Barca humbled, Ronaldo strikes late winner

In the second round of the UEFA Champions League group stage fixtures, Barcelona were humbled 3-0 by Benfica whereas Manchester United claimed a 2-1 win over Villareal courtesy of a late Cristiano Ronaldo winner.

Bayern Munich beat Dynamo Kyiv 5-0 with Juventus pipping Chelsea 1-0.

Koeman on brink at Barcelona

Ronald Koeman said “I don’t know” three times when asked if he has the support of the Barcelona board after a 3-0 defeat at Benfica in the Champions League left the Dutch coach on the brink of the sack.

Any credit gained from the morale-boosting victory over Levante on Sunday evaporated in Lisbon, where Barca were subjected to yet another European humiliation that puts their hopes of reaching the knock-out stage in doubt.

Ronaldo papers over the cracks

Cristiano Ronaldo’s record 178th Champions League game had been one of his quietest for 94 minutes until the ball broke kindly for him to break Villarreal hearts at Old Trafford on Wednesday.

Manchester United’s returning hero rode to the rescue just in time to salvage a 2-1 win from another performance which cast more doubt over where the Red Devils are headed under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.

The Norwegian badly needed three points after a run of three defeats in four games and got it with seconds to spare.

However, Solskjaer conceded United had “got lucky” and were “saved” by goalkeeper David de Gea as Villarreal enjoyed the overwhelming majority of the chances.