Cristiano Ronaldo closes in Raul's record

• by Soccer America , Oct 23, 2014

[UCL: Week 3] Defending champion Real Madrid showed just how much work Liverpool has ahead of it if it wants to be competitive in Europe as it inflicted a 3-0 defeat on the Reds at Anfield on Wednesday in the UEFA Champions League. Cristiano Ronaldo scored the first of Real Madrid's three first-half goals to give him 70 career goals in the competition, one less that of former Real Madrid star Raul -- and one more than Barcelona rival Lionel Messi.

The troubles for Italian clubs in the UEFA Champions League continued. A day after Roma's 7-1 loss to Bayern Munich, Serie A champion Juventus suffered its second loss in three games, losing at Olympiakos, 1-0.

Olympiakos' win put it in a tie for first place with Atletico Madrid, which got five second-half goals to crush Malmo FF,  5-0.

After former MLS Rookie of the Year Andy Najar put Anderlecht ahead, 1-0, against Arsenal, the Gunners rallied on a pair of goals in the last minute to prevail, 2-1.

UEFA Champions League, Results:
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 21
Atletico Madrid 5 (Koke 48, Mandzukic 61, Griezmann 63, Godin 87, Cerci 90) Malmo FF 0.
Olympiakos 1 (Kasami 36) Juventus 0.
Liverpool 0 Real Madrid 3 (Cristiano Ronaldo 23, Benzema 30, 41).
Ludogorets 1 (Minev 90) FC Basel 0.
Bayer Leverkusen 2 (Donati 58, Papadopoulos 63) Zenit St. Petersburg 0.
Monaco 0 Benfica 0.
Anderlecht 1 (Najar 71) Arsenal 2 (Gibbs 89, Podolski 90).
Galatasaray 0 Borussia Dortmund (Aubameyang 6, 18, Reus 41, Ramos 83).

UEFA Champions League, Results:
TUESDAY, OCTOBER 21
Roma 1 (Gervinho 66) Bayern Munich 7 (Robben 8, 30, Goetze 23, Lewandowski 25, Mueller 36 pen., Ribery 78, Shaqiri 80).
APOEL Nicosia 0 Paris SG 1 (Cavani 87).
Barcelona 3 (Neymar 7, Messi 24, Sandro Ramirez 90+4) Ajax 1 (El Ghazi 88).
Schalke 04 4 (Obasi 34, Huntelaar 51, Hoewedes 60, Choupo-Moting 90+3 pen.) Sporting 3 (Nani 16, Adrien 64 pen. 78)
Chelsea 6 (Remy 13, Drogba 23 pen., Terry 31, own goal 54, Hazard 77 pen., 90) Maribor 0.
BATE Borisov 0 Shakhtar Donetsk 7 (Alex Teixeira 11, Luiz Adriano 28 pen., 37, 40, 44, 82 pen., Douglas Costa 35
Porto 2 (Herrera 45, Quaresma 75) Athletic Bilbao 1 (Guillermo 58).
CSKA Moscow 2 (Doumbia 64, Natcho 86 pen.) Man. City 2 (Aguero 29, Milner 37).



Arjen Robben led Bayern with two goals, including the first with a curling shot after nine minutes, as  it set a club record for an away win in the Champions League. The victory followed a 6-0 win over Werder Bremen over the weekend.

GOALS: 40 in 8 games (new Champions League record).

''Last season we had the legs but not the mindset,'' said Bayern Munich coach Pep Guardiola. ''We needed to decide things a split-second quicker and now we're doing that.''
 
Guardiola sounded almost embarrassed for the rout, Roma's heaviest defeat in the Champions League since a 7-1 loss at Manchester United in the 2007 quarterfinals.

''This is a fluke,'' Guardiola said. ''It's not normal to win, 7-1.''

RECORD BOOKS. Brazilian striker Luiz Adriano became the first player in Champions League history to score four goals in the opening half and tied Lionel Messi's record with five goals as Shakhtar Donetsk trounced BATE Borisov 7-0.

-- Chelsea scored its biggest Champions League victory with a 6-0 win over Slovenia's Maribor at Stamford Bridge.