Beleaguered Barcelona thumped by Benfica

LISBON: Barcelona suffered more European humiliation on Wednesday after a 3-0 defeat by Benfica left them in serious danger of failing to make it out of their Champions League group.

A hammering here, which saw Darwin Nunez score twice, including a second-half penalty, also delivered another heavy blow to Ronald Koeman’s hopes of staying on as Barca coach.

Nunez’s double and a smart finish from Rafa Silva consigned Koeman’s team to a second consecutive 3-0 loss in Group E, after they were thrashed by the same scoreline at the hands of Bayern Munich earlier this month. Koeman’s tactics will again come under scrutiny, with Gerard Pique substituted after just 33 minutes, seemingly to avoid picking up another yellow card, only for Eric Garcia to be sent off late on for a second booking.

Frenkie de Jong, Barcelona’s most creative player for the first half an hour, was also shifted into central defence to replace the departing Pique. It is the first time since 2000 that Barcelona have lost back-to-back group games in the Champions League, which was also the last time the club failed to make the tournament’s knock-out stage.

They have a mountain to climb now to avoid the same fate, sitting bottom of the table, with Benfica four points ahead in second and a crunch game at home to Dynamo Kiev to come next month.

Chiesa fires Juve to win over champions Chelsea

TURIN: Juventus forward Federico Chiesa’s strike 10 seconds into the second half earned his side a hard-fought 1-0 win over holders Chelsea in their Champions League Group H clash on Wednesday. After a subdued first half with few chances, Chiesa exploded into life after the restart, rifling in what proved to be the winner on the end of Federico Bernardeschi’s clever pass. Chelsea continued to dominate possession but struggled to create a killer opening, while Bernardeschi wasted a glorious opportunity to make it 2-0.