Champions League: Robert Lewandowski brace helps Barcelona past Red Star Belgrade
Robert Lewandowski struck twice as Barcelona cruised to a 5-2 victory against Red Star Belgrade in Serbia.
The Poland striker scored his 17th and 18th goals of the season in 16 matches and notched his 98th in the Champions League as Barca made it seven straight wins in all competitions.
Red Star forward Silas cancelled out Inigo Martinez's header, but Lewandowski restored Barca’s lead before the interval and added his second before Raphinha and Fermin Lopez put gloss on the scoreline.
Milson added a late consolation, but Barca’s third successive win in this season’s revamped competition lifted them up to sixth in the table.
Bayern Munich bounced back from their 4-1 defeat in Barcelona in their previous Champions League match with a 1-0 home win against Benfica thanks to Jamal Musiala’s second-half header.
Angel Correa fired a stoppage-time winner as Atletico Madrid won 2-1 at Paris St Germain – the Spanish side’s second win in this season’s competition.
After Argentina wing-back Nahuel Molina’s first-half equaliser for Atletico, four minutes after Warren Zaire-Emery had fired PSG into the lead, Correa struck in the third minute of added time.
Aston Villa’s 100 per cent Champions League start was halted in Brugge as Tyrone Mings’ bizarre handball secured the Belgian side a 1-0 win.
Mings picked the ball up in the area thinking goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez had not taken his goal-kick, but German referee Tobias Stieler ruled otherwise and Brugge skipper Hans Vanaken converted the subsequent spot-kick.
Brest’s impressive start to life in the Champions League continued as they won 2-1 at Sparta Prague.
Edimilson Fernandes and Kaan Kairinen’s own goal put Brest in control before Victor Olatunji scored Sparta’s stoppage-time consolation.