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Defensive lapses have cost Manchester City and Barcelona dearly as both teams suffered notable losses in the Champions League on Tuesday.
In Pep Guardiola’s 100th Champions League game as City coach, his side struggled to cope with a quick transfer to Bayer Leverkusen in a 2-0 defeat, while Barcelona got a goal and a red card in a 3-0 defeat at Chelsea.
Guardiola made 10 changes to his starting line-up after Saturday’s Premier League loss to Newcastle, with Erling Holland on the bench, but it did not have the desired effect.
Alejandro Grimaldo fired home Leverkusen’s first goal with a low shot into the far corner in the 23rd and Patrik Schick headed in a second in the 54th.
Chelsea comfortably beat 10-man Barcelona 3-0 to record their third league-stage win and move closer to the top.
It was the second loss for Barcelona, who went down a man when defender Ronald Arroyo was shown a second yellow card before half-time.
The hosts scored an own goal by Jules Conde in the 27th, a fine strike by Esteveau in the 55th and a close-range shot by Liam Delap in the 73rd.
City could move up the table with a win but the night ended with the top three unchanged. Bayern Munich, Arsenal and Inter Milan all play on Wednesday.
Mourinho’s Benfica finally won
José Mourinho earned his first Champions League win with his new club Benfica as Samuel Dahl’s early goal set the stage for a 2-0 victory over struggling Ajax. It was No. 36 vs. No. 35 in the standings before the game as the two B-1 teams met in the Netherlands.
Dahl on the left scored an unmarked volley on the rebound after Ajax goalkeeper Weitzlav Jarvis saved a header from Benfica’s experienced defender Nicolas Otamendi. Leandro Barreiro added another goal in the 90th.
Ajax have lost all five of their Champions League games and have won just one of their last 10 games in all competitions.
Canadian forward Promise David scored the only goal as Belgium’s Union St. Gleaus secured a 1-0 win over injury-hit Galatasaray. The Turkish club were without Champions League top scorer Victor Asimin through injury, and ended up with 10 men after 18-year-old defender Erda Yunai picked up two yellow cards.
Scott McTominay scored the opening goal as Napoli beat Azerbaijan’s Qarabag 2-0. Napoli fans marked the fifth anniversary of the death of club legend Diego Maradona.
