Ronaldo and Co. open on high note
After watching rival Lionel Messi score twice the night before, Cristiano Ronaldo did likewise for Real Madrid to open its bid for a third straight Champions League title with a 3-0 win over Cypriot club APOEL on Wednesday.
Messi helped Barcelona beat Juventus by the same score Tuesday.
Harry Kane also chipped in two goals as Tottenham defeated Borussia Dortmund 3-1 at Wembley Stadium, while central defender John Stones surprised with two goals in Manchester City’s 4-0 away rout of Feyenoord.
Leipzig drew 1-1 with Monaco on the German team’s debut in Europe’s premier competition.
A look at Wednesday’s games:
GROUP E
Liverpool coach Juergen Klopp questioned officials after defender Joe Gomez was sent off in stoppage time of his side’s 2-2 draw with Sevilla at Anfield. But Klopp’s anger could have been directed at his players after they switched off at a throwin and allowed Joaquin Correa to earn a point for the Spanish team.
Sevilla took an early lead thanks to another defensive error, but Liverpool managed to lead at the break with goals from Roberto Firmino and Mohamed Salah.
Firmino missed a chance to make it 3-1 from a penalty before Correa curled home his finish.
Spartak Moscow drew 1-1 at Maribor, where the game was briefly held up after the referee narrowly escaped being hit by a flare.
GROUP F
John Stones was an unlikely hero as Man City equaled its biggest win in the competition and spoiled Feyenoord’s return after 15 years.
Stones, Sergio Aguero and Gabriel Jesus scored in the first half as the visitors made a mockery of Feye- noord coach Giovanni van Bronckhorst’s decision to play a five-man defence with a display of display of swift-passing, attacking football. Stones doubled his tally in the 63rd for City to win 4-0.
Goals from Taison and Facundo Ferreyra were enough for Shakhtar Donetsk to beat Napoli 2-1.
GROUP G
Founded in 2009, Leipzig announced its arrival in the Champions League when Emil Forsberg scored the club’s first goal in the competition. But Youri Tielemans replied straight away for Monaco to claim a point in a 1-1 draw.
Besiktas leads the group after a 3-1 win at Porto, which hadn’t conceded this season until Talisca, Cenk Tosun, and Ryan Babel all scored for the visitors at Estadio do Dragao.
GROUP H
Cristiano Ronaldo took his Champions League tally to 107 goals on his return as Real Madrid beat APOEL 3-0. It was the Portuguese star’s first game since being suspended for shoving a referee in the Spanish Super Cup final last month.
Sergio Ramos scored the third goal at Santiago Bernabeu Stadium, where Madrid hasn’t lost a groupstage game in almost eight years.
The Spanish powerhouse has won 12 of its last 13 Champions League home games.
Dortmund’s return to Wembley, where it lost the 2013 final, was another unhappy one after Pierre- Emerick Aubameyang’s would-be equalizer was ruled out despite TV replays showing the Gabon striker was onside.
Kane’s brace gave Tottenham only its third victory in 13 matches in a decade at Wembley, its temporary home for the season while White Hart Lane is being redeveloped.
The only setback for Tottenham in its 3-1 win was finishing with 10 men after Jan Vertonghen was sent off late for catching Mario Goetze in the face with a swinging arm.