Bayern Munich and Paris St Germain strengthen Champions League claims with big wins

Bayern Munich underlined their Champions League credentials with a disciplined 2-0 victory at Atletico Madrid, while Paris St Germain set a competition record in a 6-0 win over Villarreal on Tuesday.

The result was particularly significant for Bayern, who are seeking a place in the league phase’s top eight and direct qualification for the last 16 after drawing 2-2 with Arsenal and 3-3 with Viking in their previous two European matches.

Atletico, last season’s semi-finalists, had gone nine games unbeaten, winning eight, but were unable to break down Bayern’s organised defence. The German champions were also without several attacking players and manager Vincent Kompany, who is recovering after collapsing at training.

Bayern had conceded at least four goals over the two legs in each of their past four Champions League eliminations. This time, however, their defensive structure allowed them to control the match at the stadium that will host the final in June.

Lennart Karl opened the scoring after taking advantage of an error by Robin Le Normand inside the Atletico penalty area. Konrad Laimer added the second in the 74th minute after Bayern’s press forced the hosts to give up possession, with Harry Kane providing the decisive pass.

“The way we defended together as a group to get the clean sheet, we were really pleased with the whole team performance,” Bayern assistant manager Aaron Danks said.

“Tonight was about the collective group, about the spirit of this group, to come together in adversity and get a result in a difficult ground.”

Bayern enjoyed most of the possession but initially struggled to create openings. Karl shot wide in the 22nd minute and Kane volleyed off target four minutes later, while Atletico failed to register a shot on target before half-time despite posing a threat on the counterattack.

Paris St Germain moved top of the standings on 12 points after becoming the fastest team to score four goals in a Champions League match during their victory over Villarreal. They lead a group of six teams on nine points, including Barcelona and Aston Villa.

Barcelona defeated Aston Villa 3-0 at home, with Lamine Yamal scoring after seven minutes and Raphinha adding two goals, including one from an assist by Joao Cancelo. Inter Milan won 3-0 away to Feyenoord through Yann Bisseck, Pio Esposito and Piotr Zielinski.

Manchester United recovered from two goals down to beat AS Roma 3-2 at Old Trafford. Matias Soule and Donyell Malen, from the penalty spot, gave Roma an early lead before Bruno Fernandes scored a retaken penalty in the 58th minute.

Matheus Cunha equalised with seven minutes remaining and scored again three minutes later. He was then sent off in stoppage time after being booked for removing his shirt and jumping into the stands before receiving a red card for a late challenge.

LASK beat Slovan Bratislava 4-0 for only their second Champions League win, while Bodo/Glimt drew 0-0 with Lille. Galatasaray beat Stuttgart 2-0 through two Aleksey Batrakov goals, and Sporting defeated Shakhtar Donetsk 1-0 at Stamford Bridge.

European stadiums held a minute’s silence before kick-off for Tenerife player Jesus de Miguel, who died earlier on Tuesday.