The emotional rollercoaster continues for Manchester United fans following their intense draw against Atalanta yesterday in the Champions League group stage.
When things were dire for the Red Devils, it was Cristiano Ronaldo who showed up to give the beleaguered Ole Gunnar Solskjaer more breathing space.
Cristiano Ronaldo almost singlehandedly turned the tides for Manchester United and now they’re joint leaders with Villarreal at seven points apiece in Group F.
Elsewhere, Bayern Munich asserted their dominance in Group E with their fourth consecutive win, while Chelsea, VfL Wolfsburg, Juventus, Lille, and Barcelona all got important wins as well.
With eight games in the fourth matchday already in the books, let us examine the latest Champions League 2021 results.
Cristiano Ronaldo rescues dramatic point for Manchester United
Inconsistency has been haunting the Red Devils all season. Following their 3-0 win over Tottenham in the last time out, many were expecting another letdown given their previous performance against Atalanta not too long ago.
With the setting now in Bergamo, Atalanta got off to a strong start just like in their earlier meeting through goals from Josip Ilicic and Duvan Zapata.
It took only 12 minutes for the Red Devils’ 3-4-2-1 formation to be breached as Scott McTominay mistimed his attempted interception and Duvan Zapata eventually teed up Josip Ilicic to put them out front.
Right before the halftime break, the Red Devils drew level as Cristiano Ronaldo found the back of the net with a 20-yard volley.
However, there were more concerns for United when Raphael Varane was subbed off due to a hamstring injury and it proved to be costly as Duvan Zapata rampaged his way to give Atalanta a two-goal lead near the hour mark.
The hosts were content to see out a victory and all they had to do was to maintain their 2-1 lead, but a familiar face went out to haunt them once more.
Cristiano Ronaldo, who scored the late winner in their previous meeting, had other ideas as he converted inside the far post during added time following a brilliant pass from Mason Greenwood.
It was a crucial moment for both Atalanta and Manchester United. With points being shared, the Red Devils have officially moved up on top of Group F with seven points while La Dea will settle for five.
Villarreal easily cruised past Young Boys in the other match and they are level with Manchester United with seven points too.
Just give the Ballon d’Or to Robert Lewandowski already
Here at SBOTOP, we’ve already established that Robert Lewandowski is the undisputed goalscoring king and he showed just that in last night’s victory.
In his 100th Champions League appearance, the Pole notched a hat-trick while Serge Gnabry and Leroy Sane added one each for good measure. Rodrigues da Silva and Darwin Nunez scored the consolation goals for Benfica.
It’s performances like these to which we’re reminded why Lewandowski was clearly robbed of the 2020 Ballon d’Or and he should be able to get this one barring any unforeseen circumstances.
Bayern Munich have now won two straight games wth 5-2 scorelines following their shocking DFB-Pokal second round exit at the hands of Borussia Monchengladbach not too long ago.
With their fourth straight victory, the Bavarian giants have guaranteed their berth in the knockout stages and they’re a huge favourite to win it all based on the Champions League 2021 odds.
Benfica have sunk to third place with four points since Barcelona won against Dynamo Kiev in the other Group E match. The Blaugrana are second with six points.
Juventus get a huge morale boost
Juventus are still in a transitional period post-Cristiano Ronaldo but they got a much-needed victory against Zenit yesterday to move up on top of Group H.
Paulo Dybala recorded a brace while Federico Chiesa and Alvaro Morata each scored late in the second half to nullify two goals from their Russian counterparts.
Chiesa became the first Juventus player to score in four consecutive Champions League home games since David Trezeguet while Dybala registered his 105th goal for the club.
Prior to this fixture, the Bianconeri haven’t won a single game since their earlier visit to Zenit last October 21 with a draw vs. Inter and back-to-back defeats against Sassuolo and Hellas Verona.
Juventus are only ninth in the Serie A standings, which is why Max Allegri and co. will gladly take this victory since it guarantees their spot in the knockout stages.
Chelsea are at second following their victory over Malmo, who are dead last with zero points, while Zenit are at third with three.
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