From Benzema to Mourinho: the major winners and losers from Tuesday’s Champions League fixtures

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The Champions League returned on Tuesday night with 16 teams in action in the third round of group stage fixtures.

There were some big teams involved with Manchester United taking on Juventus at Old Trafford, while Real Madrid, Roma, Bayern Munich and Manchester City were all also in action.

But who were the major winners and losers of the night?

Winner: Niko Kovac

For one reason or another, things just aren’t working out for Niko Kovac at Bayern Munich this season.

The Croatian took charge of the defending Bundesliga champions in the summer, but sees Bayern currently fourth in the league already having lost twice – to Hertha Berlin and Borussia Monchengladbach. Those two defeats came as part of a four-game winless run in all competitions, including a 1-1 draw with Ajax in the Champions League.

A 3-1 win over Wolfsburg at the weekend may have ended that run, but there was still pressure on Kovac to turn one victory into two, and that is exactly what happened in Greece on Tuesday.

It was a hard slog for Bayern, with the German side not looking at their best, but thanks to second-half goals from Javi Martinez and Robert Lewandowski, Kovac showed how his team can grind out wins against opposition whose main focus is to frustrate.

Things aren’t golden at the Allianz Arena, but it’s a step in the right direction.

Loser: Jose Mourinho

Jose Mourinho ended up walking to Old Trafford on Tuesday evening due to the horrific traffic situation near Manchester United’s home ground.

And the Portuguese may wish to do the same on the way back, to have some time alone with his thoughts, after seeing his side beaten by Juventus and all-but surrendering the chance to win Group H.

Despite being a goal down from the 17th minute, Mourinho did not make a single substitution to try and get his team back in the game. Though United’s bench on the night lacked serious game-changers with Eric Bailly, Tahith Chong, Matteo Darmian, Ander Herrera, Andreas Pereira and Fred the outfield options.

The Red Devils are now five points behind their rivals for the top spot with three games to go, knowing they must now rely on other teams beating Juventus if they are to have any hope of finishing above the Old Lady.

United have also failed to score in their past two Champions League games, both of which came at home, something the fans will not take lightly.

Winner: Karim Benzema

Like with Bayern Munich, things seriously haven’t been going Real Madrid’s way this season with the 13-time European champions without a win in their past five matches going into Tuesday’s encounter against Victoria Plzen.

Those five matches also saw Madrid score just one goal, with Marcelo managing what would purely be a consolation in a 2-1 defeat to Levante at the weekend.

But against Champions League minnows Viktoria Plzen, Los Blancos took just 11 minutes to get on the scoresheet with Karim Benzema breaking his own personal duck. The Frenchman hadn’t scored for Real since the first day of September, going eight matches without a goal across all competitions.

The goal saw Benzema open his Champions League account for the season, the fourteenth consecutive campaign in which the Frenchman has managed to score in the competition.

And Benzema is in esteemed company, with only two other players managing the feat: Real Madrid legend Raul, and Barcelona’s Lionel Messi.

If that wasn’t enough, Benzema is also the outright fourth top goalscorer in Champions League history with 57 goals, moving ahead of Ruud van Nistelrooy.

Loser: Valencia

With Juventus and Manchester United facing each other in the next two game-weeks, Tuesday represented the chance for Valencia to close in on the two giants of their group.

Up against BSC Young Boys, who had offered little resistance against United and Juventus in their first two games, Valencia really should have stamped their authority on the Swiss side, using it as a catalyst for their season.

And things had started so well, with Michy Batshuayi scoring midway through the first half – Valencia’s first goal in the Champions League this season. But Los Che couldn’t build on Batshuayi’s goal, instead conceded a penalty just 10 minutes after half-time.

Guillaume Hoarau converted from the spot, his own side’s first goal in the Champions League this season, to earn Young Boys a share of the points. Now Valencia are seven points behind group leaders Juventus and two behind United in second. But they could have been one ahead of United something which, if coupled with another win over Young Boys in their next game, would have really put Valencia’s fate in their own hands.

Winner: Kevin De Bruyne

Ladies and gentleman, he’s back.

After a fantastic year with Manchester City last season, in which he was integral to their Premier League title win, the world was robbed of Kevin De Bruyne just one game into the new campaign.

The Belgian suffered a knee injury in training just after the start of the Premier League season and only returned with a cameo appearance last time out against Burnley.

But on Tuesday night in Ukraine, De Bruyne was given his first start of the season, and wasted little time in showing the fans what they have been missing.

With City 1-0 up thank to David Silva, De Bruyne whipped in a pin-point corner which landed perfectly on the head of Aymeric Laporte who just had to guide it into the goal.

Loser: Shakhtar’s fearsome home record

Shakhtar Donetsk have been a horrible team for English sides to face in Europe, with the likes of Chelsea, Manchester City, Arsenal, Fulham and Tottenham Hotspur all having come unstuck against the Ukrainians at some point.

In seven home games against English opposition, prior to Tuesday night’s game, Shakhtar were unbeaten, winning five and drawing two. Something about the orange and black in Ukraine affected teams from the Premier League, whether it be at the Donbass Arena or OSK Metalist Stadion.

But that all came to an end as Pep Guardiola’s City side eased past their Ukrainian opponents on Tuesday night, thanks to goals from David Silva, Laporte and Bernardo Silva.

Whether this will affect Shakhtar’s home performances against English teams in the future, no one knows. But one thing is for certain. The curse is over.

Winner: Edin Dzeko

Edin Dzeko loves a goal in Europe. On Tuesday night, the striker scored another brace in the Champions League – making it 10 goals in his last eight appearances in the competition, a run stretching back to last season’s round-of-16 second leg against Shakhtar Donetsk.

In that time, only Real Madrid have stopped Dzeko from scoring in the Champions League, in the first game of this season’s group stage.

The brace also means Dzeko has scored 13 goals in the Champions League since the start of last season, with only Cristiano Ronaldo (15) managing more in that time.

The post From Benzema to Mourinho: the major winners and losers from Tuesday’s Champions League fixtures appeared first on Squawka News.



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