Benfica of Portugal deepened the wounds of its guest, Barcelona from Spain, defeating them 3-0 on Wednesday, in the second round of Group E of the UEFA Champions League. This loss marks the second consecutive defeat for the Catalan team in the tournament, following a similar 3-0 loss to Bayern Munich in the first round, leaving them at the bottom of the group without any points. Barcelona currently occupies the sixth place in the Spanish league with 12 points after six matches.
On the other hand, Benfica's victory brought their points tally to four, placing them second in the group. This fall of Barcelona adds another defeat for Spanish football in the second round, as Real Madrid, the 13-time Champions League winner, suffered a surprising 2-1 defeat at home to Moldovan side Sheriff Tiraspol on Tuesday.
Benfica took the lead in the third minute through Darwin Núñez, and his teammate Rafa Silva doubled the Portuguese team's advantage in the 69th minute. The referee awarded a penalty to Benfica in the 78th minute, which Darwin Núñez successfully converted, scoring the third goal for the Portuguese side. Barcelona finished the match with ten players after their defender Eric Garcia was sent off in the 87th minute for receiving a second yellow card.
In another match, Bayern Munich thrashed their guest, Dynamo Kyiv, 5-0. Bayern Munich, whose last victory in the tournament was in 2020, increased their points to six, topping the group, while Dynamo Kyiv remained with one point in third place. Polish striker Robert Lewandowski scored two goals for Bayern in the 12th minute from a penalty and in the 27th minute, before Serge Gnabry added the third goal in the 68th minute. Leroy Sané scored the fourth goal for the Bavarian team in the 74th minute, and Maxim Choupo-Moting completed the team's five-goal tally in the 87th minute.
