Bayern Munich thrashed Club Brugge 4-0 to go joint top of the Champions League table on Wednesday joined by Real Madrid who edged out a stubborn Juventus 1-0.
After Paris Saint-Germain, Arsenal and Inter Milan all won on Tuesday night to go onto nine points, the Bavarians swept aside their opponents while Los Blancos did a job on the Old Lady, but the end result is that a ‘big five’ leads the way.
Take a look at our SBOTOP review of the Tuesday matches… and then here we are with the Wednesday action.
Club Brugge were always going to be up against it in the Allianz Arena and it took all of five minutes for the Bavarians to break the Belgian defence as 17 year old Lennart Karl took a pass from Jonathan Tah and blasted the ball into the roof of the net. Wearing the Number 42 shirt previously worn by Jamal Musiala, Karl looks to be another exciting prospect for Die Bayern.
Ten minutes later it was 2-0 and this time the scorer needed no introduction as Harry Kane, one of the best goal hunters in football history, poached a close range second to give the visitors a mountain to climb. And the task became just about impossible when summer recruit Luis Diaz took a pass from Konrad Laimer and slotted home the third.
Nicolas Jackson got in on the action with 11 minutes to go and, at 4-0, that was game over.
Real Madrid’s win over Juventus took them up to nine points but they had to work hard for their three points. Los Blancos went ahead on 57 minutes when Jude Bellingham converted after Vinicius Junior had hit a post. With 28 shots the hosts threw all they could at the Italians but had to settle for one.
Liverpool discover how to win again
Eintracht vs Liverpool was one of the more intriguing ties of this round as Arne Slot’s Reds came into the match on the back of four consecutive defeats; and they went a goal behind when the Eagles scored with a sublime move on 26 minutes, finished by Denmark star Rasmus Kristensen. Liverpool levelled through former Frankfurt hero Hugo Ekitike when he ran through and beat the Eagles keeper with a fierce drive. When Virgil Van Dijk nodded home from a corner the Reds had turned the game around in the space of four minutes, and the hosts’ defence went missing again before half time as Ibrahima Konate headed home the next corner.
Cody Gakpo made it 4-1 midway through the second half finishing off a superb flowing move and on 70 minutes it was 5-1 as Dominik Szoboszlai got in on the goal action.
Much like the Premier League odds, the Champions League 2025 betting odds have drifted away from Liverpool; but this result may just get Slot’s men back on track as they move up to six points.
Bilbao see off unbeaten Qarabag to get off the mark
In other Champions League 2025 news one of the 100 per cent clubs took a tumble, but it wasn’t a major surprise as Athletic Bilbao came from a goal behind to beat Qarabag 3-1. The win got the Basque team up and running after they had lost both their openers, to Arsenal and Borussia Dortmund, while the Azerbaijani side had beaten Benfica and FC Copenhagen. The visitors took a shock early lead on just 48 seconds, the fastest Champions League goal this season, when Leandro Andrade took advantage of slack Bilbao defending to fire home. But a Gorka Guruzeta double, the second a cracker from distance, sandwiching a goal from Robert Navarro, gave Athletic Club all three points to kick-start their campaign.
Ajax however, stayed on nil points after they were battered 5-1 by Chelsea. The Dutch side started the game without a point and stayed rock bottom of the table after an abject display in West London. When Kenneth Taylor was red carded on 17 minutes their plight took a sharp turn for the worst and Marc Guiu took advantage just a minute later to give the Blues a lead. Moises Caicedo doubled the lead on 27 minutes with a long range deflected strike, but Ajax pegged the Blues back when Wout Weghorst converted a 33rd minute penalty.
Enzo Fernandez restored Chelsea’s two goal lead from 12 yards after being wiped out by Weghorst to make it 3-1 and it was 4-1 at the break after Youri Baas tripped Estevao to prompt the third penalty of the half. Fernandez handed the ball to the young Brazilian and he converted with ease.
Three minutes into the second half and it was 5-1 as teenager Tyrique George struck and Chelsea declared on five, ending the day on six points.
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