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On a prolific night across Europe in which Borussia Moenchengladbach was also seen rampant with six in Ukraine, the star individual performances came from Jota and Alassane Plea.
Liverpool players celebrate a goal with Diogo Jota during their UEFA Champions League game against Atalanta on November 3, 2020. Image: @ LFC / Twitter
PARIS – Diogo Jota scored an impressive hat-trick in the 5-0 demolition of Atalanta 5-0 in the Champions League on Tuesday, when champions Bayern Munich scored six and Real Madrid scored late to beat Inter Milan in a thriller.
On a prolific night across Europe in which Borussia Moenchengladbach was also seen rampant with six in Ukraine, the star individual performances came from Jota and Alassane Plea.
Portugal forward Jota joined Liverpool from Wolverhampton Wanderers in September and has wasted little time hitting with seven goals in just five starts.
In Bergamo, against an Atalanta that reached the quarterfinals last season, Jota entered the starting lineup in place of Roberto Firmino and needed only 16 minutes to open the scoring.
Another emphatic finish allowed the 2019 Champions League winners to double their lead before the break, and Mohamed Salah broke away to claim third just after the restart.
Salah prepared Sadio Mane for Liverpool’s fourth before Jota scored his hat-trick, as the Premier League champions recorded their biggest win in Europe since defeating Porto 5-0 in February 2018.
“I’m playing for the best team of my career so far. I don’t know if it’s the best moment of my career, but obviously scoring goals is my way of playing football,” Jota told BT Sport.
With three wins out of three, Liverpool are well on their way to top Group D, with Ajax and Atalanta five points behind.
Ajax beat Midtjylland 2-1 in Denmark when young Brazilian Antony opened the scoring in the first minute and Dusan Tadic scored from an indirect free kick inside the box shortly after. Anders Dreyer recovered one for the hosts, who remain useless.
French striker Plea had previously scored a hat-trick when Gladbach achieved a surprising 6-0 victory over Shakhtar Donetsk in Kiev, the German team’s biggest European triumph since their heyday in the 1970s.
The unfortunate Valeriy Bondar scored an own goal, with Ramy Bensebaini and Lars Stindl also scoring for Gladbach to lead Group B, one point ahead of Shakhtar and Real Madrid.
Gladbach coach Marco Rose said: “Six to zero is extraordinary. We did a lot of things well today, if not almost everything.
RODRYGO REALLY WINS IT
Real, 13 times European champions, were left with a 3-2 victory in a dramatic encounter with Inter behind closed doors at the Alfredo di Stefano stadium, as Vinicius Junior prepared his Brazilian teammate Rodrygo to score the decisive goal for 10 minutes of the hour.
Karim Benzema had passed the hosts and Sergio Ramos headed in his 100th goal for Madrid in the 33rd minute, but Lautaro Martínez shot one shortly after.
Inter lost to the injured Romelu Lukaku, but looked ready to escape with a draw when Ivan Perisic tied midway through the second half, only for Rodrygo to jump out and leave the Italians at the bottom of the group.
BAYERN DO 14 IN A ROW
Reigning champions Bayern have won a record 14 consecutive Champions League games after a 6-2 win against Salzburg in Austria.
German forward Mergim Berisha gave Salzburg an early lead only for Robert Lewandowski to equalize from the penalty spot, and an own goal by Rasmus Kristensen put Bayern ahead before the break.
Japanese substitute Masaya Okugawa restored parity midway through the second half only for Bayern to slip away with the game at the end.
Jerome Boateng led them back to the front, Leroy Sane got his fourth and Lewandowski struggled to head in his twelfth of the season, before Lucas Hernandez closed out his victory.
“We never give up, that’s what sets us apart,” Boateng told Sky Germany.
Hansi Flick’s men firmly control Group A, five points ahead of Atlético de Madrid, which drew 1-1 at Lokomotiv Moscow.
José María Giménez’s header for Atlético was annulled by Anton Miranchuk’s penalty.
Meanwhile, Marseille’s 3-0 loss to Porto allowed them to match Anderlecht’s record of 12 consecutive defeats in the Champions League.
Moussa Marega gave Porto an early lead before Dimitri Payet took a penalty for Marseille.
Sergio Oliveira then scored from the penalty spot to make it 2-0 for Porto and Luis Díaz sealed the victory for the hosts in Group C.
Manchester City firmly control that section after Pep Guardiola’s team beat Olympiakos 3-0, with Ferran Torres, Gabriel Jesus and Joao Cancelo scoring.
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