HOLDERS REAL MADRID edged towards the last 16 of the Champions League, but disturbances between visiting Polish ultras and the police marred their 5-1 win at the Santiago Bernabeu on Tuesday.
Five fans and two police officers were treated for minor injuries after clashes outside the stadium before kick-off.
Uefa had already ordered the return match between the sides in two weeks’ time be played behind closed doors due to violence and racist abuse in Legia’s opening 6-0 defeat in Group F to Borussia Dortmund last month.
“Legia is a team with tradition and deserves to play in front of a full stadium,” said Legia coach Jacek Magiera.
“These incidents reflect negatively on us and we have to ensure they don’t happen again.”
Once the action got underway, Madrid had way too much firepower as Gareth Bale, a Tomasz Jodlowiec own goal and Marco Asensio handed the hosts a comfortable half-time lead despite Miroslav Radovic’s penalty.
Lucas Vazquez and Alvaro Morata came off the bench to round off the scoring after the break.
“I am happy with the result, the goals we scored and the chances we created,” Madrid boss Zinedine Zidane told BeIN Sports.
Dortmund beat Sporting Lisbon 2-1 in the other game in the group, meaning Madrid and the Germans remain tied at the top of the pool on seven points.
Real and Dortmund will mathematically seal their place in the last 16 should they repeat their success over Legia and Sporting respectively on 2 November.
Juan Cuadrado came off the bench to score a late winner as 10-man Juventus beat Lyon 1-0 in France in Group H.
The Italian champions saw Gianluigi Buffon save a first-half Alexandre Lacazette penalty and then had Mario Lemina sent off early in the second period.
But substitute Cuadrado struck in the final quarter of an hour to stun the home fans at the Parc OL and leave the Serie A giants, Champions League runners-up in 2015, in a strong position in their section.
They are level at the top of Group H on seven points along with Sevilla, who were 1-0 winners away to Dinamo Zagreb in Croatia, while Lyon sit four points back in third place.
Meanwhile, Borussia Dortmund tasted victory for the first time in almost a month as a gripping 2-1 victory over Sporting preserved top spot in Group F.
Thomas Tuchel’s highly touted side wavered in their Bundesliga ambitions either side of the international break, with a defeat to Bayer Leverkusen and a draw against Hertha Berlin leaving them languishing in fifth domestically.
But in the first half at the Estadio Jose Alvalade they relocated the rousing European form that resulted in a thrashing for Legia Warsaw and pegged back Real Madrid earlier in the round-robin phase.
Samir Nasri shone for Sevilla as they eased to an ultimately comfortable 1-0 victory over Dinamo Zagreb.
Manchester City-loanee Nasri has found a new lease of life since securing his switch to Jorge Sampaoli’s side, and his 37th-minute strike proved decisive in Tuesday’s tepid Group H encounter.
The42 is on Snapchat! Tap the button below on your phone to add!
