Benfica thump Barca 3-0 in CL

LISBON, Portugal (AP):

Benfica routed struggling Barcelona 3-0 in the UEFA Champions League yesterday, ending a 60-year winless streak against the Catalan club and handing Barcelona a second consecutive loss to start its European campaign.

Darwin Nuñez scored twice – including three minutes into the match – and Rafa Silva added another goal at the Stadium of Light to give Benfica their second victory in eight matches against the Spanish powerhouse, who had opened with a demoralising 3-0 home loss against Bayern Munich.

Bayern cruised past Dynamo Kyiv in Germany in the other Group E match to reach six points from two matches. Benfica, who had opened with a draw at Dynamo, have four points, three more than Dynamo.

Barcelona, in last place without any points, suddenly see themselves in danger of not reaching the knockout stage for the first time since 2001. Last season Barcelona failed to reach the quarter-finals for the first time since 2006-07, losing to Paris Saint-Germain in the round of 16 and ending their record run of 13 consecutive last-eight appearances.

Without Lionel Messi for the first time in nearly two decades, Barcelona have won only one of their last five games in all competitions, a disappointing run that started with the loss to Bayern at the Camp Nou Stadium. They have won only three times in eight matches in all competitions this season.

It was Barcelona’s fifth straight Champions League match without a win, with the Catalan club having conceded 14 goals during that run. They didn’t have a single shot on target from eight attempts yesterday.

FIRST MEET UP

Benfica’s only other victory against Barcelona had come in the 1961 European Cup final the first time the clubs met.

Benfica, who started their Champions League campaign in the third qualifying round, are unbeaten in 13 matches overall this season, with 11 wins.

The hosts opened the scoring in the game’s first shot on goal in the third minute, with Nuñez finding the net from inside the area after easily getting past Barcelona defender Eric García, who was sent off with a second yellow card in the 87th.

Nuñez almost added to the lead in the 52nd when Barcelona goalkeeper Marc-André ter Stegen clumsily left his area and allowed the Uruguay forward to have an open shot into the net, which ended hitting the post from very long range.

Silva scored the second in the 69th from close range after a failed attempt by João Mário, and Nuñez sealed the victory by converting a 79th-minute penalty kick after a handball by Barcelona defender Sergiño Dest.

Barcelona coach Ronald Koeman, a former Benfica manager who is under increased pressure at the Catalan club, started the match with three central defenders but switched formations just past the half-hour mark by replacing Gerard Piqué with teenage midfielder Gavi.

Koeman had the return of Pedri González to midfield after the youngster was sidelined by an injury lay-off. Jordi Alba and Ousmane Dembélé remain out injured.

Benfica lost forward Valentino Lazaro because of an injury before half-time.

Yesterday’s UEFA Champions League results:

Group E

Bayern Munich 5-0 Dynamo Kyiv

Benfica 3-0 Barcelona

Group F

Atalanta 1-0 Young Boys

Man Utd 2-1 Villarreal

Group G

Salzburg 2-1 Lille

Wolfsburg 1-1 Sevilla

Group H

Zenit 4-0 Malmö

Juventus 1-0 Chelsea