LEICESTER, England — Leicester’s decision to prioritize the Champions League over the Premier League is being vindicated.
Riyad Mahrez made it three wins out of three for Leicester in Group G on Tuesday, clinching a 1-0 victory over FC Copenhagen that left his team requiring only one win from its final three games to make the knockout phase.
Halfway through the group stage, Leicester holds a five-point lead over Copenhagen and FC Porto. Danish league leader Copenhagen had been unbeaten in 21 matches in all competitions before being sunk by Mahrez’s first-half goal.
"The most important thing was to be solid because Copenhagen is difficult to play against — all the players are strong and physical," Mahrez said. "But we did it."
Mahrez had been restored to the starting lineup after being rested on Saturday at Chelsea, only coming off the bench in the second half of the 3-0 loss in London.
While Leicester is thriving in European football’s elite competition, Claudio Ranieri’s team is floundering in its English title defence.
Leicester has more points from three European games (nine) than from eight Premier League games (eight) this season, with the central England team only two points above the relegation zone at home.
"When you play in the Champions League your mind is more concentrated, you are very, very focused on the match," Ranieri said. "Of course you lose something when you play in the (Premier) League. But I hope soon we can change this mood … our goal is now to change our concentration in the Premier League."
Leicester’s domestic struggles have been epitomized by the goal drought being endured by Jamie Vardy, who was the team’s top scorer last season during the astonishing run to a first Premier League title.
Although Vardy failed to score for an eighth successive game on Tuesday, the striker was the architect of the only goal against the Danish visitors at the King Power Stadium. Five minutes before halftime, Vardy’s cross was headed by Islam Slimani to fellow Algerian Mahrez, who flicked the ball into the net from close range.
Leicester had a goal ruled out in the second half when Slimani was adjudged to be offside when he met Marc Albrighton’s cross.
In the closing minutes, goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel’s superb reflexes secured the three points for Leicester by keeping out Andreas Cornelius’ shot with a one-handed save.
Repeating the victory in the reverse fixture in two weeks in Copenhagen will guarantee a top-two finish for Leicester in Group G and secure passage to the round of 16.
In the other Group G game, FC Porto beat Club Brugge 2-1 to condemn the bottom-place Belgian side to a third successive loss.
Madrid cruises past Legia Warsaw in Champions League
MADRID — Gareth Bale opened the scoring as Real Madrid swept to a 5-1 victory over Legia Warsaw in the Champions League at the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium on Tuesday.
Cristiano Ronaldo remains two short of 100 career goals in European competition, but Bale, an own-goal by Tomasz Jodlowiec, and further strikes by Marco Asensio, Lucas Vazquez and Alvaro Morata sealed an emphatic victory in Group F.
The win allowed Madrid to keep pace with Borussia Dortmund, which held on for a 2-1 win at Sporting Lisbon. Madrid and Dortmund have seven points each after three matches, with Sporting staying on three points and Legia with zero.
Ronaldo entered Tuesday’s game having scored six goals in his last three matches, including five for Portugal in World Cup qualifying, but the forward failed to find the net despite a few good scoring chances.
His best opportunities came late, first with low shot that missed the far corner in the 83rd minute and then with a close-range strike that was saved in the 88th.
Ronaldo had been crucial when Madrid rallied late to beat Sporting in its last home game in the Champions League.
On Tuesday, Madrid looked vulnerable in defence during the early stages, but stayed mostly in control despite conceding a penalty that cut the team’s lead to 2-1 in the 22nd minute.
Bale had opened the scoring with a cross shot into the far corner from inside the area in the 16th, and Madrid quickly added to the lead when a shot by Marcelo deflected off defender Jodlowiec and into the net in the 20th.
Miroslav Radovic converted the penalty for Legia after being fouled by Madrid defender Danilo, but Asensio restored Madrid’s two-goal advantage after a short pass by Ronaldo in the 37th.
Madrid’s substitutes increased its lead in the second half, with Vazquez scoring in the 68th and Morata, set up by a pass by Ronaldo, in the 84th.
Madrid was without defender Sergio Ramos and midfielders Luka Modric and Casemiro because of injuries.
Buffon back to his brilliant best as Juve wins at Lyon
LYON, France — Goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon shrugged off recent uncharacteristic errors with an outstanding performance on Tuesday to help 10-man Juventus win 1-0 at Lyon in the Champions League.
Colombia midfielder Juan Cuadrado scored the winner in the 76th minute after cutting in down the right, beating full back Jeremy Morel and launching an unstoppable shot into the near top corner from the tightest of angles.
The win kept Juventus top of Group H.
But the hard work had been done by Buffon, especially after midfielder Mario Lemina’s sending off in the 54th.
Buffon was mobbed by his teammates and then by fans as he celebrated the win.
The 38-year-old Italian goalkeeper has been in the spotlight for the wrong reasons in the past two games, after a terrible mistake for Italy against Spain in a World Cup qualifier followed by another sloppy error against Udinese in Serie A last weekend.
But he guessed the right way and dived to his left to palm away striker Alexandre Lacazette’s penalty in the 35th minute.
Then, early into the second half, he made an astonishing save to deny Lyon forward Nabil Fekir, using his opposite hand to palm the ball over even though he was wrong-footed and looked well beaten.
Television images showed Lyon goalkeeper Anthony Lopes applauding the save.
