The Champions League returned once more this week, with Matchday 3 of the group stages featuring some interesting games on Tuesday 23rd October. The biggest talking point of all was Cristiano Ronaldo facing his former club Manchester United.
Group E
AEK Athens 0 Bayern Munich 2
Ajax Amsterdam 1 SL Benfica 0
Round-up:
Bayern Munich got themselves an important win in their group game away to AEK Athens, which kicked off at 18:55 CEST – with the goals coming from Javi Martinez and Robert Lewandowski. Meanwhile, Ajax Amsterdam needed a 90th-minute goal from Noussair Mazraoui to beat Portuguese side SL Benfica.
As the group stands, Ajax Amsterdam are in first place ahead of Bayern Munich, with both on 7 points, whilst SL Benfica have 3 points, and AEK Athens are yet to get a point from their 3 games played so far. Ajax Amsterdam will confirm qualification to the knockout stages with a victory in their next game, whilst, Bayern Munich would seal qualification to the knockout stages if they win their next match and SL Benfica lose their next match.
Next matches: (both take place on November 7th)
Bayern Munich v AEK Athens, SL Benfica v Ajax Amsterdam
Group F
Hoffenheim 3 Lyon 3
Shakhtar Donetsk 0 Manchester City 3
Round-up:
In a six-goal encounter, Hoffenheim and Lyon shared the spoils after Joelinton scored a 90th-minute equaliser for the hosts. Lyon took the lead thanks to a 27th-minute goal from Bertrand Traoré, before Hoffenheim striker Andrej Kramaric scored two goals either side of half-time to take a 2-1 lead. However, Lyon hit back through goals from Tanguy Ndombélé and Memphis Depay to retake the lead before Joelinton rescued a point. Meanwhile, in the other group game, Manchester City, who were boosted by the return of Kevin de Bruyne from injury, cruised to a 3-0 win in Donetsk, becoming the first English side to beat Shakhtar Donetsk in Ukraine thanks to goals from David Silva, Aymeric Laporte and Bernardo Silva.
As the group stands, Manchester City occupy first place with six points, whilst Lyon are in second with 5 points. Hoffenheim and Shakhtar Donetsk occupy third and fourth place respectively, with both teams on 2 points. Manchester City will seal qualification to the knockout stages if they win their next game whilst Lyon also win their next match.
Next matches: (both take place on November 7th)
Manchester City v Shakhtar Donetsk, Lyon v Hoffenheim
Group G
Real Madrid 2 Viktoria Plzen 1
AS Roma 3 CSKA Moscow 0
Round-up:
Real Madrid, who have been rather out of form of late, particularly in their domestic league, eased the pressure on manager Julen Lopetegui by winning 2-1 against Viktoria Plzen at the Bernabeu, with goals coming from Karim Benzema and Marcelo. Meanwhile, AS Roma claimed a second successive victory in the Champions League after beating CSKA Moscow 3-0 at the Stadio Olimpico, thanks to an Edin Dzeko brace and a goal from Cengiz Ünder.
As the group stands, Real Madrid occupy first place ahead of AS Roma, with both teams tied on six points. CSKA Moscow lie in third place with four points, ahead of Viktoria Plzen who have just a solitary point to their name.
Next matches: (both take place on November 7th)
Viktoria Plzen v Real Madrid, CSKA Moscow v AS Roma
Group H
BSC Young Boys 1 Valencia 1
Manchester United 0 Juventus 1
Round-up:
Spanish side Valencia were held to a second successive draw, this time against Swiss side BSC Young Boys, in a match which kicked-off at 18:55 CEST. Michy Batshuayi gave Los Che the lead after 26 minutes, before it was cancelled out by the Swiss thanks to a 55th-minute penalty.
Meanwhile, in what was labelled as Cristiano Ronaldo’s “homecoming”, Italian champions Juventus prevailed at the ‘Theatre of Dreams’ after Paulo Dybala scored in the 17th minute, in a match where Juventus arguably outclassed Manchester United, and could easily have won the game by a bigger margin. Manchester United’s only real effort at goal of note came from Paul Pogba, who hit the post, with Wojciech Sczcesny getting somewhat fortunate that the ball did not go in the goal off his head, even though it would have been incredibly harsh on him were it to be the case.
As the group stands, Juventus occupy top spot with a 100% record having won all 3 group games, and will guarantee qualification to the knockout stages if they win their next game at home to Manchester United, irrespective of the result in the other match. Manchester United themselves lie in second spot with four points, whilst Valencia have 2 points and BSC Young Boys have just one point to their name.
Written by: Andrew Zarb from Zarbtimes
A Bird's Eye View 