Serge Gnabry on Tuesday scored four second-half goals as Bayern Munich came from behind to hand last season’s runners-up, Tottenham Hotspur, a stunning 7-2 home defeat in the UEFA Champions League after Real Madrid escaped with a 2-2 draw against Club Brugge.
There were routine wins for Manchester City, Paris Saint-Germain and Atletico Madrid, while Cristiano Ronaldo netted in a comfortable Juventus victory, but most of the drama was in north London.
The evening started well for Spurs as Son Heung-min fired across Manuel Neuer and into the far corner to give Mauricio Pochettino’s team the lead against Bayern.
Photo: Reuters
However, the German champions came roaring back to leave Spurs on the receiving end of the biggest-ever home defeat for an English team in Europe. It was the first time they had ever conceded seven goals in a home game.
“In football it can happen. Every single touch went in. We are very disappointed and very upset, but we have to stay together,” a shell-shocked Pochettino told BT Sport.
Two super strikes from Joshua Kimmich and Robert Lewandowski had Bayern ahead at the break and Gnabry, the former Arsenal winger, then scored two goals two minutes apart to make it four early in the second half.
Harry Kane reduced the arrears from the penalty spot, but Gnabry ran through to complete his hat-trick on 83 minutes and he smacked in the seventh goal after Lewandowski had netted his second of the evening.
“It’s difficult to put this into words, winning 7-2. None of us would have imagined this,” Gnabry told SkySport. “To have scored four goals is also an amazing feeling. I imagine all the Arsenal fans enjoyed that one.”
The last player to score four in a game against English opposition was Lionel Messi for Barcelona against Arsenal in 2010.
The result means last season’s beaten finalists already face a struggle to qualify from Group B after they drew at Olympiakos in their opening game.
The Greek club were beaten 3-1 at Red Star Belgrade, despite Ruben Semedo giving them the lead as the second-half sending-off of Yassine Benzia for the visitors changed the game.
Milos Vulic equalized for Red Star before late headers by Nemanja Milunovic and Richmond Boakye secured victory for the Serbian side, who go to Spurs next.
Meanwhile, City beat Dinamo Zagreb 2-0 at the Etihad Stadium to make it two wins from two in Group C.
Ilkay Gundogan hit the bar for Pep Guardiola’s team in the first half before Riyad Mahrez squared for Raheem Sterling to tap in the 66th-minute opener.
Sterling then turned provider for Phil Foden to secure the points in stoppage-time.
In the same group, Israeli forward Manor Solomon netted the winner deep in injury-time as Shakhtar Donetsk came from behind to beat Atalanta BC 2-1 in Milan, Italy.
Duvan Zapata gave the Italian side a first-half lead after Josip Ilicic had a penalty saved, but Junior Moraes equalized for the Ukrainian champions prior to the break, before Solomon’s late heroics.
In Madrid, record 13-time champions Real were 2-0 down at halftime against Club Brugge, for whom Nigerian forward Emmanuel Dennis scored a first-half brace.
However, Zinedine Zidane’s team came storming back as Sergio Ramos headed in before Casemiro claimed a dramatic equalizer in the 85th minute, seconds after Ruud Vormer had been sent off for the visitors.
“I would like to keep the second half and forget the first,” Zidane said. “The goals we conceded were laughable.”
It is a first point for Real in Group A, which is led by PSG. The French club, again missing the suspended Neymar, beat Galatasaray 1-0 in Istanbul, Turkey, thanks to Mauro Icardi’s second-half goal.
Meanwhile, Gonzalo Higuain set Juventus on their way to a 3-0 win over Bayer 04 Leverkusen in Turin, Italy, before he set up Federico Bernardeschi to double their lead and Ronaldo completed the scoring late on.
That strike means the 34-year-old Portuguese forward has now scored a Champions League goal against 33 different opponents, equaling a record set by Raul.
Maurizio Sarri’s team share first place in Group D with Atletico, who ran out 2-0 winners at Lokomotiv Moscow thanks to second-half goals by Joao Felix and Thomas Partey.
Carlos Alcaraz on Monday powered into the French Open second round with a resounding win to start his title defense, while world No. 1 Jannik Sinner and three-time defending women’s champion Iga Swiatek also progressed at Roland Garros. Four-time Grand Slam champion Alcaraz struck 31 winners in a 6-3, 6-4, 6-2 victory over Italian qualifier Giulio Zeppieri and is to face Hungary’s Fabian Marozsan in round two. Alcaraz is now on an eight-match winning streak at the French Open and also took Olympic silver at Roland Garros last year, losing the final to Novak Djokovic. “The first round is never
TIGHT FINISH: Napoli only needed to do the same as or better than Inter, who won their game against Como 2-0 on the same day, leaving Napoli with a one-point lead The two players who Antonio Conte wanted more than any others secured Napoli their second Serie A title in three years on Friday. Scott McTominay scored with an acrobatic bicycle kick before halftime and Romelu Lukaku doubled the lead with a solo goal after the break in the decisive 2-0 home win over Cagliari. Conte became the first coach to win the Italian championship with three different teams. “Everyone contributed to this — but the coach most of all,” Napoli captain Giovanni Di Lorenzo said. “Napoli needed him to get back on top. He’s phenomenal.” Comparing it to his three Serie A titles won
The journey of Taiwan’s badminton mixed doubles duo Ye Hong-wei and Nicole Chan at the Malaysia Masters in Kuala Lumpur came to an end in the semi-finals yesterday after they suffered a 2-0 loss to China’s Feng Yanzhe and Huang Dongping. Ye, 25, and Chan, 20, teamed up last year and are currently ranked No. 23 in the world. The Taiwanese shuttlers took on China’s second seeds in the mixed doubles event, but proved no match for Feng and Huang, losing the match 10-21, 7-21. In the first half of the first game, the pairings were neck and neck at 6-7 until Ye
SSC Napoli coach Antonio Conte has dragged the team back from disaster and restored them to the top of Italian Serie A, but his future at the Scudetto winners is in doubt even after a triumphant season. The fiery 55-year-old has exceeded preseason expectations and bolstered his reputation as a serial winner by guiding Napoli to their fourth Scudetto, and second in three seasons. However, he might well be on his way in the summer after just one season at the helm as his charged relationship with Napoli owner Aurelio De Laurentiis has simmered throughout the campaign. Conte has said