Missing you

Barcelona, September 15

Bayern Munich showed Barcelona exactly how dreary life will be without Lionel Messi when they dealt the Spanish side their first loss since the exit of the star forward.

Thomas Muller scored a goal and Robert Lewandowski added two more to help Bayern ease to a 3-0 victory at Camp Nou in their Champions League opener on Tuesday.

Muller’s 34th-minute strike took his career tally to seven goals against Barcelona, including the two he netted in the 8-2 shellacking Bayern dealt Barcelona the last time they met in August 2020.

Manchester United’s Cristiano Ronaldo is tackled by BSC Young Boys’ Mohamed Ali Camara. The Red Devils lost 2-1. Reuters

Without Messi to rely on as they had for years, Barcelona were running scared from the start as they focused on protecting themselves from another embarrassing defeat.

The final score hid the total dominance of the Bundesliga powerhouse. Julian Nagelsmann’s team turned the once great attacking juggernaut of Barcelona into a jittery bunch hunkered down in their own area.

Lewandowski capitalised on Bayern’s complete control with goals in the 56th and 85th, both times putting in rebounds from shots that came off the post to the striker.

“We gave little away at the back,” Muller said. “Going forward, we could have scored one or two more. It’s a lot of fun playing here, the boys enjoyed it.”

Lukaku can’t stop scoring

London: Four games. Four goals. Just what was expected of Romelu Lukaku. Just what Chelsea missed so often last season. And just what he couldn’t produce in his first spell at Stamford Bridge.

The striker who couldn’t even get on the field in the Champions League a decade ago for Chelsea is back as the leading target man.

On his European debut for the club, the 28-year-old Belgian ensured Chelsea made a successful start to their title defence by clinching a 1-0 victory over Zenit St Petersburg.

Romelu Lukaku celebrates the winner against Zenit St Petersburg. Reuters

Juventus end winless run

Malmo (Sweden): Juventus claimed their first win of the post-Cristiano Ronaldo era by beating Malmo 3-0 after a flurry of first-half goals.

Alex Sandro’s 23rd-minute opener was followed by goals in the space of 60 seconds by Paulo Dybala — from the penalty spot — and Alvaro Morata on the stroke of half-time in the south of Sweden.

Juventus have failed to win any of their three games in Serie A this season, the last two being losses that came after the departure of Ronaldo to Manchester United.

‘Strange’ game in Seville

Seville: Salzburg were left to rue two missed spot-kicks in their 1-1 draw to 10-man Sevilla in a messy opener that featured four first-half penalties.

Salzburg converted only one of their three. Luka Sucic’s spot-kick gave the Austrian team the lead in the 21st minute. But Sucic and Adeyemi, both age 19, missed two others in the first half.

Ivan Rakitic equalised for Sevilla against the flow of play from a penalty in the 42nd. “It was a very strange game,” Rakitic said. — AP

Koeman accepts the harsh reality

Barcelona: Barcelona coach Ronald Koeman was in a resigned mood after his side were outclassed and beaten by Bayern Munich, saying fans needed to be realistic about the team’s current plight. The Dutch coach pointed to the team’s injury problems including the absences of forwards Ousmane Dembele, Ansu Fati, Martin Braithwaite and Sergio Aguero and revealed Jordi Alba had played despite being ill the night before the match. “You have to be realistic in life. Our young players showed we have a future and we have a lot of players to come back from injuries. It is what it is,” Koeman told a news conference. “We know we’re missing a lot of players in attack and we have to wait a few weeks to have more options and more speed going forward. I don’t want to look for excuses.” Reuters

Ronald Koeman