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Champions League Matchday Three Recap

Champions League Trophy

Another interesting week in the Champions League where Juventus and Dortmund showed that they are a class above the rest and where European royalty like Real Madrid and Manchester United showed they are a long way from being contenders.

Here is a recap of this weeks’s Champions League matchday 3 games:

Group A
Borussia Dortmund 4-0 Atlético Madrid

Dortmund earned a third win, and third clean sheet, to open a three-point lead over Atlético. Alex Witsel’s deflected drive late in the first half broke the deadlock, Raphaël Guerreiro added a 73rd-minute second after a fine move, then substitute Jadon Sancho got the third, all those goals made by Achraf Hakimi. Guerreiro also claimed the fourth, and victory in Madrid in a fortnight would take Dortmund through as group winners.

Club Brugge 1-1 Monaco
Both teams got off the mark in the group, though Monaco were dreaming of victory in Thierry Henry’s first European game in charge when, having seen Stevan Jovetić forced off with an early injury, 18-year-old Moussa Sylla coolly finished off Aleksandr Golovin’s pass just past the half-hour, beating his marker with pace evoking his coach. Sylla almost scored again, rolling a shot just wide, but on 39 minutes Wesley headed in Hans Vanaken’s cross and the hosts came close to winning it in the second half.

Group B
Barcelona 2-0 Inter Milan

Lionel Messi watched on at Camp Nou, his broken arm in a sling, but Barcelona still made it three wins out of three thanks to Rafinha’s 32nd-minute volley and Jordi Alba’s late strike, ending a seven-game run of victories for Inter. Like Dortmund, an away win on 6 November for Barcelona would be enough for qualification in first place.

PSV Eindhoven 2-2 Tottenham Hotspur
Spurs were 2-1 up and seemingly cruising until Hugo Lloris was sent off 11 minutes from time, after he brought down Hirving Lozano outside the box. PSV then levelled with three minutes left as Luuk de Jong prodded in Pablo Rosario’s cross, to ensure both teams secured a first point. Lozano had opened the scoring on the half-hour only for Lucas to equalise with a deflected shot shortly afterwards and Kane to head Tottenham in front early in the second period. Both sides trail Inter by five points.

Group C
Paris Saint-Germain 2-2 Napoli

Ángel Di María’s superb strike deep in added time rescued a point for Paris. A subtle Lorenzo Insigne chip had given Napoli a 29th-minute lead on a day when Marek Hamšík equalled Giuseppe Bruscolotti’s record of 511 appearances for the club. Mário Rui turned a Thomas Meunier cross into his own net just past the hour to restore parity but Dries Mertens restored the Napoli advantage with 13 minutes left as he pounced on a loose ball from a blocked shot. However, Napoli were eventually pegged back and dropped to second, though still a point ahead of Paris.

Liverpool 4-0 Crvena zvezda
Liverpool are the new leaders after their front three all got in on the goals. Roberto Firmino’s deflected effort on 20 minutes started them off, and Mohamed Salah powered in just before the break before converting a penalty early in the second half. With Salah, now up to 50 Liverpool goals, substituted, Sadio Mané stepped up for a 77th-minute spot kick only for Milan Borjan to save, but shortly afterwards the Senegalese did add a fourth.

Group D
Lokomotiv Moskva 1-3 Porto

Porto established a two-point lead over Schalke at the top of the group by inflicting Lokomotiv’s third group defeat. Iker Casillas got Porto going as he saved an early Manuel Fernandes penalty, before on 26 minutes Moussa Marega made no mistake from the spot for the visitors. Héctor Herrera soon doubled the advantage and Jesús Corona notched the third at the beginning of the second half, which ended with Lokomotiv down to ten men after Solomon Kverkvelia’s dismissal.

Galatasaray 0-0 Schalke
Goalkeepers Fernando Muslera and Alexander Nübel were the stars as neither team was able to force a breakthrough, though Schalke’s Breel Embolo did have a goal disallowed for offside and another attempt cleared off the line. Galatasaray remain a point behind second-placed Schalke.

GROUP E
AEK Athens 0-2 Bayern München

Bayern condemned AEK to a third straight defeat thanks to two goals in three second-half minutes from Javi Martínez and Robert Lewandowski.

Ajax 1-0 Benfica
Noussair Mazraoui struck two minutes into added time to ensure that Ajax remain level on points with Bayern at the top of the section.

GROUP F
Shakhtar 0-3 Manchester City

Kevin De Bruyne made his return for City, but it was David Silva, Aymeric Laporte and Bernardo Silva who found the net for Josep Guardiola’s charges.

Hoffenheim 3-3 Lyon
Lyon surrendered the lead but then came from behind to go 3-2 up – only for substitute Joelinton to earn the hosts a share of the spoils at the death.

GROUP G
Real Madrid 2-1 Viktoria Plzeň

Patrik Hrošovský’s 79th-minute effort led to a nervy finish, but goals from Karim Benzema and Marcelo enabled Madrid to go into this weekend’s Clásico with a victory under their belt.

Roma 3-0 CSKA Moskva
Edin Džeko scored two – making it six goals in his last three appearances – and set up Cengiz Ünder for Roma’s third as the Giallorossi kept pace with Madrid at the summit.

GROUP H
Manchester United 0-1 Juventus

Juventus are the only team with three wins from three after victory at Old Trafford that came courtesy of Paulo Dybala’s close-range finish.

Young Boys 1-1 Valencia
Young Boys got off the mark after Guillaume Hoarau’s penalty cancelled out Michy Batshuayi’s first-half effort. Valencia keeper Neto tipped on to a post late on.