Goals galore: The best of matchday three
Friday, October 24, 2014
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Wecome to the record books Luiz Adriano, FC Bayern München (briefly), Yordan Minev and Karim Benzema; UEFA.com reviews a week of 59 goals and more bests.
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Wecome to the record books Luiz Adriano, FC Bayern München (briefly), Yordan Minev and Karim Benzema; there is not even room to salute Chelsea FC's club-best 6-0 victory: UEFA.com reviews a week of 59 goals and more new marks in the UEFA Champions League.
Team: FC Bayern München
Up to Tuesday, AS Roma had only conceded six goals in nine competitive games this season, half of them in the 3-2 loss at Juventus. Bayern managed more than that in 90 minutes at the Stadio Olimpico as they produced a stunning 7-1 victory to end the week as one of just three teams on nine points alongside Borussia Dortmund and Real Madrid CF.
Arjen Robben scored two of those goals as he gave Ashley Cole perhaps the most torrid first half of his career. "I've never really experienced anything like this, especially not against a good team because Roma have a great team," the winger said. Roma coach Rudi Garcia admitted: "It was a tactical disaster."
Player: Luiz Adriano (FC Shakhtar Donetsk)
For a few minutes on Tuesday, Bayern had a record number of first-half goals in a UEFA Champions League game after going 5-0 up. By half-time, Shakhtar were 6-0 in front at FC BATE Borisov and Luiz Adriano had four of those, both competition records. The Brazilian converted a penalty after the break to match Lionel Messi's best of five in a game, while the 7-0 scoreline equalled the competition's biggest away win.
"Scoring a hat-trick in a match is fantastic; scoring five goals is immense," said Luiz Adriano, who also became Shakhtar's all-time leading scorer in the course of his five goals. BATE coach Aleksandr Yermakovich added: "We can only blame ourselves as we made too many mistakes."
Quote: "To be honest I'm not going home with a good feeling. The only good thing is that we won."
Klaas-Jan Huntelaar restrains his excitement after FC Schalke 04's last-gasp 4-3 defeat of Sporting Clube de Portugal, who had come back from 3-1 down with ten men.
Moment: Yordan Minev's Ludogorets winner
There were more firsts on Wednesday. Never before had a Bulgarian side mustered a UEFA Champions League point but in added time PFC Ludogorets Razgrad clinched a 1-0 victory against ten-man FC Basel 1893 through Minev's maiden goal for the club after more than three years. The result drew Ludogorets level in Group B with Basel and Liverpool FC, where they so nearly drew on matchday one.
Minev said: "I didn't really know what to do with the ball so I just hit it – that was a good decision, I guess." Playmaker Marcelinho revealed: "It is hard for him to score even in training."
Number: 40 (Karim Benzema)
Yeah, yeah, Cristiano Ronaldo's strike in Madrid's 3-0 win at Liverpool FC took him to 70 goals in the UEFA Champions League, back ahead of Lionel Messi and within one of Raúl González's long-standing record. But Benzema is after him, the France forward's two goals taking him to 40 in 57 appearances in the competition, reaching that mark quicker than Ronaldo did (and indeed everyone apart from Ruud van Nistelrooy and Messi).
Forty of course was also the number of goals on Tuesday night, a record-breaking group-stage average of five per game. The matchweek record of 63 stands though as the net was only found 19 times on Wednesday.
Photo: Kieran Gibbs (Arsenal FC)
Gibbs shows what it means to score in the last minute of a UEFA Champions League game; not long after his equaliser at RSC Anderlecht, Lukas Podolski made it 2-1.
One game away: Super eight
In the next set of matches on 4 and 5 November, Madrid, Dortmund, Arsenal, Bayern, Paris Saint-Germain, Barcelona, Chelsea and FC Porto could all earn round of 16 places with two games to spare.
Goal: YOUR CHOICE!
Eden Hazard, Marco Reus, Neymar, Robben or Ronaldo: it's your pick in our Goal of the Week poll.