KARIM BENZEMA’S FIRST-HALF brace propelled Real Madrid to a 5-0 thrashing of Viktoria Plzen in the Champions League on Wednesday, putting the holders one win from the last 16 after a third straight victory under Santiago Solari.
Former Real midfielder Solari took over from the sacked Julen Lopetegui as interim coach on 29 October, and has now seen his side score 11 times without reply following wins over Melilla and Real Valladolid.
Benzema struck first on 21 minutes, weaving his way through the Plzen defence and beating goalkeeper Ales Hruska with a low shot.
Casemiro made it two shortly afterwards by nodding in a Toni Kroos corner, and Benzema headed home himself in the 37th minute after Gareth Bale had found him unmarked just yards out.
Bale scored five minutes before half-time, beating Hruska with a low left-footed shot at his far post following Benzema’s flick-on header.
Kroos rounded off the scoring in the 68th minute, curling a sumptuous lob over the stranded Hruska following a pass from rising star Vinicius Junior, who came on as a second-half substitute.
The 18-year-old Brazilian, signed from Flamengo for €45 million in the close season, made his Champions League debut after scoring his maiden La Liga goal against Valladolid at the weekend.
Solari barks instructions from the touchline Petr David Josek
Petr David Josek
Real are now level with Roma at the top of Group G on nine points, after the Italians’ 2-1 win at CSKA Moscow earlier on Wednesday. CSKA are third with four points, while Plzen sit at the bottom and are out of contention to progress.
Real were without the injured Marcelo and fellow defenders Raphael Varane and Dani Carvajal, who did not travel to Plzen, a western Czech city famous for its lager beer.
Real overcame an early scare when Nacho cleared a low cross against his own crossbar, while Plzen midfielder Roman Prochazka curled a shot just past Thibaut Courtois’s goal.
But they were quick to regain their composure and put Plzen on the back foot.
Bale headed wide from close range and then saw his long-range shot kept out by Hruska while the Plzen defence cleared the ball away from Benzema hungry for a rebound.
Benzema then narrowly missed Bale’s cross just in front of a gaping goal.
Plzen, the reigning Czech champions, had two attempts on goal from long range in the second half, but Jan Kopic saw his effort stopped by Courtois and Patrik Hrosovsky, who scored for Plzen in their 2-1 loss in Madrid in October, fired wide.
Bale came close to scoring a second in stoppage time but was denied by the woodwork.
In a moment of controversy which will hardly arrive as a shock, Sergio Ramos left Plzen’s Milan Havel bloodied after he caught the defender with an elbow as he attempted to snuff out some danger. The Madrid skipper, however, received no punishment for his stray arm.
CSKA Moscow 1
Roma 2
CSKA Moscow supporters light flares during their side's Group G clash with Roma Pavel Golovkin
Pavel Golovkin
In Madrid’s group, Roma also inched closer to a place in the knockout stages of the Champions League on Wednesday thanks to a hard-fought 2-1 win over 10-man CSKA Moscow in the Luzhniki Stadium.
An early Kostas Manolas header and Lorenzo Pellegrini’s neat finish just before the hour mark gave Roma a win that puts them three points clear of second-placed Real Madrid at the top of Group G ahead of the European champions’ clash with Viktoria Plzen later on Wednesday.
Iceland midfielder Arnor Sigurdsson had levelled for CSKA, but Hordur Magnusson’s 56th-minute sending off following a rash challenge on lively Roma winger Justin Kluivert allowed the wasteful away side to regroup and eventually take all three points.
“Of course Magnusson’s sending off helped us a lot but it was the result of the pressure that we put on CSKA,” said Roma manager Eusebio Di Francesco.
“I want my men to play more confidently as today we should have scored the third goal to avoid a nervous ending.”
Manolas got Roma off to a flying start when he glanced Pellegrini’s fourth-minute corner past CSKA goalkeeper Igor Akinfeev.
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CSKA poured forward trying to pull level but the visitors’ defence stifled the home team and left them trying fruitless long-range shots.
The hosts had a rare chance to score in the 26th minute when Slovenian midfielder Jaka Bijol met Nikola Vlasic’s corner but could only direct his header straight at Roma ‘keeper Robin Olsen.
