Robert Lewandowski became the third player to reach 100 Champions League goals in Barcelona's 3-0 victory over Stade Brest on Tuesday while ailing Manchester City threw away a three-goal lead in the final 15 minutes in a shocking 3-3 draw with Feyenoord.
Lewandowski converted a 10th minute penalty and struck again at the death for a tally of 101. Only Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi have previously achieved the milestone with 140 and 129 goals, respectively.
Dani Olmo got the other mid-way through the second half for the La Liga leaders.
“I’m very content, very happy, sometimes I didn’t believe I would reach this impressive figure in the Champions League. Now I’m in good company with Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo," Lewandowski told Movistar.
City had lost their previous five matches across all competitions, including a 4-1 drubbing at Lisbon club Sporting in their last European outing, and Tuesday's result also felt like a defeat.
Things first looked good when Erling Haaland put them on course from the spot in the 44th, before netting again in the 53rd for a tally of 46, three minutes after Ilkay Gündogan had also scored.
But Pep Guardiola's side then collapsed in the closing stages when Feyenoord scored from Anis Hadj Moussa in the 75th, Santiago Gimenez in the 82nd and David Hancko in the 89th.
"We lost a lot of games lately, we are fragile and of course we needed a victory," Guarduiola told Amazon Prime. "I don't know if it is mental. The first goal cannot happen and the second as well."
Sporting had no luck in their second home date against Premier League opposition as they crashed 5-1 against Arsenal after the departure of coach Ruben Amorim to Manchester United.
Atletico Madrid triumphed 6-0 at Sparta Prague, seven-time winners AC Milan prevailed 3-2 at Slovan Bratislava, crosstown rivals Inter Milan defeated RB Leipzig 1-0, Bayern Munich beat Paris Saint-Germain 1-0, Bayer Leverkusen routed Salzburg 5-0, and Atalanta triumphed 6-1 in Switzerland at Young Boys, with Charles De Ketelaere scoring a brace and setting up three others.
The other nine games are on Wednesday, most notably Liverpool, the only team with maximum points, v record and defending champions Real Madrid.
Inter went top with 13 points and a 7-0 goal difference from five of eight matches. Barca and Liverpool, with Wednesday's game in hand, have 12 points each, Atalanta 11, while Arsenal and Leverkusen are among teams with 10 points.
The top eight advance straight into the last 16, the teams ranked ninth to 24 determine the other eight in play-off ties.
Lewandowski makes history
Lewandowski won the Champions League with Bayern in 2020 and now reached the 100 goals milestone during his third season at Barca.
The Poland veteran sent Marco Bizot the wrong way from the spot after the goalkeeper had fouled him.
Hansi Flick's hosts pressed for more and the second finally came in the 66th from Dani Olmo's left angle effort. That sealed Brest's first defeat after an impressive start into the competition but Lewandowski had the final word in stoppage time.
City collapse again
City seemed determined to end their recent slide which culminated in a 4-0 league home defeat against Tottenham Hotspur on the weekend, and boost morale for their next game at Premier League leaders Liverpool.
Haaland came close early on and the breakthrough came in the 44th when Antoni Milambo brought down Haaland, and the Norwegian calmly slotted the ensuing spot kick into the bottom right corner.
Gündogan further soothed City nerves when his shot took a deflection into the net five minutes after the restart. And the game appeared over as a contest three minutes later when the completely unmarked Haaland struck again.
But the nerves started showing again when Hadj Moussa pulled one back, goalkeeper Ederson did not look good on Gimenez' second, and the misery was complete when Hancko headed home the third.
"The situation is what it is. We played a good game but at that level we can't give them away," Guardiola said. "If we are not able to win games like we did today it is difficult to do it."
Feyenoord coach Brian Priske spoke of "an unbelievable game and evening."
Inter remain unbeaten
Former champions Inter maintained their impressive form in Europa with a dominant performance against hapless Leipzig, one of five teams with zero points.
They had a series of chances but the winner came from a Castello Lukeba own goal in the 27th when he deflected a Federico Dimarco free-kick cross into his own net.
Bayern back in contention, Leverkusen also win
Bayern claimed their seventh victory with a clean sheet in a row across all competitions since a 4-1 meltdown at Barca thanks to Kim Min-jae who headed home in the 37th after a poor clearance by PSG goalkeeper Matvey Safonov.
PSG, who lost the 2020 final with the same scoreline against Bayern, remain on four points and need a big turnaround to remain in contention for a place in the knockouts.
Bayern have nine points, on less than Leverkusen, whose young Germany star Florian Wirtz was the hero with two goals, an assist and winning a free-kick that Alejandro Grimaldo converted in the lopsided affair against Salzburg.
- Robert Lewandowski
- 101 CL goals
Source: www.dailyfinland.fi
