UCL: Lukaku leads Chelsea to victory, Man U, Ronaldo shocked, Bayern beats Barca

Chelsea opened their defence of the Champions League with a victory as Romelu Lukaku finally pierced Zenit St Petersburg’s stubborn resistance at Stamford Bridge.

Lukaku, a £97.5m summer signing from Inter Milan, has already demonstrated his goal threat in the Premier League and was on the mark again with his first goal for Chelsea in the competition they won for the second time against Manchester City in June.

Chelsea were made to work hard as Zenit dug in but manager Thomas Tuchel’s side stepped up the pace after the interval, Lukaku breaking the deadlock when he headed in at the far post from Cesar Azpilicueta’s cross in the 69th minute.

The holders deserved the victory but Zenit missed a glorious chance to snatch a point when substitute Artem Dzyuba slid wide from six yards as he tried to turn in Sardar Azmoun’s cross late on.

Chelsea’s victory was not a surprise given their status as Champions League holders and their impressive start to the season but this showed they are more than willing to do the dirty work to get the job done when required.

And it was Lukaku, the talisman, who showed once again what a difference he will make to Chelsea by providing the cutting edge they often lacked last season, even though they won Europe’s elite competition in Porto.

Lukaku’s chances were limited as Zenit defended well and with real resilience but he pounced on the first opportunity he was given to score with a towering header.

Chelsea struggled to make any impression in the first half but it was clear Tuchel had ordered his players to move through the gears and they were much more forceful after the break.

If Lukaku is the main man in attack, it was defender Antonio Rudiger who set the tone at both ends to lift the Chelsea fans inside Stamford Bridge.

Rudiger lifted the noise levels with a surging run from inside his own half just after the re-start which ended with a shot that flashed just wide. He then made a vital challenge at the other end as Zenit’s Iranian forward Azmoun threatened to give the visitors a shock lead, celebrating his interception with a fist pump to the crowd who appreciate the German’s uncompromising style.

It was not Chelsea at their most impressive but, as they did against Aston Villa in the Premier League on Saturday, this is now a side that is almost the complete package. They are a side who find a way to win and Tuchel will be delighted to get three points on the board in the Champions League, especially as the other European superpower in Group H, Juventus, started their campaign with an impressive 3-0 win against Malmo in Sweden.

Tuchel will know there is much more to come from a Chelsea side tipped for success at home and abroad this season and he will be more than satisfied to start with three points.

Manchester United conceded a dramatic stoppage-time goal as they lost to Young Boys despite Cristiano Ronaldo scoring on his Champions League return for the Red Devils.

Ronaldo, who became the joint all-time Champions League appearance holder on his 177th appearance in the competition, fired United ahead after an exquisite pass from fellow Portuguese Bruno Fernandes.

United played for almost an hour with 10 men after Aaron Wan-Bissaka’s dangerous challenge on Christopher Martins earned the defender a straight red card.

They looked set to hang on for a point in an entertaining match after Cameroon winger Moumi Ngamaleu’s equaliser.

But a 95th-minute mistake by substitute Jesse Lingard – who had replaced Ronaldo with 18 minutes left – allowed Jordan Siebatcheu to score the winner for the team that had to come through qualifying to reach the group stage.

The home fans celebrated wildly while Ole Gunnar Solskjaer was left to reflect on a performance which saw United muster just two shots, the fewest Opta have on record in any of their 138 Champions League matches since 2003-04.

Goals from Thomas Muller and Robert Lewandowski settled a battle of the big two in Champions League Group E as Bayern Munich claimed a dominant opening-game victory at Barcelona.

The German champions controlled the game, with Muller scoring his seventh career goal against Barca courtesy of a first-half effort that found the net off Eric Garcia’s back.

Lewandowski made sure of the win with a typical predatory finish, poking his 74th Champions League goal into an empty net after Jamal Musiala’s drive had cannoned back off the post.

His 75th came late in the game, as he once again showed his talent in front of goal with a lashed finish after Serge Gnabry’s shot had come back off the post and fell to him in the box.

Barca, playing their first Champions League since the departure of talisman Lionel Messi, were flat and offered little, failing to muster a single shot on target.

The Catalan side have now lost three consecutive home games in European competition for the first time in their entire history.

They ended the game with four teenagers on the pitch, which did at least inject some urgency and lift a subdued crowd of just short of 40,000 because of Covid-19 restrictions.

But they were still thoroughly outclassed and by a Bayern team that were not even at their best.

The German side lead the group, with the other game, between Benfica and Dinamo Kiev, finishing 0-0.

It is now 13 months since Bayern ruthlessly exposed the growing frailty at the heart of Barcelona, putting eight past them in one of the most eye-opening Champions League knockout games in recent memory.

Little did Barca know that things would only get worse for them in the months to follow, with a perilous financial situation bringing about the departure of Messi to Paris St-Germain this summer.

They now look a shell of a once great side – sleepwalking through the motions and vulnerable to being easily brushed aside by any side with a plan and talent, or a world-class one playing in third gear as Bayern were here.

Messi started up front with Luis Suarez in that 8-2 loss in 2020. On Wednesday, Barca paired two former Premier League failures in Memphis Depay and Luuk de Jong, and that was largely because ex-Middlesbrough forward Martin Braithwaite is injured.

Not that it mattered as Bayern cut the supply, left the home forwards adrift, set about pressing high, and patiently picked apart a defence designed to be a three but more often pushed into being a five.

“It is what it is,” said Gerard Pique, one of those three centre-backs. “We are what we are, that’s the reality.”

Bayern are in something of a transition phase of their own, with their immediate solution to a departing manager and aging parts of their squad being to recruit the best bits from nearest domestic challenger RB Leipzig.

In new boss Julian Nagelsmann they have a man whose ideals make for an easy handover from successor Hansi Flick.

The 34-year-old has the talent and the tools to make this Bayern side a real challenger for the Champions League this season. If this is them in third gear, imagine when they hit fifth?

They are now undefeated in 19 European away matches – a record run in all European competitions – and will surely only get better.

As for Barca, they are stalling and it is hard to see how they get themselves back on track. Second place in Group E is far from a sure thing.