Five minutes later Roma replied with a powerful free-kick by Aleksandar Kolarov, which forced Akinfeev to push the ball to Edin Dzeko, whose attempt on the rebound flashed over the crossbar.
However CSKA came out all guns blazing in the second half and Sigurdsson levelled five minutes after the break, expertly taking a fizzing Ilzat Akhmetov pass under pressure in the area and stroking the ball past Olsen’s outstretched hands.
The hosts had their tails up but were soon on the back foot again when Magnusson chopped down Kluivert as the Dutch youngster scampered down the field, leaving his team a man down with just 11 minutes of the second period played.
Lorenzo Pellegrini nets the winner for the visitors Alexander Zemlianichenko
Alexander Zemlianichenko
Pellegrini made them pay just three minutes later when he slipped an offside trap and poked past Akinfeev to help Roma to record three consecutive Champions League wins for the first time since the 2008-09 campaign.
Roma are now five points ahead of third-placed CSKA — who are staring elimination in the face with two games remaining — and can seal qualification against Real Madrid at the Stadio Olimpico later this month.
“Many factors were against us today, Roma’s early goal, Mario Fernandes’ injury and Magnusson’s sending off,” said CSKA coach Viktor Gancharenko.
“I enjoyed Roma’s performance as they showed that they knew exactly what they needed to do to get the needed result. Hopefully, my men will learn the lesson.”
Bayern 2
AEK 0
Robert Lewandowski scored twice on his 100th CL appearance DPA / PA Images
DPA / PA Images / PA Images
Robert Lewandowski scored twice on his 100th Champions League appearance to leave Bayern Munich on the verge of the last 16 after a 2-0 win over AEK on Wednesday.
Lewandowski converted a first-half penalty then volleyed home with an athletic leap after the break to leave him on 56 goals in Europe’s premier club competition.
The victory saw Bayern claim top spot in Group E with 10 points.
Benfica’s 1-1 draw at Ajax virtually assures Bayern of a place in the last 16 and a point against Benfica in three weeks will guarantee their place in the knock-out phase.
“We took a good step forwards and had the game under control in the decisive moments,” said Lewandowski.
“We know that we can do better, but the win was very important for our self confidence.”
The win at the Allianz Arena will ease the pressure on head coach Niko Kovac with the defending Bundesliga champions only third in the table before Saturday’s showdown at leaders Borussia Dortmund.
Kovac abandoned his experiment of playing Joshua Kimmich in the central midfield role vacated by injury to Thiago Alcantara.
The initiative had only resulted in a performance Kimmich described as his “worst in three years at Bayern” in Saturday’s lacklustre league draw with Freiburg.
Instead, Javi Martinez controlled the midfield against Greek side AEK and it was a cross from Kimmich, who reverted to right-back, which led to the second goal.
Bayern had a scare after five minutes when AEK defender Vasilis Lampropoulos slipped his marker, Mats Hummels, and glanced his header just wide of the post from a corner.
Lewandowski nets for Bayern Imago / PA Images
Imago / PA Images / PA Images
The hosts eventually took the lead, at the sold-out Allianz Arena in front of 70,000, when Lewandowski was pulled down by his shirt in the area.
The Poland striker sent AEK goalkeeper Vassilis Barkas the wrong way as he converted the spot-kick with half an hour gone.
However after the disappointing draw with Freiburg, this was another unimpressive display from Bayern.
The hosts were too often content to defend deep rather than go on the attack, as they tend to do on European nights at home.
They made a brighter start to the second half when Kimmich fired in a cross which Leon Goretzka volleyed straight at Barkas just before the hour mark.
The Germans then began to turn the screw.
Lewandowski had a shot saved and AEK’s discipline waned as midfielder Andre Simoes and Lampropoulos both picked up yellow cards.
The hosts finally scored their second when Kimmich whipped in a corner, which was flicked on to Lewandowski, who volleyed home at the far post on 71 minutes.
There was plenty of relief at the three points won when the final whistle went, but Bayern will need to improve significantly if they are to be challenge for the title.
Lyon 2
Hoffenheim
Hoffenheim celebrate their late equaliser AP / PA Images
AP / PA Images / PA Images
In Manchester City’s group, Hoffenheim revived their hopes of reaching the Champions League last 16 as Pavel Kaderabek scored an injury-time equaliser to cap a dramatic comeback with 10 men and snatch a 2-2 draw at Lyon.
