UEFA Champions League: Real Madrid, Manchester City, Liverpool and Bayern Munich register crucial wins

Bayern Munich came from behind to crush RB Salzburg 6-2 with two goals from Robert Lewandowski on Tuesday, stretching their record winning run in the UEFA Champions League to 14 consecutive games and leading their group by five points after three games. The Bavarians, who have won five titles in 2020 including the Champions League, went behind after only four minutes when Mergim Berisha was left completely unmarked inside the box to beat goalkeeper Manuel Neuer. Bayern instantly bounced back and Serge Gnabry had his shot cleared off the line before their top scorer Lewandowski levelled with a 21st minute penalty.

Salzburg defender Rasmus Kristensen then turned a Thomas Mueller cross into his own net a minute before the break. The hosts came close to an equaliser right after the restart but Neuer got his fingertips to Enock Mwepu`s shot to turn it wide. The Bayern keeper was beaten in the 66th minute, however, when Masaya Okugawa fired Salzburg level.

Real Madrid boosted their chances of reaching the Champions League knockout stages after a late winner by substitute Rodrygo gave them a 3-2 home victory over Inter Milan in an absorbing Group B clash on Tuesday. The result left Real, winners of a record 13 titles in Europe`s premier club competition, level on four points with Shakhtar Donetsk, one point behind leaders Borussia Moenchengladbach and two ahead of bottom placed Inter.

Real bounce back, Manchester City and Liverpool win

Real had thrown away a two-goal lead and were flirting with a defeat which would have piled more pressure on manager Zinedine Zidane before their Brazilian duo of Vinicius Junior and Rodrygo combined to save the day.

Ferran Torres, Gabriel Jesus and Joao Cancelo were on target as Manchester City made it three wins out of three in Champions League Group C with a 3-0 win over Olympiakos at the Etihad Stadium on Tuesday. The result leaves City three points clear of Porto at the top of the group, and a single point in the return fixture on Nov. 25 would secure progress for City to the knockout stage. Torres put City ahead in the 12th minute, playing a smart one-two with Kevin De Bruyne before confidently slotting home for his third goal in as many games in the competition.

Raheem Sterling had the ball in the net in the 32nd minute, but his effort was ruled out for offside, as City dominated play. But the Greek side grew into the game after the break.

The visitors should have drawn level in the 55th minute when a sloppy pass from Phil Foden fell to Mathieu Valbuena, but the 36-year-old French winger miscued his shot.

Liverpool manager Juergen Klopp heaped praise on central defender Rhys Williams after the 19-year-old impressed in his first Champions League start in Tuesday’s 5-0 victory over Atalanta. Williams was thrust into the starting lineup following injuries to Virgil van Dijk and Fabinho. "Rhys was exceptional. I cannot imagine being 19-years-old and playing my second professional game in the Champions League against Duvan Zapata, it`s incredible," Klopp said. "I couldn’t be more happy for him. You should see him in the dressing room, you`d need something special to get the smile off his face. It`s good to see."

Klopp said the absence of Dutch defender Van Dijk, who could miss the rest of the season after undergoing knee surgery last month, had forced the rest of the team to share the defensive workload. "How the team defended was absolutely incredible. We had to change because Virgil is not there any more, so we share the responsibility, we put it on 10 shoulders instead of one," he said. "Everybody has to step up; Andrew Robertson, Trent Alexander-Arnold and Joe Gomez, they are in charge. If Joel Matip plays then it is different but if it is one of the young players, then they have to command that line."

Liverpool travel to Manchester City in the Premier League on Sunday.