UEFA Champions League round-up: Bayern Munich rip Arsenal apart, Barcelona Chelsea notch wins
German giants Bayern Munich demolished Arsenal as they put five past Petr Cech in a 5-1 win at the Allianz Arena in their Champions League group stage clash on Wednesday night. Thomas Muller bagged a brace as Robert Lewandowski, Arjen Robben and David Alaba all got on the scoresheet for Bayern. Olivier Giroud added a consolation for the Gunners in the second half with a stunning finish.
Barcelona dispatched BATE Borisov with ease recording a 3-0 victory. Neymar scored twice for the Spanish giants as Luiz Suarez added a goal of his own. There would be concerns in the Barca camp as Ivan Rakitic had to be withdrawn in the first half due to an injury.
Willian saved Chelsea’s blushes with a well taken free kick late in the second half to win the game 2-1 for his side. Kiev defender Dragovic scored an own goal in the first half to gift Chelsea the lead but made amends with an equaliser in the second half. The victory was a huge relief for Jose Mourinho and his team who have had a torrid time in the season so far.
Other games saw AS Roma narrowly beating Bayer Leverkusen 3-2 in an entertaining clash in Rome. FC Porto beat Israeli side Maccabi Tel Aviv 3-1 away from home and Olympiacos came from behind to beat Dinamo Zagreb 2-1 at home.
Meanwhile, AA Gent pulled off a shock 1-0 victory over Spanish side Valencia and the impressive Zenit St Petersburg blanked Olympique Lyon 2-0 in France.
Group E
Defending champions Barcelona welcomed Belarusian minnows BATE Borisov to the Nou Camp. The hosts started the match on the attack as expected and dominated the opening exchanges. But they were dealt a severe blow as influential Croatian midfielder Ivan Rakitic limped off the pitch with an injury adding to manager Luis Enriques woes.
BATE held firm until the 30th minute when Filip Mladenovic brought down Munir in the box and the hosts were handed a penalty. Neymar calmly converted the spot kick and the teams went into the interval at 1-0 in favour of the hosts.
Luis Suarez doubled Barca’s lead in the 60th minute from a Neymar assist. The duo then exchanged roles as Neymar turned in his second of the night from a Suarez assist. The Spanish giants finished off the game 3-0 to stay on top of Group E.
AS Roma played host to Germany’s Bayer Leverkusen at the Stadio Olympico in Rome. The hosts raced onto the lead in the 2nd minute of the game as Mohammed Salah latched onto a through ball from Edin Dzeko to slide the ball home under Leno. It was Roma’s fastest ever goal in the Champions League. Roma doubled their lead on 30 minutes as Dzeko turned scorer after he converted a Nainggolan assist.
Bayer Leverkusen started the second half in spectacular fashion as they halved the deficit in the first minute through Mehmedi. They amazingly leveled the score on 51 minutes through Javier Hernandez who converted from a tight angle.
But the hosts took the lead on 80 minutes when Toprak was adjudged to have brought down Salah in the box. Toprak was sent off and a penalty was awarded to the hosts. Pjanic stepped up to take the spot-kick and converted to give Roma all three points in a highly entertaining 3-2 win.
Group F
Bayern Munich played Arsenal at the Allianz Arena in Munich. The hosts were out for revenge for last month’s defeat to the Gunners and began brilliantly as Robert Lewandowski beat the offside trap to calmly head past Cech from a wonderful Thiago assist on 10 minutes.
They doubled the lead on 29 minutes as Thomas Muller fired into the bottom corner off a deflection of Mertersacker. Rampant Bayern added a third through a peach of a finish from David Alaba who fired past Cech into the top corner from outside the box.
Guardiola brought on Robben in the second-half and he wasted little time as he finished high into the roof of the net from an Alaba cross on 55 minutes to make it 4-0. Giroud produced a stunning strike in the 69th minute to provide some respite for the visitors, but Thomas Muller had other plans as he added his second of the night and Bayern’s fifth on 89 minutes to complete the rout.
Second-placed Olympiacos hosted bottom of the group Dinamo Zagreb in the other Group F clash at the Stadio Karaiskaki in Greece. It was the visitors who took the surprise lead as Armin Hodzic scored in the 21st minute. But the Greeks came from behind in brilliant fashion through a brace from Pardo which included a 90th-minute winner giving them all three points.
Group G
Struggling Premier League club Chelsea played host to Dynamo Kiev at the Stamford Bridge. The home side failed to break down a resolute Kiev defence and needed an own goal from defender Dragovic to take the lead on 34 minutes when he headed a Willian cross into his own net. The sides rarely produced clear chances as they went into the interval at 1-0.
Dragovic turned from villain to hero for the visitors as he equalised on 77 minutes. But the impressive Willian restored Chelsea’s lead as he scored in the 83rd minute through a well-taken free kick. This victory would give Jose Mourinho and his men some breathing space on the back of severe criticisms aimed at them from all quarters.
Maccabi Tel Aviv of Israel welcomed Portuguese giants FC Porto. The visitors were easily the stronger of the two sides as they opened their account on 19 minutes courtesy of a Tello strike. They doubled their tally in the second half through Andre on 49 minutes. Porto then added a third as Layun scored in the 72nd minute.
The hosts pulled one back on 75 minutes through Zahavi. But FC Porto closed out the game 3-1 taking all three points.
Group H
French side Olympique Lyon welcomed Zenit St Petersburg to the Stade Gerland. Zenit, who were unbeaten in the group with three wins out of three, dominated the match. They deservedly opened the scoring through Dzyuba on 25 minutes. He then doubled his and the team’s tally in the second half as he scored past the Lyon keeper on 57 minutes.
The Russians held on to their lead to make it four wins out of four and stay at the top of the group and confirmed their place in the knockout stages.
AA Gent played hosts to Spanish side Valencia at the Ghelamko Arena. The hosts took the lead against their much-fancied opponents early in the second half on 49 minutes. The Spaniards looked unimpressive and found it hard to unlock an organised home defense. Gent held on to their lead to pull off a shock 1-0 win.