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.
Freddie Freeman homered and drove in four runs, Shohei Ohtani also went deep and Roki Sasaki earned his first major league win as the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Atlanta Braves 10-3 on Saturday night for their seventh straight victory. The Dodgers have won the first two games of the series to improve to 5-0 against Atlanta this year. Los Angeles’ three-game sweep at home early in the season left the Braves 0-7. Sasaki allowed three runs and six hits over five innings. The 23-year-old right-hander gave up a home run to Ozzie Albies, but received plenty of offensive support in his
INTER AWAIT: Superb saves by PSG ’keeper Gianluigi Donnarumma inspired the victory, as Arsenal were punished for misses, including one by Bukayo Saka Arsenal on Wednesday fell short on the big stage again as their painful UEFA Champions League semi-final exit against Paris Saint-Germain left Mikel Arteta to rue his club’s failure to provide him with enough attacking options. Arteta’s side were unable to reach the Champions League final for the first time in 19 years as PSG clinched a tense 2-1 win at Parc des Princes. Trailing 1-0 from last week’s first leg in London, the Gunners made a blistering start to the second leg, but could not convert their chances as Gianluigi Donnarumma’s superb saves inspired PSG’s 3-1 aggregate victory. Arsenal were punished for
Bayern Munich on Sunday were crowned German champions for the 34th time, giving striker Harry Kane his first major trophy, after second-placed Bayer 04 Leverkusen drew 2-2 at SC Freiburg. Bayern’s 3-3 draw at RB Leipzig on Saturday, when the Bavarians came from two goals down to take the lead before conceding a stoppage-time equalizer, meant defending Bundesliga champions Leverkusen needed to win at Freiburg to delay the title party. Leverkusen were two goals down before scoring twice in the final 10 minutes, but Xabi Alonso’s side could not find a third, as Bayern reclaimed the title at the first attempt after
THRILLER: Raphinha gave Barca a 3-2 lead with two minutes remaining of regular time, but Francesco Acerbi equalized the game in the second minute of added time Davide Frattesi on Tuesday fired Inter into the UEFA Champions League final with an extra-time winner that gave the Italians a stunning 4-3 triumph over Barcelona, 7-6 on aggregate. Italy midfielder Frattesi won a tie for the ages under a downpour in Milan when he lashed home in the 99th minute, sending a packed and rocking San Siro wild with joy. Simone Inzaghi’s team will face either Arsenal or Paris Saint-Germain at the end of this month in Munich, Germany, where they would feel they have a great chance to be crowned kings of Europe for a fourth time after
RSS