HAT TRICK FROM JOTA IN LIVERPOOL’S ROMP
Jurgen Klopp has made no secret of his admiration for Atalanta’s all-out attacking game.
Perhaps because it’s similar to the way his Liverpool squad pours forward with speed and precision, often overwhelming its opponents.
In the first-ever meeting between the two teams, Klopp’s side was the one doing the overwhelming in a 5-0 rout of last season’s surprise quarterfinalist in the Champions League on Tuesday.
Portugal striker Diogo Jota scored a hat trick to take his tally to seven goals in 10 matches across all competitions since joining Liverpool in September.
Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane also found the net for the 2019 champion, which strengthened its control of Group D with a full nine points.
“I don’t think any system could have defended tonight Sadio, Mo and Diogo, the way they played,” Klopp said.
Elsewhere on the third match day of the group stage, 13-time champion Real Madrid beat visiting Inter Milan 3-2 in Group B for its first win in this season’s competition courtesy of a late goal from Rodrygo.
Defending champion Bayern Munich got late goals from Jerome Boateng, Leroy Sane, Robert Lewandoski and Lucas Hernandez in a 6-2 win at Salzburg to preserve its perfect start in Group A.
Manchester City also stayed perfect with a 3-0 victory over Olympiakos in Group C with goals from Ferran Torres, Gabriel Jesus and Joao Cancelo.
In another rout, Borussia Monchengladbach beat Shakhtar Donetsk 6-0 in Group B to match its biggest European Cup away win.
Ajax and Porto also won, while
Lokomotiv Moscow and Atletico Madrid drew 1-1.
In all, there were 35 goals across the eight games — two shy of the record for one day.
Late flurry
Bayern Munich broke a deadlock with four late goals in its victory at Salzburg to extend its competition-record winning streak to 14 games.
Joshua Kimmich played a big role in keeping Bayern’s winning run intact with two assists.
Both teams observed a minute’s silence for the victims of an attack in Vienna on Monday.
In Moscow, Atletico opened the scoring with a header by Jose Maria Gimenez but Lokomotiv equalized with a penalty kick converted by Anton Miranchuk after video review determined there was a handball.
Bayern leads Group A with nine points, Atletico has four, Lokomotiv has two and Salzburg one.
Notable
Madrid captain Sergio Ramos scored his 100th goal across all competitions for the club. The home win moved Madrid out of last place in Group B.
• Kevin De Bruyne set up two goals in City’s win over Olympiakos. That gave the Belgium midfielder 14 assists in the competition since the start of the 2017-18 season, one short of Kylian Mbappe’s competition-leading 15. City only requires a draw in the return match in Greece after the international break to secure progress to the knockout stage with two group games to spare.
• Dusan Tadic scored one goal and set up another to lead Ajax to its win over Midtjylland, a day after being seemingly ruled out of the game by his coach after a positive test for the coronavirus.