He was not done yet, and Buffon somehow saved midfielder Corentin Tolisso’s point-blank header with his legs with 20 minutes remaining.
Lemina received a second yellow card after again chopping down Fekir, who stood out for a Lyon side showing total commitment but lacking creativity.
Because of injuries, Lyon’s 19-year-old defender Mouctar Diakhaby played only the second match of his career. The imposing centre back managed the rare feat of beating Italy centre half Leonardo Bonucci in the air but headed wide in the 14th.
It proved a sign of things to come as Bonucci struggled to deal with Diakhaby’s presence and hauled him down to give away the penalty. Lacazette’s spot-kick was well read by Buffon although too close to his body.
Juve did not threaten much until Cuadrado’s goal.
Striker Gonzalo Higuain had an angled shot and a smart header saved by Lopes, while Bonucci headed just wide on the stroke of halftime.
Lyon substitute Rachid Ghezzal’s angled drive from 20 metres rolled just wide in injury time.
Dortmund claims three points against Sporting
LISBON, Portugal — Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Julian Weigl scored in the first half to lead Borussia Dortmund to a 2-1 win over Sporting Lisbon in their Champions League match on Tuesday.
Bruno Cesar pulled one back for Sporting but the Portuguese side could not find the equalizer.
Aubameyang scored his ninth goal in 11 matches in all competitions this season in the ninth minute with a fine chip and Weigl doubled the lead in the 43rd.
Sporting raised the pressure after the break and Cesar fired home after an indirect free kick was awarded near the penalty spot when Marc Bartra played the ball back to Dortmund goalkeeper Roman Buerki.
Bas Dost then came close with a header, but it went just wide.
In the other Group F match, title-holder Real Madrid won 5-1 at Legia Warsaw to join Dortmund on seven points. Sporting remained on three points and Legia dropped to its third defeat in three matches.
Leverkusen and Tottenham draw 0-0 in Champions League
LEVERKUSEN, Germany — Tottenham held off Bayer Leverkusen’s constant pressure in the second half to earn a 0-0 draw in the Champions League match on Tuesday.
Vincent Janssen hit the crossbar for Tottenham in the first half and Dele Alli had the follow-up tipped over, but Leverkusen had the better chances after the break.
Spurs goalkeeper Hugo Lloris scooped the ball away on the line after an effort by Javier "Chicharito" Hernandez – with goal-line technology showing that the ball hadn’t fully crossed the line.
Monaco came from behind to salvage a 1-1 draw at CSKA Moscow and tops Group E with five points. Tottenham has four, Leverkusen three and CSKA two.
Monaco rescues draw against CSKA with late Silva goal
MOSCOW — Bernardo Silva’s late goal rescued a 1-1 draw for Monaco away to CSKA Moscow in the Champions League on Tuesday.
CSKA had been heading for victory thanks to a first-half goal from Ivorian striker Lacina Traore — who is himself on loan from Monaco — but Silva levelled in the 87th with a curling shot.
That enraged CSKA goalkeeper and captain Igor Akinfeev, who had produced some spectacular saves including a one-handed stop in the lead up to Silva’s goal. Akinfeev was unsuccessfully trying to stop his decade-long record of Champions League matches without a clean sheet from reaching 40 games.
Traore, sent on loan in the summer after a poor season in Ligue 1, had stabbed the ball into the net in the 34th minute after Monaco goalkeeper Danijel Subasic parried Zoran Tosic’s shot.
Still missing star striker Radamel Falcao, who is out with concussion, Monaco only sporadically tested CSKA’s tiring defence in the second half on a cold night in the Russian capital but surged late on to claim a draw through Silva’s goal.
The draw leaves Monaco top of Group E on five points, while CSKA is last and in danger of finishing bottom of its Champions League group for the fourth season in a row.
Porto beats Brugge 2-1 with injury-time penalty
BRUGES, Belgium — FC Porto came from behind to beat Club Brugge 2-1 Tuesday with an injury-time penalty to become a challenger in Champions League Group G.
Brugge, hit with a slew of injuries, got its first goal in the Champions League this year in the 12th minute when forward Jelle Vossen latched on to a rebound, kept a cool head in a goalmouth scramble and sent it home with a curling shot.
Increasing pressure paid off for Porto in the 68th minute when Mexican defender Miguel Layun was given too much space and hit home with a long-range drive from well outside the penalty area that gave goalkeeper Ludovic Butelle no chance.
In injury time, Andre Silva completed the comeback when he converted a spot kick after Corona was brought down.
Samir Nasri gives Sevilla 1-0 win over Dinamo Zagreb
ZAGREB, Croatia — Sevilla was rewarded for a display of attacking football with a well-deserved 1-0 victory over Dinamo Zagreb on Tuesday that kept up its momentum in the Champions League.
After winning three consecutive Europa League trophies, Sevilla continued to make it presence felt in Europe’s top competition – courtesy of a first-half strike from Samir Nasri on a rainy night at Zagreb’s Maksimir Stadium.
Nasri, who joined the Spanish side from Manchester City on loan ahead of the season, netted from close range in the 37th minute – just 15 minutes after he missed the target in a similar situation.
Sevilla has not conceded a goal in its three Champions League matches and is level on seven points with Group H leader Juventus, which won 1-0 in Lyon.
Lyon has three points, and Dinamo zero.
