Kingsley Coman scored twice as Bayern Munich thrashed Atlético Madrid 4-0 to begin their Champions League title defence in ominous fashion.
After an evenly matched first half-hour, the French winger pounced on Joshua Kimmich’s cross to fire Bayern ahead from close range. Leon Goretzka doubled Bayern’s lead five minutes before half-time as Hansi Flick’s side defied predictions of a close battle between the two Group A heavyweights.
Corentin Tolisso made sure of victory in spectacular fashion midway through the second half. After a free-kick was cleared, the midfielder struck an unstoppable effort into Jan Oblak’s top corner from 30 yards out. Coman added his second of the night, finishing off a sweeping counter attack by sliding the ball inside the far post.
“Our game was just good tonight,” Flick said after the game. “It was a tough task but we mastered it. Our efficiency was good today and I am very satisfied. It is very important to win that first game. We had a match plan and we applied it, playing out four beautiful goals.”
In Group A’s early game, Red Bull Salzburg and Lokomotiv Moscow drew 2-2 in Austria. Eder put the visitors ahead early on, before Dominik Szoboszlai equalised on the stroke of half-time with a ferocious long-range strike. Salzburg took a second-half lead through Zlatko Junuzovic, but Vitali Lisakovich’s far-post header meant the spoils were shared.
Romelu Lukaku rescued Internazionale with a late equaliser at home against Borussia Mönchengladbach, who thought they had caused a second Group B shock of the night after Shakhtar Donetsk’s 3-2 win at Real Madrid.
Lukaku fired Inter ahead just after half-time, but the visitors levelled when Arturo Vidal was penalised for fouling Marcus Thuram in the area. Ramy Bensebaini converted the penalty, before Jonas Hofmann finished a clinical counter attack in the 84th minute. With time running out, Lukaku bundled home from a corner to earn Antonio Conte’s side a valuable point before their trip to Ukraine next Tuesday.
Atalanta showed Liverpool they will offer competition for top spot in Group D by beating Midtjylland 4-0. Duván Zapata struck from a narrow angle to open the scoring in the 26th minute amid driving rain in Denmark. Papu Gómez doubled the visitors’ lead 10 minutes later with a strike from 20 yards that crashed in off the crossbar. Luis Muriel added a third before the break, with Aleksey Miranchuk completing the scoring two minutes from time.
In Group C, the Egyptian forward Ahmed Hassan struck in stoppage time to earn Olympiakos victory against an under-par Marseille, who will need to improve in their next match, at home against Manchester City.
