Juventus Wins Manchester City 2-1 with goals from Mandzukic and Morata

Two late goals from Mario Mandzukic and Alvaro Morata pushed Juventus to a 2-1 comeback victory over Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium.

City looked in control at the Etihad Stadium after taking a controversial 57th-minute lead when Giorgio Chiellini turned the ball into his own net under pressure from Vincent Kompany.

But Manuel Pellegrini's men paid the price for failing to convert a series of other chances as Juve hit back with a Mario Mandzukic finish and a stunner from Alvaro Morata.

It was yet another example of City failing to deliver on the biggest stage, and a surprise given the form of the two sides coming into the game.

Juve, last season's Champions League runners-up and Serie A champions for four successive years, had failed to win any of their opening three games while City had won five in a row without conceding.

But without star striker Sergio Aguero -- who made a surprising late appearance off the bench having initially been ruled out with a knee injury -- City lacked a cutting edge.

Raheem Sterling lost an early chance after Fernandinho robbed Stefano Sturaro. The former Liverpool man opened his body and tried to place his shot inside the far post but veteran Gianluigi Buffon saved with his feet.

It was some time before City threatened again as Juventus gained a grip with £70 million-rated Paul Pogba -- a reported target for City last summer -- strong in possession and on-loan Chelsea winger Juan Cuadrado looking dangerous.

Pogba slid the ball into the net from a Cuadrado cross but Morata was flagged offside. City had a good spell as Fernandinho won the ball from Pogba and fired over before Aleksandar Kolarov sent a free kick across goal.

Cristiano Scores hat-trick as Real wins 4-0 against Shakhtar Donetsk

Cristiano Ronaldo hit a second-half hat trick as Real Madrid opened their Champions League campaign with a 4-0 victory over 10-man Shakhtar Donetsk in Tuesday's Group A showdown at the Santiago Bernabeu.

For a fourth straight game in all competitions, Los Blancos kept a clean sheet. The win did come at a cost for Real, however, with Gareth Bale, Raphael Varane and captain Sergio Ramos all sustaining injuries.

Karim Benzema put the hosts ahead in the 30th minute, while Shakhtar had midfielder Taras Stepanenko sent off for a second yellow card five minutes after the re-start.

Real, aided by a doubtful penalty, doubled their lead through Ronaldo five minutes later and the Portugal international scored his second when he converted another penalty in the 63rd minute after Marcio Azevedo's clearly seen handball.

Ronaldo crowned off a perfect evening for the home side when he headed his third of the night 10 minutes from full-time.

Cristiano Ronaldo celebrates his first goal against Shakhtar.

Real lost a good chance when Dani Carvajal's pass from the right found Bale in the heart of the box but his shot lacked power and was saved by Shakhtar goalkeeper Andriy Pyatov.

Soon after Benzema missed a wide-open goal. Ronaldo's perfect pass found Benzema in the box and the Frenchman got past Pyatov only to hit the ball off target.

Real went ahead despite playing with 10 men after Bale needed medical attention.

Pyatov failed to hold onto Isco's dangerous cross in the box and Benzema struck the rebound into the back of his net.

Manager Rafa Benitez was required to make his first substitution seconds later with Mateo Kovacic replacing Bale, who left the pitch with a supposed muscular injury in his left leg.

The hosts almost doubled their lead before half-time but Luka Modric's left-footed strike from 30 yards went inches wide of the far post.

Benitez brought in Pepe in place of injured Varane after the re-start.

Stepanenko was then handed his marching orders after a late challenge on Ramos.

Things got really bad for the visitors as the referee awarded Real a penalty even though Ronaldo's goal-bound shot came off the back of Shakhtar captain Darijo Srna.

Pyatov guessed correctly but could not get a touch on Ronaldo's spot-kick towards the right corner of goal.

In the 58th minute Nacho came in for Ramos, who went off with a shoulder injury and Real earned another penalty after Azevedo's handball.

Ronaldo hit the spot-kick towards the same corner as before to beat Pyatov.

Ronaldo, who had scored 5 against Levante to open his goal scoring account this season, found the target again. Marcelo's shot from outside the area was palmed away by Pyatov but Ronaldo headed home the rebound.

Paris Saint- Germain win 2-0 over Malmo as Angel Di Maria Plays a vital role

Angel Di Maria unlocked his account for Paris Saint-Germain as they began their Champions League campaign with a 2-0 victory over Malmo.

The former Real Madrid and Manchester United winger ended his eight-month goal drought with a beauty as he found the net just four minutes into Tuesday's game in the French capital as Malmo.

Edinson Cavani then headed in his fifth goal in his past three games to give the Ligue 1 giants a winning start in a group that also contains the 10-times European champions Real Madrid.

Zlatan Ibrahimovic, playing against his hometown club and the team where his career began, nearly scored a second in the 20th minute in a move where Di Maria featured heavily.

PSG eased to a win over Zlatan Ibrahimovic's former club Malmo on Tuesday.

The Di Maria picked out the Sweden international with a back-post cross, and Ibrahimovic took the ball down with his chest but was unable to prod it beyond international colleague Wiland as he advanced.