First-half strikes from Nabil Fekir and Tanguy Ndombele put Lyon in control at the Groupama Stadium, and Kasim Nuhu’s sending off shortly after the restart left Hoffenheim with a mountain to climb.
But Andrej Kramaric gave the Germans hope, and Kaderabek popped up at the back post to stab in a dramatic leveller in the second minute of added time and extend Hoffenheim’s debut group-stage campaign.
Lyon slip three points behind Group F leaders Manchester City — who thrashed Shakhtar Donetsk 6-0 at the Etihad Stadium — as they bid to qualify for the last 16 for the first time since the 2011-2012 season.
But Julian Nagelsmann’s Hoffenheim are now only three points adrift of Lyon in third, and host bottom club Shakhtar in a fortnight’s time.
Imago / PA Images
Imago / PA Images / PA Images
Lyon took the lead in bizarre circumstances as Ferland Mendy’s fierce drive against the post precipitated a frantic goalmouth scramble which ended with Fekir prodding in from just a couple of yards out.
It was a wide open game, much like the 3-3 draw between the teams in Sinsheim two weeks ago, and home goalkeeper Anthony Lopes made a magnificent save from Nico Schulz to deny the visitors an equaliser.
Lyon quickly went up the other end and doubled their advantage as Mendy powered forward again from wing-back and squared for the unmarked Ndombele to slot home with the aid of a big deflection.
It was the 21-year-old France midfielder’s second goal in as many games against Hoffenheim, having previously only scored once in his Lyon career.
Florian Grillitsch’s long-range strike was just centimetres from giving Nagelsmann’s away side a lifeline in the opening minute of the second half, but Kasim was given his marching orders for a second yellow card in the 51st minute.
Lyon missed chances to put the game to bed, though, with Jason Denayer seeing a goal ruled out for offside before Fekir fired straight at Hoffenheim ‘keeper Oliver Baumann, and Kramaric set up a tense final quarter of the match with a low 25-yard strike into the bottom corner.
Memphis Depay wasted yet another chance to seal Lyon the three points as his low effort was palmed away by Baumann, and Kaderabek met Joelinton’s free-kick in the dying seconds to make Lyon pay for their profligacy.
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Madrid continue resurgence under Solari while Bayern ease pressure on under-fire Kovac
Viktoria Plzen 0
Real Madrid 5
KARIM BENZEMA’S FIRST-HALF brace propelled Real Madrid to a 5-0 thrashing of Viktoria Plzen in the Champions League on Wednesday, putting the holders one win from the last 16 after a third straight victory under Santiago Solari.
Former Real midfielder Solari took over from the sacked Julen Lopetegui as interim coach on 29 October, and has now seen his side score 11 times without reply following wins over Melilla and Real Valladolid.
Benzema struck first on 21 minutes, weaving his way through the Plzen defence and beating goalkeeper Ales Hruska with a low shot.
Casemiro made it two shortly afterwards by nodding in a Toni Kroos corner, and Benzema headed home himself in the 37th minute after Gareth Bale had found him unmarked just yards out.
Bale scored five minutes before half-time, beating Hruska with a low left-footed shot at his far post following Benzema’s flick-on header.
Kroos rounded off the scoring in the 68th minute, curling a sumptuous lob over the stranded Hruska following a pass from rising star Vinicius Junior, who came on as a second-half substitute.
The 18-year-old Brazilian, signed from Flamengo for €45 million in the close season, made his Champions League debut after scoring his maiden La Liga goal against Valladolid at the weekend.
Real are now level with Roma at the top of Group G on nine points, after the Italians’ 2-1 win at CSKA Moscow earlier on Wednesday. CSKA are third with four points, while Plzen sit at the bottom and are out of contention to progress.
Real were without the injured Marcelo and fellow defenders Raphael Varane and Dani Carvajal, who did not travel to Plzen, a western Czech city famous for its lager beer.
Real overcame an early scare when Nacho cleared a low cross against his own crossbar, while Plzen midfielder Roman Prochazka curled a shot just past Thibaut Courtois’s goal.
