The Champions League matchday four has been and gone and a few teams have already qualified for the knockout rounds. Here are five takeaways from the midweek fixtures.
Champions League Matchday Four: Four Teams Already Through to Knockout Stages
Max Allegri’s Side Through to Round of 16 With Fourth Win From Four
Juventus may be spluttering in Serie A but they have a perfect record in the Champions League with four wins from four. Their latest result, a 4-2 victory over Zenit, ensured qualification to the knockout stages of the competition.
Paulo Dybala gave the Old Lady an early lead before a Leonardo Bonucci own goal levelled the match. However, Dybala restored Juve’s lead after the break from the penalty spot before Federico Chiesa and Alvaro Morata put the result beyond doubt. Zenit did score late on but it wasn’t enough.
Bayern Also Through With Perfect Record as Lewandowski Hits Landmark Amount of Goals
Bundesliga champions Bayern Munich will join Juventus in the next round after a comfortable victory over Benfica. Once again, it was a masterclass from striker Robert Lewandowski, who reached 80 Champions League goals quicker than Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi.
The Pole opened the scoring in the first half before Serge Gnabry doubled the Bavarians lead. Morata pulled one back for the Portuguese before Lewandowski missed a penalty. However, Leroy Sane added a third for the hosts after the restart.
Lewandowski then netted his second, which was his 80th goal in the competition, and completed his hat-trick either side of a Darwin Nunez effort.
Ronaldo Scores Twice as Red Devils Come From Behind Twice in Bergamo
Not for the first time this season, Cristiano Ronaldo came to the rescue for Ole Gunnar Solskjaer against Atalanta.
When the two sides met at Old Trafford on Matchday Three, the Portuguese netted a late winner as the Red Devils came from two goals down to win 3-2.
The 36-year-old was at it again in Italy, bringing Manchester United level on two separate occasions after falling behind. Once again, the second effort came towards the end of the match.
Solakjaer’s side sit level on points with Villareal in Group F but top the Spanish side ahead of their meeting later this month.
Liverpool Also Unbeaten After Champions League Matchday Four
Liverpool made it four wins from as many Champions League matches with a 2-0 victory over Atletico Madrid to qualify for the knockout stages.
Diogo Jota and Sadio Mane gave Jurgen Klopp’s side the lead inside an entertaining 21 minutes but a straight red card for Felipe turned the game into an uninteresting affair.
Both sides had goals ruled out by VAR but the result leaves Atletico one point behind Porto with two games remaining as Liverpool qualify for the next round.
Ajax With Another Big Win Over Borussia Dortmund
Ajax secured a memorable 4-0 win over Borussia Dortmund on matchday three but secured an equally notable victory in the reverse fixture at Signal Iduna Park.
Despite a red card for Mats Hummels after just 30 minutes, Dortmund took the lead through Marco Reus after Jude Bellingham was fouled in the Ajax box.
However, Erik ten Hag’s side levelled through Dusan Tadic before Sebastian Haller added his seventh goal in four games. Davy Klaassen sealed the win in stoppage time to send Ajax through with four wins from four games.
Dortmund remain in second spot but are level on points with Sporting despite having a worse goal difference to the Portuguese club.
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