Real Madrid and Bayern Munich, two heavyweights in European football, already winners of the Champions League, achieved their second victory in the group stage of the ‘Champions’ on Tuesday and stand out on the way to the round of 16.
At the opposite level is Benfica, who lost for the second time and had no margin for error anymore, on the same day that Sporting de Braga recorded a historic victory 3-2 against Union in Berlin.
In Milan, Benfica met Inter, last season’s finalists, again on a path that also included the ‘red players’, losing again 1-0, a result that could have been even worse.
The goal, from Frenchman Marcus Thuram, came in the 62nd minute, assisted by Dumfries, when the dominance of the Italian Championship leader was overwhelming.
Benfica’s next two matches in Group D of the Champions League are against Real Sociedad and add decisive weight to the ambition of the Portuguese, who are the only team without points in their group with two defeats and no goals.
We had 2️⃣8️⃣ goals this Champions Tuesday, and you can watch them all here #ChampionsELEVEN pic.twitter.com/2WgPUccYqB
– ELEVEN Portugal (@ElevenSports_PT) October 3, 2023
After the brilliant win at Luz, Salzburg ‘came to reality’ and lost 2-0 at home to Real Sociedad, with goals from Mikel Oyarzabal and Brais Méndez.
Real Sociedad and Inter have four points, Salzburg three and Benfica none.
In Group B, Real Madrid recorded a 3-2 victory over Naples, the Italian champions. With the same figures, Sporting de Braga triumphed at Union Berlin and turned a 2-0 deficit into a historic victory.
Ostigard and Zielinski, the latter from a penalty, scored the Neapolitans’ goals, but Viníciu Júnior, Bellingham and an own goal from goalkeeper Meret completed Madrid’s triumph.
The ‘merengues’, Minho’s next opponents in the competition, reach six points and have already played the theoretically most difficult match, putting them very well on their way to the ‘eighth’.
The ‘arsenalistas’ reached three points and equaled Napoli, their ‘executioner’ from the first round, while Union Berlin still failed to score.
In the Olympic stadium in the German capital, Becker, aged 30 and 37, scored twice for the home team. The Minho team’s response started at 41, with Niakaté’s goal, and in the second half, at 51, Bruma equalized with a great goal, before Castro secured the three points, with a goal of 90+4.
As with the Merengues, Bayern Munich dominates in Group A, with two wins. On Tuesday they triumphed in Copenhagen 2-1, with goals from Musiala and Mathys Tel, and are now isolated in the lead.
Raphaël Guerreiro did not leave the bench for the Bavarians, while Diogo Gonçalves left for Copenhagen.
In Manchester, Diogo Dalot had an unfortunate influence on the second goal of Galatasaray’s 3-2 win over United, who were ultimately reduced to 10 men due to Casemiro’s expulsion.
Bruno Fernandes was also a starter, a few holes below what he normally plays, while Sérgio Oliveira was a substitute brought on by the Istanbul team, in a match where Rasmus Hojlund ‘scored twice’ for the English, but the Turks scored through Zaha, Akturkoglu and Icardi.
Bayern remain with six points, Galatasaray have four, Copenhagen one and the Red Devils still have no points.
Fábio Vieira also came into the match, replacing the injured Saka, in the 34th minute in Arsenal’s 2–1 defeat in Group C in Lens.
The result – built on goals from Thomasson and Wahi for the French, and Gabriel Jesus for the Londoners -, combined with the 2-2 final against PSV-Sevilla, leaves the group still relatively undefined, with the four teams ‘in the race ‘.
In Eindhoven, Luuk de Jong and Teze scored for the Dutch team, while former athletes Gudelj and En Nesyri scored for the Andalusians.
Lens has four points, Arsenal three, Sevilla two and PSV one.
Source: DN
