BARCELONA, Oct 21: It took one of Barcelona’s veterans to keep the Catalan club from facing an early elimination in the Champions League.
Gerard Piqué’s first-half goal equaled a Champions League scoring mark for defenders and helped Barcelona edge Dynamo Kyiv 1-0 on Wednesday to end its losing streak and get back in position to advance to the knockout stage of the European competition.
Piqué scored his 16th Champions League goal to secure the crucial win for Barcelona, which faced consecutive 3-0 losses to Bayern Munich and Benfica and was in danger of not getting past the group stage for the first time since 2000-01.
The win put the Catalan club in third place in Group E, two points in front of Dynamo and one behind Benfica.
Piqué opened the scoring with a one-timer from close range after a cross by Jordi Alba across the area in the 36th minute, joining former Real Madrid left back Roberto Carlos as the top-scoring defender in the Champions League.
Barcelona’s next match is the Spanish league “clásico” against Real Madrid at the Camp Nou on Sunday.
Bayern Munich vs Benfica
Bayern Munich kept up its winning start to the Champions League as Leroy Sané scored twice in a 4-0 win over Benfica on Wednesday, but coach Julian Nagelsmann wasn’t there to see it.
Bayern didn’t open the scoring until the 70th minute after two disallowed goals, but once Sané had put Bayern in front, Benfica crumbled.
The win puts Bayern five points clear of Benfica at the top of Group E with 12 goals scored and none conceded.
Sané took a direct free kick outside the penalty area and blazed the ball over the wall and into the net.
Bayern went 2-0 up in the 80th with an own-goal by Benfica as Serge Gnabry’s cross bounced off winger Everton’s head and in.
Two minutes later, it was 3-0 when Sané turned defender Nicolas Otamendi and laid the ball off for Lewandowski to score. Sané added the fourth in the 85th off an assist from substitute Josip Stanisic.
Salzburg vs Wolfsburg
Salzburg’s young squad took a step closer to reaching the Champions League knockout stage with a 3-1 win over Wolfsburg on Wednesday. Noah Okafor scored twice after 19-year-old forward Karim Adeyemi netted early to put the Austrian team on course for victory.
Wolfsburg scored in the 15th through Lukas Nmecha’s glancing header. (AP)