Laurent Blanc's home side were struggling to find a second goal, but it came eventually on the hour mark courtesy of Cavani.

Ibrahimovic was involved in the attack down the left which created the chance, shifting the ball to Maxwell before applying a trademark back-heeled flick from the full-back's cross to guide the ball on to Cavani, whose downward header beat Wiland.

The 34-year-old goalkeeper denied David Luiz a third by tipping the centre-back's header wide after Di Maria's corner had found the ex-Chelsea defender.

Real Madrid Vs Shakhtar - Benitez and Taison Thoughts

Benitez told the club's official website, www.realmadrid.com:

``They have freedom up front and they use their talent to put together attacks.

``We talk to them about the movements that each player makes and we stress the importance of there being a co-ordinated series of movements.

``Bale brings speed and penetration, Cristiano drifts inside, and that balance with Karim Benzema, Isco, and Marcelo joining in the attack... It creates a lot of danger for our opponents.''

Nevertheless, Benitez has warned his players they can take nothing for granted, with Shakhtar having lost just once in 13 outings in all competitions to date this season.

Saying: ``They have a coach with a lot of experience who gets the best out of his players. They have players with ability, speed and quality. If we're not focused and underestimate them, they'll be tough.


``We're Real Madrid and we're playing at the Bernabeu. The challenge is to start our Champions League campaign on a positive note.''

Mircea Lucescu's men will arrive at the Bernabeu determined to enjoy the experience, but not simply to make up the numbers.

Asked if he felt under pressure at the prospect of lining up against the Spanish aristocrats, Brazilian midfielder Taison told the club's official website, www.shakhtar.com: 

``I'm doing the best thing in the world - I play football!

``I think anyone wants to face such teams as Real Madrid. The only thing we need is to achieve a positive result in Spain. We will fight for it.

``It will be a good game. I would say that today's football is different from what it was before. No-one can win the match in advance. Both teams have equal chances.''

Like Mother Like Son - Cristiano's Mother after he scored 5 goals

Cristiano Ronaldo made the headlines earlier in 2015 when he finished his Ballon d'Or acceptance speech by screaming "SIIII" at a somewhat bemused audience. 

And after the Real Madrid forward scored five times against Espanyol on Saturday, his mother, Dolores Aveiro, decided to bring the famous celebration out again. follow the link below to see more.

Like mother, like son!

 

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2565898-cristiano-ronaldo-scores-five-mum-copies-famous-siiii-celebration

Messi Saves Barcelona Once Again

Lionel Messi celebrated the birth of his second child by coming off the sidelines to score the winner as Barcelona fought from behind to claim an essential 2-1 win away at Atletico Madrid on Saturday.

Messi started on the sidelines having missed training on Friday to attend the birth, a day after returning from international duty.

However, he was still to make the decisive contribution as he nonchalantly flicked home the winner 11 minutes from time after Neymar had cancelled out Fernando Torres's opener.

Even without Messi, Barca were the dominant side early on at the Calderon with Ivan Rakitic forcing Jan Oblak into the first serious save of the game with a fierce drive from a narrow angle.

Torres was again chosen ahead of Jackson Martinez in attack for Atletico and he wasted the hosts' best chance of the first-half when he blasted over under pressure from Javier Mascherano.

Atletico struck first six minutes after the break when Torres latched onto Tiago's through ball and his shot found the net via the far post.

However, the lead lasted barely three minutes as in the absence of Messi, Neymar was given the chance to strike a free-kick from the edge of the area and arrowed the ball into Oblak's top right-hand corner.

Messi was introduced for the final half hour by Barca boss Luis Enrique and he and Neymar combined to set up a great chance for Suarez only for the former Liverpool man to scuff wide.

Felipe Luis made a desperate clearance off the line from Neymar as the pressure built from the European champions.

And it finally told when a neat exchange between Messi and Suarez freed the Argentine to lift the ball over Oblak into the far corner.

Cristiano Ronaldo becomes Real Madrid highest goal scorer in history.

Cristiano Ronaldo merits his place in Real Madrid history in the wake of turning into their record La Liga scorer, manager Rafael Benitez says.

The Portugal forward's five goals in a 6-0 win at Espanyol on Saturday took him to 230 Spanish top-flight goals, passing Raul's record of 228.

"The numbers speaks for themselves," Benitez said of Ronaldo, who has come to his total in 204 matches.

"Someone who scores so many goals has a place in the history books."

"I hope that he can continue to add to his goalscoring account for his own benefit and that of the team." said Benitez

Ronaldo is the fourth most astounding scorer in La Liga history - with Barcelona's Lionel Messi driving the way on 289 goals going into this current weekend's fixtures.

The Real Madrid forward, however, has been the division's top scorer in each of the last two seasons, completing the 2014-15 battle with 48 league goals.

He has arrived at the midpoint of 1.13 goals in six years at Real since his £80m exchange from Manchester United.

Pepe, Real Madrid's Portugal global guard, said after the 30-year-old's most recent featuring execution: "Espanyol have a decent group yet when Cristiano has his day, it's unthinkable.

It was the second time in 2015 that Ronaldo had scored five goals in a match - he did it when Real beat Granada 9-1 in La Liga on 5 April.