Paris: Under-pressure Real Madrid got back to winning ways against Viktoria Plzen in the Uefa Champions League, but were far from convincing.
Julen Lopetegui’s days as Madrid coach still look numbered despite seeing the reigning European champions beat Plzen.
Lopetegui’s position in charge of Real remains fragile despite his side claiming a first win in six games by beating Viktoria Plzen 2-1 at the Santiago Bernabeu.
Karim Benzema headed Madrid ahead early on, and Marcelo later doubled their lead before Patrik Hrosovsky scored for the Czech champions to set up a nervy finale.
Reports suggest Lopetegui may still not survive in the job until Sunday’s Clasico against Barcelona, but the result did at least keep Real level with Roma atop Group G.
“I am convinced I will be,” said Lopetegui when asked if he believed he would still be in charge against Barcelona.
Roma eased to a 3-0 win over CSKA Moscow, who had beaten Real in their last outing, with Edin Dzeko scoring a first-half brace before Cengiz Under sealed the points.
That game was overshadowed by reports that around 20 people had been injured — at least one seriously — when an escalator leading to a metro station in central Rome collapsed. Italian media said Russian football fans caused the accident.
Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City had little trouble against Shakhtar Donetsk, winning 3-0 in Ukraine to atone for a defeat there last season.
David Silva and Aymeric Laporte scored before Bernardo Silva sealed the win with a brilliant goal within seconds of coming off the bench in the second half.
Brazilian forward Joelinton’s stoppage-time goal earned Hoffenheim a 3-3 draw at home to Lyon, allowing City to lead the group from the French side.
Andrej Kramaric netted twice for Hoffenheim in between strikes from Bertrand Traore and Tanguy Ndombele, but Memphis Depay appeared to have won it for Lyon before Joelinton intervened.
Manchester United went down 1-0 to Juventus at Old Trafford after Valencia were held to a 1-1 draw by Young Boys in Switzerland.
Michy Batshuayi put the Spaniards ahead, but Guillaume Hoarau’s second-half penalty gave Young Boys their first point.
Meanwhile, Javi Martinez and Robert Lewandowski scored second-half goals as Bayern Munich beat AEK Athens 2-0 in Greece.
Niko Kovac’s team are level atop Group E with Ajax, who defeated Benfica 1-0 thanks to a deflected stoppage-time winner from young full-back Noussair Mazraoui.
— AFP
