Mata is the special Juan
J UAN Mata scored twice as Chelsea belied an offkey performance to win 4-0 at competition debutants FC Nordsjaelland and record the first victory of their Champions League title defence last night.
Having been held 2-2 by Juventus in their Group E opener, Chelsea’s campaign is now up and running, but the scoreline hid the fact that Roberto di Matteo’s side toiled for long periods at Copenhagen’s Parken Stadium.
Making their home debuts in the tournament – albeit away from their Farum Park home – Nordsjaelland took the game to the visitors after Mata’s 33rd-minute opener and threatened to equalise several times before David Luiz made the game safe 11 minutes from time.
Mata and Ramires added late goals to rubber-stamp Chelsea’s first away win in the competition’s group phase since a 2-0 success at Spartak Moscow in October 2010.
Robin van Persie put the bite on Romanian minnows CFR Cluj in Transylvania as the Manchester United striker’s double clinched a 2-1 win in Champions League Group H last night
Alex Ferguson’s side suffered an early fright in the region best known for providing the vampire-filled setting for Bram Stoker’s Dracula.
But Pantelis Kapetanos’s early goal for Cluj didn’t suck the life out of United, who maintained their 100 percent start to this season’s competition thanks to Van Persie’s brace.
United were rarely at their best at the Dr Constantin Radulescu Stadium, but Cluj ultimately lacked the quality to take advantage and Ferguson should take heart from the way Van Persie and Wayne Rooney combined for both goals.
Ferguson’s star strikers were starting together for the first time, with Javier Hernandez also included in an attacking line-up, as United looked to bounce back after Saturday’s surprise 3-2 home defeat by Tottenham.
Bayern Munich’s hopes of progressing to the knock-out phase suffered a mauling as they slumped to a shock 3-1 defeat at Belarus champions BATE Borisov in Minsk last night.
With the Group F match being held at Dinamo Stadium in Minsk, Bayern’s defence leaked goals either side of halftime as midfielder Aleksandr Pavlov, then striker Vitali Rodionov, put BATE on the way to their second straight European win. France wing Franck Ribery then pulled back a late consolation goal in the 91st minute, but a brilliant Renan Bressan goal from a counterattack left Bayern well beaten.
Having won 3-1 at Lille in France a fortnight ago, victory in Minsk leaves BATE on top of Group F, while Bayern failed to back up their opening 2-1 home win over Valencia.
This was Bayern’s first competitive match against a side from Belarus, but it proved to be a long flight back to Munich for last season’s beaten Champions League finalists.
Lionel Messi set up goals for Alexis Sanchez and Cesc Fabregas in Barcelona’s 2-0 Champions League Group G victory over Benfica last night, but their victory was overshadowed by a serious-looking arm injury to Carles Puyol. Sanchez
PICTURE: GETTY IMAGES put Barca ahead on six minutes. Fabregas added a second 10 minutes into the second half.
The Catalans had Sergio Busquets dismissed two minutes from time, but will be more concerned about captain Puyol, who landed awkwardly after leaping for a ball and was carried off on a stretcher in obvious pain on 78 minutes.
Barca have six points from two matches and head into Sunday's La Liga “Classico” against Real Madrid with confidence high.