A round-up of Wednesday’s action in the UEFA Champions League.
IMAGE: Robert Lewandowski celebrates scoring Barcelona’s fourth goal and registering a hat-trick in the Champions League Group C match against Viktoria Plzen, at Camp Nou, Barcelona, Spain, on Wednesday. Photograph: Pablo Morano/Reuters
Robert Lewandowski scored a hat-trick in his first Champions League game for Barcelona to power the Catalans to an emphatic 5-1 home win over Viktoria Plzen on Wednesday.
Midfielder Franck Kessie put Barca in front in the 13th minute, heading in his first goal for the club following a corner.
Lewandowski extended their lead with a right-footed finish into the bottom corner in the 37th, after Barca had survived a scare which almost led to them conceding a penalty and having a man sent off.
Viktoria were awarded a penalty and Barca defender Andreas Christensen was shown a red card for hauling down Jhon Mosquera but a VAR review showed Mosquera had struck Christensen with an elbow and the decision was overturned, the Plzen forward being shown a yellow card instead.
Plzen pulled themselves back into the game in the 44th minute with a header from Jan Sykora but Barca quickly restored their two-goal cushion when Lewandowski produced a diving header from an Ousmane Dembele cross in first-half stoppage time.
The Poland striker completed his treble midway through the second period, meeting a layoff from Ferran Torres and curling the ball inside the far post with one touch.
IMAGE: Robert Lewandowski celebrates scoring Barcelona’s second goal, his first in the match. Photograph: Alex Caparros/Getty Images
“That’s how Robert is, insatiable,” said coach Xavi Hernandez of the striker Barca paid Bayern Munich 45 million euros for in a big summer of spending in a bid to return the club to past glories.
“The way he trains, the way he helps the team, his humility, his work-rate…I can’t praise him enough because it’s not just about his hat-trick, it’s the way he works, how he knows to dominate the tempo of the game,” Xavi added.
It was Lewandowski’s sixth hat-trick in the Champions League and he became the first player in the competition’s history to score one for three different clubs, having netted trebles for Bayern and Borussia Dortmund.
Torres completed a hugely satisfying evening for Xavi Hernandez’s side by scoring the fifth goal to put Barca top of Group C. They head to Bayern next on Sept. 13, when Plzen host Inter Milan.
It was a near-perfect night for Barca and in stark contrast to their first game of the competition last season, when they were outclassed and beaten 3-0 by Bayern on their way to crashing out at the group stage for the first time in 21 years.
Liverpool get a thrashing from Napoli
IMAGE: Andre-Frank Zambo Anguissa scores Napoli’s second goal in the Group A match against Liverpool, at Stadio Diego Armando Maradona, in Naples, Italy. Photograph: Ciro De Luca/Reuters
Liverpool, Champions League runners-up last season, suffered a shock 4-1 defeat by Napoli in their opening Group A game at the Diego Armando Maradona Stadium.
The Italian side was magnificent in the opening 45 minutes, going in 3-0 up at the break, having opened up a woeful Liverpool defence at will.
Juergen Klopp’s team looked nothing like the side that reached the final last season, disorganised at the back and lacking any edge in midfield or attack.
Napoli have now beaten Liverpool on all three occasions they have hosted them in the competition’s group stage and Luciano Spalletti’s side will feel they have a real chance of getting out of a group that also features Ajax and Rangers.
Napoli were quick out of the blocks with Victor Osimhen hitting the post in the second minute and three minutes later they grabbed the lead when James Milner handled in the box and Piotr Zielinski converted the penalty.
IMAGE: Liverpool’s Joel Matip, Darwin Nunez and Virgil van Dijk leave the field in disbelief after the humiliating defeat. Photograph: Ciro De Luca/Reuters
Napoli were opening up Liverpool with ease and were awarded a second penalty when a VAR review ruled that Osimhen had been brought down by Virgil van Dijk. The Napoli forward opted to take the kick himself but his effort was saved by Alisson Becker.
Van Dijk had to clear off the line to keep out an effort by the outstanding Khvicha Kvaratskhelia after Osimhen had robbed a struggling Joe Gomez.
Gomez lost out again leading to the second goal when Andre-Frank Zambo Anguissa played a quick one-two with Zielinski and slotted in off the inside of the post.
Liverpool had a brief spell of pressure, Van Dijk forcing a save out of Napoli keeper Alex Meret with a header and Harvey Elliott putting the ball wide from close range at the back post.
But Napoli were devastating in possession and substitute Giovanni Simeone made it 3-0 just before the break, slotting home after Kvaratskhelia had beaten Trent Alexander-Arnold and Joe Gomez before slipping the ball across.
Liverpool replaced Gomez with Joel Matip but within two minutes of the restart Napoli went 4-0 up. Simeone found Zielinksi and the Pole’s shot was blocked by Alisson before he reacted sharply to poke the ball home.
Klopp’s side pulled a goal back two minutes later thanks to a fine curling shot from Luis Diaz but there was no way back for the English side.
Last-gasp Griezmann goal gives Atletico victory
IMAGE: Antoine Griezmann scores Atletico Madrid’s second goal in the Group B match against FC Porto, at Metropolitano, Madrid. Photograph: Juan Medina/Reuters
A goal in the 11th minute of stoppage-time by Antoine Griezmann earned Atletico Madrid a 2-1 home win over 10-man Porto in the Champions League after a frantic end to the match with all the goals coming in added time.
Atletico, who were without a victory in their last eight home fixtures in European competition, are level on three points in Group B with Club Brugge, who beat Bayer Leverkusen 1-0.
With the sides meeting in the competition’s opening group fixture for the second year in a row, the game sprung to life after a dull first half when Atletico midfielder Koke smashed home in the 50th minute but the goal was ruled out for offside.
Atletico goalkeeper Jan Oblak was crucial to the hosts keeping a clean sheet through regulation time as the Slovenian made several good saves, including from a fine effort by Stephen Eustaquio in the 54th minute.
Eustaquio went close again and Oblak saved well from Joao Mario.
In the 81st minute, Porto were reduced to 10 men after striker Mehdi Taremi received a second yellow for diving inside the box.
Atletico had failed to register a single shot in the second half as full time approached but a minimum of nine minutes were added on following a lengthy delay when Porto midfielder Otavio was injured and had to be carried off the pitch on a stretcher.
Atletico defender Mario Hermoso opened the scoring two minutes into stoppage time when his deflected shot from the edge of the box left Porto keeper Diogo Costa helpless.
Porto midfielder Mateus Uribe levelled four minutes later from a penalty after Hermoso handled the ball inside the area.
With a 1-1 draw looming at the Metropolitano Stadium, substitute Griezmann sealed victory for the hosts with a close-range header in the 101st minute after Axel Witsel set the Frenchman up with a superb header following a corner.
Atletico next travel to Leverkusen on September 13 when Porto host Club Brugge.
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