Ronaldo, who outsmarted his former Real Madrid teammate Iker Casillas, stole an undeserved win for United with a clever exit from Jesse Lingard.
“I always had the feeling we could win the game,” United midfielder Bruno Fernandes told BT Sport. After Alex’s goal [Telles] The crowd boost was incredible.
Some amazing balls from David [De Gea] To keep the score 1-1. Then at the end…the attackers have that feeling to score and Cristiano helps us again.”
A superb shot by Alex Telles in one hour for the hosts that canceled out Paco Alcacer’s goal almost immediately.
“Ronaldo is the kind of player who gets one chance and takes it,” Villarreal defender Pau Torres said. “That’s what happened.”
United are second in Group F with three points, equal to Young Boys, who beat them on the first day. Atalanta is fourth in the lead after beating the Swiss team 1-0.
Champions Chelsea dominated the ball away to Juventus in Group H, and their hosts in Turin secured a famous 1-0 victory thanks to Federico Chiesa just 10 seconds into the second half.
Juventus leads the group with six points, three points behind Chelsea, equally with Zenit St Petersburg, who crushed Malmo 4-0.
Salzburg leads Group G with four penalties – the fourth and fifth in the tournament – from Karim Adeyemi, who won 2-1 against Lille. Wolfsburg and Seville are two points behind after a 1-1 draw.