Here’s what happened on Tuesday in the UEFA Champions League, in case you missed it…
READ ALL ABOUT IT
• Roundup: Juve wins without Ronaldo, Silva rescues Man City, CSKA upsets Real & more
SCOREBOARD
AEK Athens 2, Benfica 3 || Bayern Munich 1, Ajax 1 || Hoffenheim 1, Manchester City 2 || Lyon 2, Shakhtar Donetsk 2 || CSKA Moscow 1, Real Madrid 0 || AS Roma 5, Viktoria Plzen 0 || Juventus 3, Young Boys 0 || Manchester United 0, Valencia 0
WHAT STOOD OUT
Uninspiring display from United
The Manchester malaise continues unabated following the Red Devils’ 0-0 draw against visitors Valencia. Boos rained down from Old Trafford after the final whistle, the United fans clearly upset and frustrated with what was another uninspiring display from Jose Mourinho’s men.
Kickoff was delayed by five minutes because United’s team bus managed to get stuck in traffic on the way to Old Trafford. Once there, United didn’t manage to get out of first gear on the pitch, with the fans routinely chanting “attack, attack, attack” as the team simply went through the motions, with the exception of Marcus Rashford. It wasn’t until the final 30 minutes that United looked like it might score, with Romelu Lukaku having a curling effort turned away by Valencia goalkeeper Neto.
After a week that saw United lose to second-tier Derby County in the English League Cup and West Ham United in the Premier League, Mourinho was looking for a strong reaction from his players, but he didn’t get it, with Alexis Sanchez being the worst culprit – the Chilean hardly influenced maters before being subbed out.
Mourinho has now gone four consecutive home games in all competitions without a win for the first time in his managerial career. One wonders if this is the beginning of the end for the Portuguese manager.
Surprising results
Manchester United wasn’t the only heavyweight who struggled on Tuesday. Rivals Manchester City needed a late goal from David Silva to pull out a win over Hoffenheim in Germany. The Blues dominated proceedings with their trademark passing and possession game, but found it difficult to break down the Germans. The decisive breakthrough came when Silva picked the pocket of a Hoffenheim defender and then scored from in close, helping City to earn its first win of the group stage.
Everton loanee Nikola Vlasic took just 65 seconds to score, capitalizing on a disastrous pass by Real Madrid’s Toni Kroos to put CSKA out front. The Russians never looked back after that, as they looked to build upon their advantage, while at the same time expertly thwarting the Spaniards at every turn.
And what about Bayern Munich, who hosted Ajax? This had mismatch written all over out, but the Dutch grew in confidence after conceding an early goal and eventually equalized. After that, Bayern goalkeeper Manuel Neuer was called upon to make some crucial saves in order to allow the Germans to escape with a share of the points.
Dybala shines for Juve
It’s fair to say the Paulo Dybala has been overshadowed by Cristiano Ronaldo since the Portuguese’s arrival in Turin. At times, Dybala has looked out of sorts for Juventus, and far from his best.
But the Argentine reminded everybody why he’s still a vital figure for the Bianconeri, netting a hat trick in a 3-0 win over Swiss champions Young Boys. With Ronaldo suspended and watching from the stands, Dybala put on a show against the visitors, with his opener scored off a volley that ranks as the best goal of the day.
Dybala joined some pretty elite company, as he became just the fourth Juventus player to score a hat trick in the Champions League, after Filippo Inzaghi (two), Alessandro del Piero and Arturo Vidal.
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BEST GOAL
In the fifth minute, Juventus’ Leonardo Bonucci played a long, raking ball over top of Young Boys’ defence from just inside his half. Paulo Dybala darted in behind defender Mohamed Ali Camara, and fired a lovely volley past Young Boys goalkeeper David von Ballmoos.
BEST MOMENT
AS Roma’s Justin Kluivert celebrated his goal by paying tribute to former Ajax teammate Abdelhak Nouri, who recently came out of a year-long coma after suffering a cardiac arrhythmia attack that left him with severe and permanent brain damage.
BEST GAME
Benfica jumped out to a 2-0 lead away to AEK Athens, but then had a man sent off in the 45th minute. Viktor Klonaridis scored a pair of goals after halftime to draw the hosts level before Alfa Semedo rescued Benfica with a goal in the 74th minute of what was a wild, and at times topsy-turvy, contest.
BEST QUOTE
“We are Manchester City, a fantastic club, but without the history in this competition that you can drew on to win tough games in this competition. We are learning, we are improving, that is why I’m so happy after this.” – Pep Gaurdiola, on his team’s come-from-behind win away to Hoffenhim.
BEST TWEET
THE GAME WITHIN GAME
Real had plenty of good looks on goal in Russia. Creating scoring chances wasn’t the issue, but rather finishing them off.
SIX PACK OF STATS
• Manchester City’s Sergio Aguero is just the second player to score in five consecutive away Champions League appearances for an English team, after Ruud van Nistelrooy for Manchester United in 2003.
• Juventus is unbeaten in its last 19 home games in the group stages of the Champions League (with 11 wins) since a 4-1 loss to Bayern Munich in December 2009.
• At 19 years and 150 days, AS Roma’s Justin Kluivert is the second youngest Dutch player to start a Champions League game for a foreign team, after Jeffrey Bruma (19 years and 10 days for Chelsea in 2010).
• Nikola Vlasic’s goal for CSKA Moscow after 65 seconds is the fastest goal Real Madrid has conceded in the Champions League since March 2007 (Bayern Munich’s Roy Makaay, 10 seconds)
• Benfica is the 27th team to score 100 goals in the Champions League, and just the second Portuguese side after FC Porto.
• Lyon is unbeaten in its last five Champions League games (with two wins), a first since September-November 2008.
Stats courtesy of Opta
THREE STARS
1) Paulo Dybala, Juventus: With Cristiano Ronaldo suspended, the Argentine ace stepped up and led Juve’s attack by bagging a hat trick.
2) Edin Dzeko, AS Roma: The Bosnian also netted a hat trick, as Roma ran rampant over Viktoria Plzen at Stadio Olimpico.
3) David Silva, Manchester City: The Spaniard made a heads-up defensive play before scoring the winner in the 87th minute away to Hoffenheim.
