Emphatic wins for Chelsea, Bayern, Barca in Champions League

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AFP
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Emphatic wins for Chelsea, Bayern, Barca in Champions League
LONDON: Didier Drogba scored his first goal since returning to Chelsea as Jose Mourinho´s side took control of Champions League Group G with a crushing 6-0 victory over Maribor at Stamford Bridge on Tuesday.

Drogba´s last goal for the Blues was the decisive penalty that saw Bayern Munich beaten in the 2012 Champions League final.

And, having returned to west London during the last transfer window, the Ivory Coast striker again scored from the spot to put his side 2-0 up -- although it meant ignoring Mourinho, who had said Eden Hazard would be Chelsea´s penalty-taker.

Loic Remy had opened the scoring in the 13th minute before John Terry put Chelsea in total control with a 31st-minute goal.

A second-half own goal from Mitja Viler followed by two goals from Eden Hazard, one a penalty, confirmed a win that extended Chelsea´s outstanding start to the season.

The only blow suffered by Premier League leaders Chelsea was an injury to Remy that could make him a doubt to face Manchester United on Sunday.

Barcelona warmed up for their clash with Real Madrid on Saturday in fine fashion as goals from Neymar, Lionel Messi and Sandro Ramirez handed them a 3-1 Champions League win over Ajax on Tuesday.

Neymar grabbed the opener in the Group F clash at the Camp Nou after just seven minutes when he collected Messi´s pass to curl the ball into the far corner before Messi put Barca firmly in command when he slotted home 14 minutes later.

Barca coach Luis Enrique then withdrew Neymar, Messi and Andres Iniesta in the second half to keep them fresh for the weekend.

Ajax briefly threatened a comeback when Anwar El Ghazi halved the deficit two minutes from time, but Sandro drove home a third in stoppage time to secure a deserved victory for the Catalans.

Bayern Munich produced a stunning display to demolish Roma 7-1 on Tuesday but they were not the biggest winners on the most prolific evening in Champions League history.

Pep Guardiola´s side underlined their status as one of the contenders to win the Champions League as they took apart a Roma outfit who had enjoyed a fine start to the campaign.

An Arjen Robben brace, Mario Goetze, Robert Lewandowski and a Thomas Mueller penalty made it 5-0 at the break in the Group E game.

Gervinho got one back for Roma in the second half before substitutes Franck Ribery and Xherdan Shaqiri added further goals in a performance reminiscent of Germany´s 7-1 win over Brazil in the World Cup semi-final in July, a game in which five of Bayern´s line-up against Roma featured.

Edinson Cavani rescued Paris Saint-Germain on Tuesday as his solo strike with three minutes remaining was enough to defeat APOEL Nicosia 1-0 after the Cypriots dominated for large periods of the match.

The Uruguayan marksman claimed his second goal in PSG´s Champions League Group F campaign and his sixth of the season when he latched onto a loose ball in the box and, despite falling to the ground, was able to hook it home with his right boot for a victory that rarely looked on the cards.

APOEL will consider themselves unlucky not to have claimed at least a draw and should have taken the lead on several occasions in a match that slipped from their grasp and puts their qualification chances in jeopardy.

PSG remain top of the section with seven points, a point clear of Barcelona, who beat Ajax 3-1 at the Camp Nou on Tuesday, while APOEL prop up the group with just one point.

Roberto di Matteo´s Schalke 04 enjoyed a dramatic 4-3 win over 10-man Sporting Lisbon on Tuesday after a dubious penalty in time added on settled their Champions League clash.

Sporting had earlier fought back from two-goals down as Adrien Silva scored a double in the second-half to put the visitors on level terms with just 12 minutes remaining.

But Sporting were denied a point when Schalke substitute Eric Choupo-Moting converted a controversial 93rd-minute penalty.

Replays showed Sporting´s furious protests were justified as the ball struck defender Jonathan Silva in the face from a Klaas-Jan Huntelaar header.
But Russian referee Sergey Karasev judged it came off his upper arm and pointed to the spot.

Spoting´s coach Marco Silvas was furious at both Karasev´s penalty decision and the first-half dismissal of centre-back Mauricio.