Manchester City equals ‘unbeaten’ record, Borussia Dortmund nets five first-half goals in high-scoring Champions League night
By Ben Church, CNN
(CNN) — High-scoring matches, unwanted records and an unlikely winning run – Tuesday’s UEFA Champions League round seemed to have it all.
But while some of the world’s strongest teams flexed their muscles in this season’s competition, many of the tournament minnows were left licking their wounds after being on the receiving end of a demolition.
CNN Sport takes a look at the highlights from another action-packed night across Europe.
Manchester City equals ‘unbeaten’ record
Manchester City has set a number of records while commanding the English Premier League in recent seasons, but it appears its dominance also stretches to the Champions League.
After winning 4-0 against Slovan Bratislava on Tuesday, City equaled the competition’s unbeaten record, having not lost one of its previous 25 games, according to Opta.
Pep Guardiola’s side has now won 17 times and drawn eight games to equal the record set by local rival Manchester United in May 2009. The period also includes the season when City clinched its first European title in 2023.
City will have the chance to break the record when it faces Sparta Prague on October 23.
“It’s a joy to be manager of this team. I love it and I love them,” Guardiola said.
However, the record does come with a slight caveat.
While City hasn’t technically lost in 25 games, it has been knocked out of the competition.
Its elimination last season came after two draws against Real Madrid in the quarterfinals, before eventually losing in a penalty shootout.
Celtic suffers horror defeat
Elsewhere, Borussia Dortmund gave Celtic a night to forget after strolling to a mammoth 7-1 win.
The Scottish side was unbeaten this season heading into the game, having also won its first Champions League match 5-1 last month.
But it was taught a harsh lesson by a brilliant Dortmund side which, in truth, could have scored more.
The game was over after the first 45 minutes, with Celtic becoming the first British side to concede five first-half goals in a major European match since the 1997-98 season, according to Opta.
Emre Can gave Dortmund the early lead with a penalty after nine minutes, before the visitor equalized through Daizen Maeda.
But Celtic’s resolve was short-lived and it went into the break 5-1 down after Karim Adeyemi’s hat-trick and another penalty from Serhou Guirassy.
Guirassy then scored again in the second half before Felix Nmecha completed the rout.
“There are harsh lessons at this level, any misplaced passes when your positioning is not quite right, you get punished,” Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers said after the game.
“For our players, it’s a big learning (curve) and one that we need to take into the next games at this level.”
Uneven affairs
This season’s competition is looking very different to normal as the new format gets underway.
Teams no longer compete in eight groups of four during the group stages. Instead, 36 teams now participate in a single league, with each club playing eight matches against eight different sides.
UEFA said the change will see teams test themselves against a wider range of opposition and believes that the top clubs will “go head to head more often and earlier in the competition” in the new format.
However, recent fixtures have proven to be very uneven affairs with Europe’s powerhouses winning very comfortably against less established sides.
While City and Dortmund won easily on Tuesday, Barcelona also thrashed Young Boys 5-0 and Internazionale beat Red Star Belgrade 4-0.
It may be too early to determine whether the new format has anything to do with the unbalanced matches, or whether it’s more to do with the disparity between the financial might of clubs in the modern game.
Brest continues to impress
One team that doesn’t fit the current trend is Brest.
The French side continued its perfect start to the new Champions League season with a 4-0 win against Red Bull Salzburg on Tuesday.
Brest is playing in Europe for the first time after finishing third in Ligue 1 last year. The newcomer won its first game 2-1 against Austrian side Sturm Graz last month and then impressed with a clinical away performance against Salzburg.
A brace from Abdallah Sima and goals from Mahdi Camara and Mathias Pereira Lage completed the comfortable victory to move Brest to second in the UCL table.
The French club will face a tough match against German champion Bayer Leverkusen – which eked out a tough 1-0 win over AC Milan on Tuesday night – later this month as it bids to continue its unbeaten streak.
The-CNN-Wire
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