UCL wrap: Ronaldo fires late winner for Man United, Juve beat Chelsea and Benfica thrash Barca

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Cristiano Ronaldo, Manchester United
  • Post published:September 30, 2021

Cristiano Ronaldo scored the winner in stoppage time as Manchester United beat Villarreal 2-1 at Old Trafford. Elsewhere, Juventus edged Chelsea 1-0 while Benfica thumped Barcelona 3-0.

Manchester United 2-1 Villarreal

Cristiano Ronaldo capped his record-breaking Champions League appearance by firing Manchester United to a stunning late comeback win over Europa League final foes Villarreal.

Just four months on from the penalty shootout loss to Unai Emery’s side in Gdansk, the sides met again with the Red Devils needing to make up for their shock defeat at Young Boys in the Group F opener.

A disjointed United were staring down the barrel of a third straight home defeat in all competitions when Paco Alcacer deservedly put Villarreal ahead.

But Alex Telles’ sublime volley gave Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side hope and Ronaldo secured a 2-1 win in stoppage time, sending Old Trafford wild on the night he broke Iker Casillas’ all-time Champions League appearances record.

Juventus 1-0 Chelsea

Federico Chiesa’s rocket finish stunned Chelsea in Turin as Juventus condemned the Blues to a second straight 1-0 defeat.

Italy forward Chiesa sneaked in on goal and lashed past Edouard Mendy as Chelsea were caught cold just 11 seconds into the second half.

The visitors were still processing their half-time adjustments when Juventus struck, and Thomas Tuchel’s side never recovered.

Chelsea had opened their Champions League defence with a patchy 1-0 win over Zenit St Petersburg at Stamford Bridge on 14 September, and this loss left their Group H status in the balance.

Benfica 3-0 Barcelona

Barcelona have made their worst start to a Champions League campaign ever after a chastening 3-0 defeat at Benfica.

The Portuguese side dealt a further blow to Ronald Koeman, with Barcelona slumping to their second successive defeat in the competition as they also finished the match with 10 men.

Darwin Nunez netted in the third minute and capped his side’s scoring with a penalty in the 79th, with Rafa Silva striking in between. Eric Garcia was sent off late on.

The defeat means Barcelona are under pressure to avoid missing out on the knockout stage for the first time since the 2003-04 season when they did not feature in the competition at all.

In other results:
Bayern Munich 5- Dynamo Kyiv
Atalanta 1-0 Young Boys
RB Salzburg 2-1 Lille
Wolsburg 1-1 Sevilla
Zenit 4-0 Malmo FF