Powered by
Sponsored by

Champions League: Ronaldo nets winner for United, Barcelona humiliated by Benfica

Juventus upset defending champions Chelsea with a 1-0 victory

SOCCER-CHAMPIONS-MUN-VIL/REPORT Cristiano Ronaldo scored a late winner for Manchester United against Villareal in the Champions League | Reuters

Cristiano Ronaldo continued on his red-hot goal-scoring form for Manchester United, scoring the winner in stoppage time in the Champions League group stage match against Villareal. United won 2-1, Alex Telles and Villareal's Paco Alcacer being the other scorers.

The Portuguese goal machine had a relatively quiet night against the Europa League defending champions but he latched on to a loose ball from a tight angle to score his 136th Champions League goal.

A quick attack by Villareal in the 53rd minute ended in Paco Alcacer getting on the end of a low cross and guiding the ball past United goalkeeper David de Gea, who had to be called into action several times during the night owing to mistakes by his defenders.

United hit back six minutes later when Bruno Fernandes sent a floating free kick that found Alex Telles. The Brazilian left-back spanked the ball on the volley from a few yards outside the box, finding the back of the net to level the game in style.

Ronaldo, as he often does, had the final say and his late winner helped United collect their first points in the group stage this season, having lost their opening encounter to Young Boys.

New low for Barca

The misery continues to pile on for FC Barcelona, after Portuguese side Benfica registered a thumping 3-0 win over the Spanish side.

Barcelona are now without a win in their last five Champions League games.

Uruguayan striker Darwin Nunez scored twice and Rafa Silva added another, ending Benfica's 60-year run without a win against Barcelona.

Barca coach Ronald Koeman, whose job has been on the line for a while now, later said that he has support from his players but maybe not from the club.

The Catalan team is now bottom of their group, having shipped six goals in two games, including an identical 3-0 defeat at the hands of Bayern Munich in their opening game.

Juve overcome the Blues

Italian giants Juventus' season was given another shot in the arm with the team beating Chelsea 1-0 thanks to a goal from Federico Chiesa just moments into the second half.

Federico Bernadeschi found his compatriot with a through ball slicing through the Chelsea defence. Chiesa got the better of Antonio Rudiger and slotted it home.

After a slow start to the season, Juventus are on the rise once again under Massimiliano Allegri, and despite the absence of Alvaro Morata and Paulo Dybala, the team beat the defending champions with a typically Italian defensive display.

Chelsea, on the other hand, who were on a high until last week, suffered their second defeat in a row, after Sunday's Premier League loss to Manchester City.

The London team had 74 per cent possession of the ball and got away 16 shots—as against Juve's six—but managed to get only one on target.

But Juventus needed just their one shot on target to seal the game and collect three points, taking them to the top of their group table.

The next round of fixtures will be held on October 19/20.

📣 The Week is now on Telegram. Click here to join our channel (@TheWeekmagazine) and stay updated with the latest headlines