Barcelona’s Raphinha celebrates after scoring his side’s third goal during the Champions League opening phase soccer match between Barcelona and Bayern Munich at the Lluis Companys Olympic Stadium in Barcelona, Spain, Wednesday, Oct. 23, 2024. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)
| Photo Credit: AP
It was a great night for English clubs, and for Barcelona captain Raphinha.
Premier League leader Liverpool moved level on points with Aston Villa at the top of the Champions League standings Wednesday by extending its perfect record to three wins, and Manchester City set a new record for the most consecutive games undefeated in the history of the competition.
Liverpool edged Leipzig 1-0 with a goal from Darwin Nunez. City routed Sparta Prague 5-0 with Erling Haaland scoring twice.
Raphinha scored a hat trick as Barcelona finally beat Bayern Munich to end a series of six consecutive wins for the German team in their head-to-head meetings that included a humiliating 8-2 loss for Barca in the quarterfinals in 2020.
This time, Barcelona came out on top of an entertaining contest with a 4-1 statement win.
After three rounds in the revamped tournament, Liverpool and Aston Villa have a two-point lead over seven clubs including Man City and another Premier League team, Arsenal. The four English teams in the competition have conceded just one goal combined so far.
In Barcelona, the hosts opened the scoring within a minute as Raphinha was found by Fermin Lopez’s through ball, then rounded Bayern goalkeeper Manuel Neuer with ease.
Bayern leveled the score with Harry Kane’s volley, but Barcelona responded with one goal from former Bayern great Robert Lewandowski and two more from Raphinha, who was later substituted to a standing ovation.
It was Barcelona’s first win over Bayern since the 2015 Champions League semifinals. Barcelona came into the game without having scored in its four games against Bayern since an 8-2 loss in 2020. Barcelona coach Hansi Flick was Bayern’s coach in that game.
“It could have been a Champions League final. Winning like this, in front of our fans, is the best,” Raphinha said. “What we are doing on the pitch answers what Barça can do in this Champions League.”
Arne Slot has guided Liverpool to first place in the Premier League early in his tenure as Jurgen Klopp’s replacement and now has the team on a maximum nine points in the Champions League.
The latest win in Europe came at Leipzig, one of the clubs that Klopp will be overseeing in his new role as head of global soccer at Red Bull.
Nunez tapped in the only goal in the 27th minute from Mohamed Salah’s header back toward goal and could have earned a penalty in the 38th when he appeared to be tripped by Willi Orban.
“If we had left this place with a draw, I would have really felt we had lost something,” Slot told TNT Sports. “For the 70 previous minutes — except, maybe, for the first 10 — we dominated.”
Leipzig is the only team from the big 5 leagues to lose its three opening matches.
Manchester City’s new record won’t please the red half of the English city.
By beating Sparta Prague, the English champions set the record for consecutive games undefeated in the history of the competition — even stretching back before 1992 into the European Cup era. City is now on 26 matches unbeaten. Alex Ferguson’s Man United team from 2007-09 managed to stay unbeaten for 25 matches.
Phil Foden put the hosts ahead with less than three minutes gone. Haaland then scored an amazing goal off the back of his heel. John Stones made it 3-0, Haaland grabbed his second and Matheus Nunes added more luster to the emphatic win.
After beating Real Madrid 1-0 in the previous round, Lille won 3-1 at Atletico, which was unbeaten in its last 11 home matches in the Champions League.
The French side had just three shots on target, including a penalty kick.
Julian Alvarez put the hosts in front with an early opener before Edon Zhegrova curled in an equalizer close to the hour mark. Jonathan David then scored from the spot in the 74th minute and completed a brace in the 89th minute.
“We may not have played a great, great game, but we played the game we needed to tonight,” Lille midfielder Benjamin Andre said.
A superb goal from Pierre Lees-Melou helped minnows Brest to a 1-1 draw with Bayer Leverkusen as both teams remained unbeaten.
The French team played with verve throughout the second half but was unable to find the second goal.
Playing in Europe’s top competition for the first time, the newcomers faced their toughest test yet against the German champions, who had also won their first two matches in the revamped tournament.
Florian Wirtz’s low shot gave Leverkusen the lead in the 24th minute. It was his seventh goal in all competitions this season. Lees-Melou, who recently returned from a broken leg, leveled with a right-footed volley from outside the box. It was his first goal since March.
Elsewhere, Celtic struggled but frustrated Atalanta with a 0-0 draw. Mario Pašalić hits the woodwork for the Italian team.
Looking for a third consecutive win, Benfica lost 3-1 to Feyenoord, while substitute Marcus Thuram scored in stoppage time to help Inter Milan scrape a 1-0 win at Young Boys.
Published – October 24, 2024 06:00 am IST
