Last-gasp Ronaldo wins it for Manchester United

Ronaldo scores 95th-minute winner against Villarreal; Barcelona hammered by Benfica; holders Chelsea lose at Juventus.

Ronaldo was making a record 178th Champions League appearance [Phil Noble/Reuters]

Cristiano Ronaldo made a record 178th Champions League appearance and capped his gala with an injury-time winner as Manchester United rallied to beat Villarreal 2-1 in a rematch of last season’s Europa League final.

Ronaldo, who overtook former Real Madrid teammate Iker Casillas, stole an undeserved winner for United on Wednesday after a clever layoff from Jesse Lingard.

A wonderful volley from Alex Telles on the hour for the hosts had cancelled Paco Alcacer’s goal almost immediately.

United are joint second in Group F on three points, level with Young Boys, who beat them on opening day. Atalanta are top on four after edging the Swiss side 1-0.

Benfica’s Rafa Silva celebrates scoring their second goal with teammates [Pedro Nunes/Reuters]

Elsewhere, Barcelona suffered a second straight 3-0 loss in the Champions League group stage as they were well beaten by Benfica in Lisbon on Wednesday.

Ronald Koeman’s men, who lost their opener to Bayern Munich, now desperately need two wins in their upcoming games against Dynamo Kyiv to boost their hopes of getting out of Group E.

Federico Chiesa’s goal at the start of the second half gave Juventus a 1-0 win over holders Chelsea.

It is a second straight defeat for Chelsea after their loss to Manchester City at the weekend and it leaves Thomas Tuchel’s team three points behind leaders Juventus in Champions League Group H.

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Meanwhile, devastating Bayern Munich confirmed their status among the favourites for the Champions League with a 5-0 demolition of Dynamo Kyiv.

Robert Lewandowski’s with a half double, Serge Gnabry, Leroy Sane and Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting after the break kept Bayern perfect in Group E while Barcelona’s struggles continued with a second 3-0 loss, this time away to Benfica.

Results:

Atalanta 1-0 Young Boys

Zenit 4-0 Malmo FF

Bayern Munich 5-0 Dynamo Kyiv

Benfica 3-0 Barcelona

Manchester United 2-1 Villarreal

Salzburg 2-1 Lille

Wolfsburg 1-1 Sevilla

Juventus 1-0 Chelsea

Source: News Agencies

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