(Football news) The UEFA Champions League provided more drama and entertainment on Tuesday night. Cristiano Ronaldo and Robert Lewandowski grabbed the headlines yet again with stellar individual performances.
Chelsea secured a 1-0 win away at Malmo courtesy of a goal by Hakim Ziyech. Thomas Tuchel has managed to make this Chelsea side deadly even without a striker as both Romelu Lukaku and Timo Werner are injured. The Blues are currently 2nd on the table behind Juventus. Although their qualification to the Round of 16 isn't guaranteed yet it is extremely likely. Tuchel would like to have a proper go at trying to finish 1st by beating Juventus at the Stamford Bridge on 24th November. Chelsea's next game is against Burnley at home where they will be looking to put in a similar professional performance.
Robert Lewandowski led Bayern Munich to a 5-2 win over Benfica. The Polish striker scored a hat-trick and also set up Serge Gnabry's goal. He could've got 4 but unfortunately missed a penalty right at the end of the 1st half. Lewandowski marked his 100th UCL appearance by becoming only the 3rd player after Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo to score 80+ UCL goals. Gnabry and Leroy Sane were also on the scoresheet for Bayern while Moroto and Darwin Nunez scored for Benfica. Bayern's next game is against Freiburg in the league.
Ansu Fati's scrappy 70th minute goal was enough to secure 3 points for Barcelona against Dynamo Kyiv. Barcelona are now 2nd on the table with 2 matches left in the group stage. The Blaugrana's fear of not qualifying for the knockouts has been simmered down a bit but is still a possibility. Kyiv came agonisingly close on many occasions to scoring a goal but luck was on the Catalans side. Barcelona still haven't found or announced a permanent manager and by his first two games Sergi Barjuan is not likely to be given a permanent contract. Barcelona need to win their next La Liga game away at Celta Vigo to keep their league campaign alive.
Cristiano Ronaldo once again saved Manchester United and potentially Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's job as he equalised twice against Atalanta. The match ended 2-2 with Ronaldo scoring in injury time in both the half’s. Solskjaer's new 3 at the back system took a tumble as Raphael Varane suffered an injury forcing the Norwegian to return to a 4-2-3-1 formation. Manchester United were still not good enough as individual errors from Eric Bailly and David De Gea led to the two goals they conceded. Aside from his error for the 2nd goal, Bailly had a solid game and may have proved to Solskjaer that he can be trusted in the big games like the Manchester City one at the weekend where United may be without Varane and Victor Lindelof. Cristiano Ronaldo once again proved why he is Mr Champions League and the most clutch player of all time. 9 out of the 11 goals that Ronaldo has scored since his return to Manchester have been when his side were losing or drawing which is astonishing.
Juventus defeated Zenit 4-2 in Turin to seal their spot for the knockouts. The Old Lady have struggled in the Serie A this season as they sit 9th on the table. In the UCL it has been a completely different story as they have won all 4 of their games to secure a place in the round of 16. Paolo Dybala's 11th minute opening goal was cut out 15 minutes later by Leonardo Bonucci's own goal. Dybala scored again from the penalty spot before goals from Federico Chiesa and Alvaro Morata sealed the 3 points. Sardar Azmoun's goal at the death was just a consolation. Juventus' next game is against Fiorentina where they will have to try and make inroads on the Serie A table.