But they were quick to regain their composure and put Plzen on the back foot.
Bale headed wide from close range and then saw his long-range shot kept out by Hruska while the Plzen defence cleared the ball away from Benzema hungry for a rebound.
Benzema then narrowly missed Bale’s cross just in front of a gaping goal.
Plzen, the reigning Czech champions, had two attempts on goal from long range in the second half, but Jan Kopic saw his effort stopped by Courtois and Patrik Hrosovsky, who scored for Plzen in their 2-1 loss in Madrid in October, fired wide.
Bale came close to scoring a second in stoppage time but was denied by the woodwork.
In a moment of controversy which will hardly arrive as a shock, Sergio Ramos left Plzen’s Milan Havel bloodied after he caught the defender with an elbow as he attempted to snuff out some danger. The Madrid skipper, however, received no punishment for his stray arm.
CSKA Moscow 1
Roma 2
In Madrid’s group, Roma also inched closer to a place in the knockout stages of the Champions League on Wednesday thanks to a hard-fought 2-1 win over 10-man CSKA Moscow in the Luzhniki Stadium.
An early Kostas Manolas header and Lorenzo Pellegrini’s neat finish just before the hour mark gave Roma a win that puts them three points clear of second-placed Real Madrid at the top of Group G ahead of the European champions’ clash with Viktoria Plzen later on Wednesday.
Iceland midfielder Arnor Sigurdsson had levelled for CSKA, but Hordur Magnusson’s 56th-minute sending off following a rash challenge on lively Roma winger Justin Kluivert allowed the wasteful away side to regroup and eventually take all three points.
“Of course Magnusson’s sending off helped us a lot but it was the result of the pressure that we put on CSKA,” said Roma manager Eusebio Di Francesco.
“I want my men to play more confidently as today we should have scored the third goal to avoid a nervous ending.”
Manolas got Roma off to a flying start when he glanced Pellegrini’s fourth-minute corner past CSKA goalkeeper Igor Akinfeev.
CSKA poured forward trying to pull level but the visitors’ defence stifled the home team and left them trying fruitless long-range shots.
The hosts had a rare chance to score in the 26th minute when Slovenian midfielder Jaka Bijol met Nikola Vlasic’s corner but could only direct his header straight at Roma ‘keeper Robin Olsen.
Five minutes later Roma replied with a powerful free-kick by Aleksandar Kolarov, which forced Akinfeev to push the ball to Edin Dzeko, whose attempt on the rebound flashed over the crossbar.
However CSKA came out all guns blazing in the second half and Sigurdsson levelled five minutes after the break, expertly taking a fizzing Ilzat Akhmetov pass under pressure in the area and stroking the ball past Olsen’s outstretched hands.
The hosts had their tails up but were soon on the back foot again when Magnusson chopped down Kluivert as the Dutch youngster scampered down the field, leaving his team a man down with just 11 minutes of the second period played.
Pellegrini made them pay just three minutes later when he slipped an offside trap and poked past Akinfeev to help Roma to record three consecutive Champions League wins for the first time since the 2008-09 campaign.
Roma are now five points ahead of third-placed CSKA — who are staring elimination in the face with two games remaining — and can seal qualification against Real Madrid at the Stadio Olimpico later this month.
“Many factors were against us today, Roma’s early goal, Mario Fernandes’ injury and Magnusson’s sending off,” said CSKA coach Viktor Gancharenko.
“I enjoyed Roma’s performance as they showed that they knew exactly what they needed to do to get the needed result. Hopefully, my men will learn the lesson.”
Bayern 2
AEK 0
Robert Lewandowski scored twice on his 100th Champions League appearance to leave Bayern Munich on the verge of the last 16 after a 2-0 win over AEK on Wednesday.
Lewandowski converted a first-half penalty then volleyed home with an athletic leap after the break to leave him on 56 goals in Europe’s premier club competition.
The victory saw Bayern claim top spot in Group E with 10 points.
Benfica’s 1-1 draw at Ajax virtually assures Bayern of a place in the last 16 and a point against Benfica in three weeks will guarantee their place in the knock-out phase.
“We took a good step forwards and had the game under control in the decisive moments,” said Lewandowski.
“We know that we can do better, but the win was very important for our self confidence.”
