Bayern, Liverpool, City victorious; Real Madrid scramble for a draw
PARIS: Holders Bayern Munich continued their perfect start to their Champions League title defence on Tuesday as Real Madrid had Casemiro’s late goal to thank for scrambling a 2-2 draw away to Borussia Moenchengladbach.
Liverpool and Manchester City also made it six points out of a possible six in Europe this season, after Bayern needed a late Joshua Kimmich strike to claim a 2-1 win at Lokomotiv Moscow in Group A.
Leon Goretzka put the Germans ahead early on in front of a limited crowd in the Russian capital, but Anton Miranchuk tucked in an equaliser for Lokomotiv in the second half— Miranchuk’s twin brother Aleksei scored for Atalanta in the Champions League last week.
But Bayern were not to be denied a record 13th straight win in the competition as Kimmich controlled a Javi Martinez pass and volleyed home low from outside the box 11 minutes from time.
“We had to work hard for the victory,” Kimmich admitted to broadcaster DAZN.
In the same group Atletico Madrid came from behind to beat Salzburg 3-2 with Joao Felix grabbing their late winner.
The Portuguese star had hit the bar with a stunning overhead kick before Marcos Llorente put Atletico ahead.
Dominik Szoboszlai levelled before the break and then a Felipe own goal put Salzburg
ahead just after half-time. However, Joao Felix equalised on 52 minutes and then won it five minutes from the end.
In Germany, Real were heading for another defeat in Group B, six days after losing 3-2 at home to Shakhtar Donetsk as Marcus Thuram netted twice for Gladbach, either side of halftime.
But Casemiro set up Karim Benzema to reduce the deficit in the 87th minute and the Brazilian midfielder then scored himself deep in injury time to salvage a point for Zinedine Zidane’s team. “If we continue to play like that, we’ll do great things and we’ll win matches, that’s for sure,” said Zidane.
It is Shakhtar who lead the section, though, by two points from Inter Milan and Gladbach, after a 0-0 draw with the Italians in Kiev.
Pep Guardiola’s City eased to a second straight win in Group C with Kevin De Bruyne setting up Ferran Torres for the early opener against Marseille after the hosts had carelessly ceded possession. Ilkay Gundogan and Raheem Sterling added late goals to make it 3-0, leaving Marseille without a point.
Meanwhile, Liverpool built on their 1-0 victory at Ajax last week by defeating Danish champions Midtjylland 2-0 in a low-key game behind closed doors at Anfield in Group D.