Atletico sinks Bayern again

PARIS — Raheem Sterling netted at both ends as Manchester City was made to fight for a 3-3 draw with Celtic in a Champions League thriller Wednesday, while Atletico Madrid once again did for Bayern Munich. While City’s perfect start to the season was ended in Glasgow, its Premier League rival Arsenal eased to a 2-0 victory against Basel. Atletico had eliminated Bayern in the semifinals last season and repeated the trick at the Vicente Calderon to make it a double for Spanish clubs against German opposition as Barcelona downed Borussia Moenchengladbach. On paper, the Group C clash at Celtic Park appeared to be a bit of a mismatch with City looking to equal Tottenham Hotspur’s English record of 11 successive victories at the start of a campaign from 1960. But instead Pep Guardiola’s men found themselves having to come from behind three times to claim a point at a raucous Parkhead, with Celtic first scoring in the third minute when an Erik Sviatchenko header went in off Moussa Dembele. Fernandinho equalized only for a Kieran Tierney cross to go in off Sterling and restore the Scottish champions’ lead. Sterling’s brilliantly-taken goal at the other end restored parity before the half-hour mark, but Dembele capitalized on an Aleksandar Kolarov error to make it 3-2 just after the break. However, Nolito got City’s third equalizer and it was the English side which looked more likely to go on and win it. It is Barcelona which is top of the section after the Spanish champion followed its 7-0 trouncing of Celtic last time out with a come-from-behind 2-1 victory over Gladbach in Germany. Thorgan Hazard slotted the Bundesliga club in front in the first half but Arda Turan came off the bench to level after the break before Gerard Pique got the winner on 74 minutes. Barca, which was without the injured Lionel Messi, can now look forward to a fascinating double-header with its old coach Guardiola’s City. Meanwhile, Theo Walcott made the difference as Arsenal eased to three points against Basel at the Emirates Stadium. A first-half brace by Walcott ensured it was a comfortable night for the Gunners. It is level atop Group A alongside Paris Saint-Germain, which beat Ludogorets 3-1 in Bulgaria. A Natanael free-kick gave Ludogorets the lead in Sofia, but Blaise Matuidi restored parity before the interval. Edinson Cavani then grabbed two goals in the second half, either side of a Cosmin Moti penalty miss for the Bulgarian champions, to complete the comeback. In Madrid, Atletico inflicted Carlo Ancelotti’s first defeat as coach of Bayern as Yannick Carrasco’s first-half strike separated the sides at the Vicente Calderon in Group D. The Spaniards eliminated Bayern on away goals in the semifinals of last season’s Champions League and there was to be no revenge for the five-time European champion, which would have lost by a wider margin had Antoine Griezmann not struck the bar with a late penalty. Atletico has maximum points before a double-header with Rostov, which claimed its first ever point in the competition in a 2-2 draw with PSV Eindhoven in Russia. In Group B, Napoli continued its excellent start to the season by beating Benfica 4-2 in Italy. Marek Hamsik gave it a first-half lead at the San Paolo before three goals in seven second-half minutes, a Dries Mertens brace coming either side of an Arkadiusz Milik penalty. Goncalo Guedes and Eduardo Salvio got goals back for Benfica, but it slumped to a first defeat of the season. Also in Group B, Dynamo Kiev came back to draw 1-1 with Besiktas in Istanbul, substitute Viktor Tsygankov cancelling out Ricardo Quaresma’s opener. — AFP