The win at the Allianz Arena will ease the pressure on head coach Niko Kovac with the defending Bundesliga champions only third in the table before Saturday’s showdown at leaders Borussia Dortmund.
Kovac abandoned his experiment of playing Joshua Kimmich in the central midfield role vacated by injury to Thiago Alcantara.
The initiative had only resulted in a performance Kimmich described as his “worst in three years at Bayern” in Saturday’s lacklustre league draw with Freiburg.
Instead, Javi Martinez controlled the midfield against Greek side AEK and it was a cross from Kimmich, who reverted to right-back, which led to the second goal.
Bayern had a scare after five minutes when AEK defender Vasilis Lampropoulos slipped his marker, Mats Hummels, and glanced his header just wide of the post from a corner.
The hosts eventually took the lead, at the sold-out Allianz Arena in front of 70,000, when Lewandowski was pulled down by his shirt in the area.
The Poland striker sent AEK goalkeeper Vassilis Barkas the wrong way as he converted the spot-kick with half an hour gone.
However after the disappointing draw with Freiburg, this was another unimpressive display from Bayern.
The hosts were too often content to defend deep rather than go on the attack, as they tend to do on European nights at home.
They made a brighter start to the second half when Kimmich fired in a cross which Leon Goretzka volleyed straight at Barkas just before the hour mark.
The Germans then began to turn the screw.
Lewandowski had a shot saved and AEK’s discipline waned as midfielder Andre Simoes and Lampropoulos both picked up yellow cards.
The hosts finally scored their second when Kimmich whipped in a corner, which was flicked on to Lewandowski, who volleyed home at the far post on 71 minutes.
There was plenty of relief at the three points won when the final whistle went, but Bayern will need to improve significantly if they are to be challenge for the title.
Lyon 2
Hoffenheim
In Manchester City’s group, Hoffenheim revived their hopes of reaching the Champions League last 16 as Pavel Kaderabek scored an injury-time equaliser to cap a dramatic comeback with 10 men and snatch a 2-2 draw at Lyon.
First-half strikes from Nabil Fekir and Tanguy Ndombele put Lyon in control at the Groupama Stadium, and Kasim Nuhu’s sending off shortly after the restart left Hoffenheim with a mountain to climb.
But Andrej Kramaric gave the Germans hope, and Kaderabek popped up at the back post to stab in a dramatic leveller in the second minute of added time and extend Hoffenheim’s debut group-stage campaign.
Lyon slip three points behind Group F leaders Manchester City — who thrashed Shakhtar Donetsk 6-0 at the Etihad Stadium — as they bid to qualify for the last 16 for the first time since the 2011-2012 season.
But Julian Nagelsmann’s Hoffenheim are now only three points adrift of Lyon in third, and host bottom club Shakhtar in a fortnight’s time.
Lyon took the lead in bizarre circumstances as Ferland Mendy’s fierce drive against the post precipitated a frantic goalmouth scramble which ended with Fekir prodding in from just a couple of yards out.
It was a wide open game, much like the 3-3 draw between the teams in Sinsheim two weeks ago, and home goalkeeper Anthony Lopes made a magnificent save from Nico Schulz to deny the visitors an equaliser.
Lyon quickly went up the other end and doubled their advantage as Mendy powered forward again from wing-back and squared for the unmarked Ndombele to slot home with the aid of a big deflection.
It was the 21-year-old France midfielder’s second goal in as many games against Hoffenheim, having previously only scored once in his Lyon career.
Florian Grillitsch’s long-range strike was just centimetres from giving Nagelsmann’s away side a lifeline in the opening minute of the second half, but Kasim was given his marching orders for a second yellow card in the 51st minute.
Lyon missed chances to put the game to bed, though, with Jason Denayer seeing a goal ruled out for offside before Fekir fired straight at Hoffenheim ‘keeper Oliver Baumann, and Kramaric set up a tense final quarter of the match with a low 25-yard strike into the bottom corner.
Memphis Depay wasted yet another chance to seal Lyon the three points as his low effort was palmed away by Baumann, and Kaderabek met Joelinton’s free-kick in the dying seconds to make Lyon pay for their profligacy.
Benfica 1
Ajax 1
More to follow.
© Agence France-Presse
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