Ronaldo’s late winner buoys Man United, while Juventus stifles defending champion Chelsea | CBC Sports

On his record 178th appearance in the competition, Ronaldo made his most decisive intervention with virtually the last kick of the game at Old Trafford to complete United’s dramatic comeback in a 2-1 victory over Villarreal on Wednesday.

Old Trafford erupted, with sprint great Usain Bolt among the United supporters celebrating as chants of “Viva Ronaldo” swept around the stadium.

It was Ronaldo’s fifth goal in five games since joining from Juventus for a second spell at United and definitely his most important.

Oh, and make that 136 goals in the Champions League — a record, naturally.

Where would United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer be without Ronaldo? It was looking like another chastening result for the Norwegian coach, who was starting to come under pressure with United having started Group F with a shocking 2-1 loss at Swiss outsider Young Boys and then losing back-to-back games at Old Trafford on the domestic front — one in the Premier League and another to get eliminated from the English League Cup.

The result broke a run of four straight 0-0s between the teams in Champions League play, dating back to pair group matches in 2005 and 2008.

The teams also met in the Europa League final in May, with Villarreal winning a penalty shootout following a 1-1 draw. Ronaldo wasn’t playing for United then, though, and is already proving a difference-maker.

Juventus shuts out Chelsea at home

Italy forwards Federico Chiesa and Federico Bernardeschi ran consistently through the heart of Chelsea’s defence, Romelu Lukaku was held in check, and Juventus convincingly beat the injury-depleted trophy defender 1-0 in the Champions League on Wednesday.

Ten seconds into the second half, Chiesa sprinted onto a through ball from Bernardeschi and beat defender Antonio Rudiger to score from a difficult angle.

“It should be impossible to concede an easy goal like this at this level in the first seconds of the second half,” Chelsea coach Thomas Tuchel said. “You know what’s coming, you have defensive organization like we have, so normally at all times it should be possible to defend it. And we got punished for it, of course.”

Bernardeschi nearly made it 2-0 when he tripped just as he was about to redirect a cross from Juan Cuadrado.

“We showed the real Juve spirit,” Chiesa said. “We tried to attack deep and into the open spaces.”

It wasn’t until the 75th minute that a decent cross found its way to Lukaku, who Chelsea bought for a club record $135 million US in August. But the Belgium striker’s ensuing header went well wide.

Lukaku had a close chance in the 83rd but again missed the target.

Juventus took control of Group H with a full six points. Chelsea and Zenit St. Petersburg have three points each and Malmo has zero.

Earlier, Zenit cruised to a 4-0 win over 10-man Malmo.

Barcelona stunned by Benfica

After yet another demoralizing loss, struggling Barcelona faces a grim future in the Champions League.

The Catalan club followed its 3-0 opening loss against Bayern Munich with another 3-0 defeat at Benfica on Wednesday. Bottom of its group, Barcelona suddenly sees itself in danger of not reaching the knockout stage for the first time since 2001.

“We are in a critical situation,” Barcelona captain Sergio Busquets said. “We have zero points after the first two rounds.”

Darwin Nunez scored twice — including three minutes into the match — and Rafa Silva added another goal at the Stadium of Light to help Benfica end a 60-year winless streak against Barcelona. It was its second victory in eight matches against the Catalan club.

The loss added more pressure on Barcelona coach Ronaldo Koeman, who hasn’t been able to make the team perform and has been at odds with club president Joan Laporta and even some of the players. The Dutch coach has said Barcelona has no significant chances of winning any titles this season.

Last season Barcelona failed to reach the quarterfinals for the first time since 2006-07, losing to Paris Saint-Germain in the round of 16 and ending its record run of 13 consecutive last-eight appearances.