Most of the big guns recorded expected wins, but there were some surprising results, one of which was Qarabag picking a point against Atletico Madrid, while Basel’s win in Russia was another surprising one.
Group A
Benfica 0-1 Manchester United
Manchester United maintained their perfect record in the CL after a 1-0 defeat of ten-man Portuguese champions, Benfica.
The only goal of the game came through a bizarre moment, as debutant, Mile Svilar, 18, who became the youngest goalkeeper in CL history to make his debut, made a mess of a Marcus Rashford free kick in the second half.
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The youngster totally misjudged a well taken free kick by the 20-year-old Englishman, as United held on for their third win in three, though Benfica would be reduced to ten men when their captain, Luisao, received his second yellow and was subsequently sent off in added time.
The win saw the Red Devils remain top of the group on nine points, three ahead of second placed Swiss side, Basel, who shocked CSKA Moskva 2-0 in Russia.
Group B
Bayern Munich and Paris Saint-Germain recorded comfortable wins.
Bayern’s revival under new manager, Jupp Heynckes, continued, after they dispatched Scottish champions, Celtic 3-0 at the Allianz Arena.
Thomas Muller and Joshua Kimmich scored in the first half, before Mats Hummels wrapped up the game early in the second half to move the Bavarians second on six points, three behind leaders, PSG, who tore Belgian champions, Anderlecht, apart.
PSG thrashed Anderlecht 4-0, with their top stars all getting on the score sheet.
Kylian Mbappe gave the French giants an early lead, before Edinson Cavani doubled their advantage just before the break, becoming the third player in CL history to score in seven consecutive games.
World most expensive footballer, Neymar made it 3-0 after the break, with Angel Di Maria sealing the win with a fourth goal two minutes from time. A disappointing night it was for Anderlecht and their Nigerian forward, Henry Onyekuru, who barely got a kick in the game.
Group C
Chelsea vs Roma
The most anticipated game of the night didn’t fail to impress at least for the neutrals, as it ended 3 goals apiece, as Chelsea squandered a two-goal lead. All through the game Roma looked the more adventurous of both teams as the Blues were content with sitting back and catching the visitors on the break.
David Luiz opened the scoring with a sublime strike from outside the box before Eden Hazard made it two goals to the good after a beautiful counter-attacking move with Alvaro Morata.
However, Kolarov halved the deficit with a fine deflected strike before Edin Dzeko added a brace to put the visitors 2-3 ahead. Hazard then completed his brace with a precise header to rescue a point for Chelsea at the Bridge.
Earlier on, Atletico were held by 10-man Qarabag to a goalless draw back in Azerbajan as the Spanish team continue their search for a first win in the Champions League this season.
These results leave Chelsea top of the group with 7 points, Roma sit pretty in second with 5 points while Atletico Madrid and Qarabag occupy the third and fourth positions with one point separating both teams.
Group D
Barcelona vs Olympiacos
Barcelona maintain their 100% winning record in the Champions League with a 3-1 victory over Greek champions, Olympiacos who have now failed to pick up a point in 3 games and sit comfortably at the bottom of the group.
Goals from Dimitris Nikolaou (own goal), Lionel Messi – his 100th European goal and Lucas Digne despite a first half sending off for Gerrard Pique, ensured that Barcelona maintain a tight grip at the top of the table with 9 points. Nikolaou however went on to score the consolation for the visitors and also make up for his error earlier in the first half.
In the other group game, Juventus completed a much needed comeback to keep the pressure on Barca at the top of the table. The Italian giants had earlier gone down by a goal against Sporting Lisbon in Turin; but a sublime free kick from Pjanic brought the Champions right back as Mario Mandzukic added a second at the death to hand last year’s UCL finalists all three points.
This result leaves Juventus second with six points as Sporting Lisbon keeps the chase on with three points in third position.
Images: Champions League Facebook page
