Bayern Munich battled past 10-man Paris Saint-Germain 1-0, thanks to Kim Min-jae’s winner, to improve their chances of automatic qualification and leave the visitors in trouble after a third defeat in the competition.
With PSG’s only win so far coming against Girona in their opener they were desperate for points, but Bayern struck first with South Korea’s Kim heading home from close range after the goalkeeper Matvei Safonov fluffed a corner in the 38th minute.
Things got worse for Luis Enrique’s PSG when Ousmane Dembélé was dismissed for a lunging tackle that brought a second booking in the 57th minute, leaving an already struggling side with 10 players.
Safonov made amends for his earlier mistake by tipping a Jamal Musiala shot on to a post but, despite some late pressure, PSG could not deny Bayern.
The Bavarian club climbed to 11th with nine points from five games, a point off the top eight places that bring automatic qualification for the last 16. PSG are 26th on four, outside the playoff spots with three matches remaining.
An own goal by the RB Leipzig defender Castello Lukeba gave Inter a 1-0 home win, as the Italian champions moved provisionally to the top of the Champions League standings. Inter took the lead in the 27th minute after Lukeba turned the ball into Leipzig’s own net following Federico Dimarco’s free-kick.
Inter, who are unbeaten, top the table with 13 points from five games, one point above second-placed Barcelona – who defeated Brest 3-0 in a simultaneous kick-off – and Liverpool, who host Real Madrid on Wednesday. Leipzig are still in search of their first points of the league phase after five consecutive losses in the competition.
Robert Lewandowski scored twice as Barcelona cruised to a 3-0 home win against Brest, with the Polish striker joining Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi as the only players to pass the 100-goal mark in the competition.
Lewandowski put Barça ahead after being fouled by the goalkeeper Marco Bizot and converting from the spot in the 10th minute. The home side squandered several chances to extend their lead and were almost caught out by a couple of counterattacks from the French side before Dani Olmo got their second after dribbling past two defenders, with Lewandowski wrapping up the win in added time.
Diego Simeone was thrilled with Atlético Madrid’s commanding performance in a 6-0 thrashing of Sparta Prague, featuring two goals from Julián Álvarez. The Argentinian manager said he was excited with his compatriot’s evolution after a bumpy start to the season when he was signed for big money and high expectations from Manchester City.
“Anything that means winning makes me happy. If the team has the chance to keep playing like this and scoring goals, so much the better,” Simeone said. “We kept taking the game where we wanted it to go, we accumulated chances and Julián’s goal from a free-kick was a great goal.
“Julián is a player with the highest level, who has played for River Plate, Manchester City and Argentina. He is going from strength to strength since joining us, and we expect the best from him.” After Álvarez and Marcos Llorente gave Atlético a three-goal lead, Antoine Griezmann and Ángel Correa came off the bench to add to the feast, with Correa scoring twice in the final minutes.
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Milan earned their third successive win with a 3-2 victory at Slovan Bratislava, hanging on after the home side sought to stage a late comeback. The first half ended level with Milan’s Christian Pulisic opening the scoring in the 21st minute before a quick counterattack led to Slovan’s Tigran Barseghyan equalising three minutes later.
Milan struggled to put Slovan away before Rafael Leão, on as a substitute, put them back in front in the 68th minute and Tammy Abraham capitalised on a horror back-pass from David Strelec to extend their lead three minutes later. Slovan pulled a goal back through Nino Marcelli in the 88th minute but then had Marko Tolic sent off for two yellow cards in quick succession and Milan came through the late drama to move on to nine points.
Bayer Leverkusen got their Champions League campaign back on track with a 5-0 home win against Red Bull Salzburg, with Florian Wirtz scoring twice and the visitors having their goalkeeper Alexander Schlager to thank for avoiding an even bigger defeat.
Leverkusen, beaten 4-0 at Liverpool in their last game, raced into an early lead with Wirtz scoring from the penalty spot in the eighth minute and Alejandro Grimaldo from a free-kick three minutes later. Wirtz scored again on the half-hour as Leverkusen threatened to run riot, Patrik Schick added a fourth goal 16 minutes after the break and Aleix García rounded off the win.
Leverkusen’s return to winning ways, after they had also drawn 1-1 with Brest, moves them on to 10 points while Salzburg remain on three points after their fourth defeat in five matches.
Source: theguardian.com
