sportggist

Champions League ⚽ Bayern Munich 2-0 AEk Athens ⚽ Manchester City 6-0 Shakhtar ⚽ Juventus 1-2 Manchester United ⚽ Victoria Plzeň 0-5 Real Madrid ⚽ Benfica 1-1 Ajax ⚽ Valencia 3-1 Young Boys ⚽ CSKA Moscow 1-2 Roma

Karim Benzema's first-half brace propelled Real Madrid to a 5-0 thrashing of Viktoria Plzen in the Champions League on Wednesday, putting the holders one win from the last 16 after a third straight victory under Santiago Solari. Former Real midfielder Solari took over from the sacked Julen Lopetegui as interim coach on October 29, and has now seen his side score 11 times without reply following wins over Melilla and Real Valladolid. "I think we played a very nice game today, we scored wonderful goals," Solari told reporters. "A 5-0 win in the Champions League -- I can only be happy with that." The 42-year-old Argentinian dismissed questions about his possible future as Real's head coach. "I only think about the next game. Football is about the present and it's the next game that matters," he said, with a trip to Celta Vigo on Sunday next up for Real. Benzema struck first in the 21st minute on Wednesday, weaving his way through the ...

Allegations of financial impropriety off the field couldn't derail Manchester City moving to the brink of the Champions League last 16 as Gabriel Jesus scored a hat-trick in a 6-0 thrashing of Shakhtar Donetsk on Wednesday. A series of allegations published by German magazine Der Spiegel in recent days claim City attempted to bypass Uefa's Financial Fair Play (FFP) regulations, but the English champions showed no signs of distraction as they swatted the Ukrainian aside and took control of Group F. David Silva had already prodded City into a 13th minute lead before they were awarded a comical penalty when Raheem Sterling tripped himself up as he bore down on goal under no challenge from a Shakhtar player. Hungarian referee Viktor Kassai remarkably pointed to the spot and Jesus stroked home the penalty. Jesus scored a second penalty after the break and completed his hat-trick with a lovely chipped finish in stoppage time following further goals from Sterling and Riyad...

Manchester United have been plagued by inconsistency this season and must put together a complete 90-minute performance to get anything from their Champions League game at Juventus later on Wednesday, Ryan Giggs has said. United were comprehensively outplayed in a 1-0 defeat to the Italian champions at Old Trafford last month and while they have beaten Everton and Bournemouth in their two matches since, Giggs said they are still blowing hot and cold. "I've been really impressed with United in the last four or five games, especially second half," Giggs, who won two Champions League titles at United, told British media. "But I don't know what it is. As a United fan you are scratching your head. They have proven they can give anyone a game, but if you don't turn up for 45 minutes you will not win. "You have to turn up for 90 minutes and United have the players," added Wales coach Giggs. "They were second best the other week, but I think...

Club Brugge kept their Champions League hopes alive on Tuesday with a crushing 4-0 win over Monaco that extended Thierry Henry's winless start in the principality to five games. Hans Vanaken turned in a low cross after 12 minutes to put the visitors ahead, and he doubled their lead five minutes later by scoring from the spot after Antonio Barreca handled inside the area. Brazilian striker Wesley made it three after 24 minutes when he fired home an angled drive from just outside the box. Brugge captain Rudd Vormer added a fourth with five minutes left. Monaco, whose last win came on August 11, were the stronger side in the first 10 minutes but crumbled during that killer 13-minute period. They improved in the second half, but Vormer's fourth goal condemned them to their heaviest ever home loss in Europe. The defeat - the 18th Champions League match in a row in which they have failed to keep a clean sheet - will heap more pressure on Henry, the former Monaco and Ar...

Liverpool face the threat of crashing out at the Champions League group stage after a shock 2-0 defeat to Red Star Belgrade in the Serbian capital on Tuesday. Milan Pavkov scored twice in seven first-half minutes to hand Red Star their first Champions League victory in 26 years. Liverpool still lead Group C but could fall behind Napoli or Paris Saint-Germain, who meet in Italy later on Tuesday, and face both those sides in their final two group games. Winners of the European Cup in 1991, Red Star hadn't made it beyond the qualifying stages of the Champions League since the following year. But roared on by a vociferous home support, the Serbian champions were inspired to condemn Liverpool to a second defeat in the group after also losing at Napoli last month. Last season's Champions League finalists paid for a sloppy start and Jurgen Klopp's decision to make three changes from the side that started a 1-1 draw at Arsenal on Saturday. Klopp handed a rest to Robe...

Thomas Delaney says record-breaking Borussia Dortmund are relishing their chance to claim a place in the Champions League knockout phase at Atletico Madrid and tighten their grip on top spot in the Bundesliga in their showdown with Bayern Munich next weekend. "It's going to be an awesome week - we're in good form and looking forward to it," said Denmark midfielder Delaney, who set up club captain Marco Reus for their winning goal in Saturday's hard-earned 1-0 win at Wolfsburg. It was Dortmund's 15th straight match without defeat in all competitions under head coach Lucien Favre, bettering the previous record of Thomas Tuchel, who led Dortmund to 14 games without defeat three years ago. "I didn't know about that," admitted Favre when asked about the new club record, ahead of a week in which he faces his biggest challenges since he took charge in July. The Germans travel to Atletico's Wanda Metropolitano stadium for Tuesday's Cha...