The Blues beat the Blaugrana 3-0, who were down to 10 men after Araujo’s red card. Haaland came on in the final minutes but had no impact, and Leverkusen won in Manchester. De Zerbi beat Tonali
Italian smiles, in every sense. Napoli and Juventus win, Maresca and De Zerbi also win. Chelsea make the headlines with a resounding 3-0 win over Barcelona. The Blues break the deadlock with a clumsy own goal by Koundé, who makes a mess of things on the goal line. At the end of the first half, Araujo’s late tackle earned him a second yellow card, and with Barcelona down to ten men, the second half was all downhill. Estevao produced a stunning piece of skill, and Delap sealed the deal. Marseille, on the other hand, enjoyed a very vintage version of Aubameyang, who looked like the irresistible tornado of his golden years at Borussia Dortmund. The striker scored a brace to come back against Newcastle, who had taken the lead through Barnes.
Guardiola opted for rotation and his Manchester City side were punished without appeal. Bayer Leverkusen won deservedly, thanks to goals from Grimaldo in the first half (a fine diagonal shot in the box) and Schick (a clinical header) in the second. Not even Haaland’s introduction in the last half hour was enough to turn the game around. Borussia Dortmund cruised past Villarreal, with a brace from Guirassy and goals from Adeyemi and Svensson. Worth noting was Massa’s mistake, awarding a penalty to the Germans without sending off Foyth, who had cleared the ball off the line.
The VAR corrected the decision, but Guirassy missed from the spot. However, he was quickest to react to the rebound to double the Black and Yellows’ lead. Slavia Prague and Athletic Bilbao played out a goalless draw, with the Spaniards pushing harder after the break. Stanek did well to save the most dangerous shots.
Before allowing himself his first smile in the Champions League, José Mourinho waits nervously for the 90th minute, when Barreiro closes the game and effectively hands Benfica the victory on Ajax’s home turf. The coach, in fact, doesn’t bat an eyelid when Dahl unleashes a terrifying left-footed shot into the top corner at the start of the game. He follows the match closely, with the Dutch only posing a threat halfway through the second half. In the final minutes, Barreiro combined with Aursnes and did well to beat Jaros at his near post. Gala KO— It was a different story for Galatasaray, who, without the injured Osimhen, were surprised by Union Saint-Gilloise. The match was decided by David’s goal in the 57th minute, when he turned home an excellent cross from the byline. It was a negative Champions League debut for young defender Arda Unyay, who was sent off for a second yellow card in the final moments. Ajax-Benfica 0-2 (Dahl 6′, Barreiro 90′). Galatasaray-Union Saint Gilloise 0-1 (David 57′).
Chelsea-Barcelona 3-0 (own goal Koundé 27′, Estevao 55′, Delap 75′).
Manchester City-Bayer Leverkusen 0-2 (Grimaldo 23′, Schick 54′).
Marseille-Newcastle 2-1 (Barnes 6′, Aubameyang 46′ and 50′).
Borussia Dortmund-Villarreal 4-0 (Guirassy 45+2′ and 54′, Adeyemi 58′, Svensson 90’+5).
Slavia Prague-Athletic Bilbao 0-0.
