Diogo Jota scored a stunning hat-trick in Liverpool’s 5-0 demolition of Atalanta in the Champions League on Tuesday, as holder Bayern Munich scored six and Real Madrid struck late to beat Inter Milan in a thriller.
On a prolific night across Europe which also saw a rampant Borussia Moenchengladbach hit six in Ukraine, the star individual performances came from Jota and Alassane Plea.
Jota was brought into the starting line-up in place of Roberto Firmino and required just 16 minutes to open the scoring.
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Another emphatic finish double the lead before the break, and Mohamed Salah then broke away to get the third just after the restart.
Salah set up Sadio Mane for Liverpool’s fourth before Jota got his hat-trick goal.
With three wins from three, Liverpool is well on course to top Group D, with Ajax and Atalanta both five points back.
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French forward Plea had earlier scored a hat-trick as Gladbach claimed a stunning 6-0 victory over Shakhtar Donetsk in Kiev.
The unfortunate Valeriy Bondar scored an own goal, with Ramy Bensebaini and Lars Stindl also scoring as Gladbach went top of Group B, a point clear of Shakhtar and Real Madrid.
Dramatic encounter
Real ran out 3-2 winner in a dramatic encounter with Inter behind closed doors at the Alfredo di Stefano Stadium, as Vinicius Junior set up his fellow Brazilian substitute Rodrygo to lash in the decisive goal 10 minutes from time.
Reigning champion Bayern has now won a record-extending 14 consecutive Champions League games after a 6-2 victory against Salzburg in Austria.
Manchester City is firmly in control of Group C after Pep Guardiola’s side eased past Olympiakos 3-0, with Ferran Torres, Gabriel Jesus and Joao Cancelo netting.
The results:
Group A: Lokomotiv Moscow 1 (Anton Miranchuk 25-pen) drew with Atletico Madrid 1 (Gimenez 18); Salzburg 2 (Berisha 4, Okugawa 66) lost to Bayern Munich 6 (Lewandowski 21-pen, 88, Kristensen-og 40, Boateng 79, Sane 83, Lucas 90+1).
Group B: Shahktar Donetsk 0 lost to Borussia M’Gladbach 6 (Plea 8, 26, 78, Bondar 17-og, Bensebaini 44, Stindl 65); Real Madrid 3 (Benzema 25, Ramos 33, Rodrygo 80) bt Inter Milan 2 (Martinez 35, Perisic 68).
Group C: Manchester City 3 (Torres 12, Jesus 81, Cancelo 90) bt Olympiakos 0; Porto 3 (Marega 4, Oliveira 28-pen, Dias 69) bt Marseille 0.
Group D: Midtjylland 1 (Dreyer 18) lost to Ajax 2 (Antony 1, Tadic 13); Atalanta 0 lost to Liverpool 5 (Jota 16, 33, 54, Salah 47, Mane 49).