Daily Times

PARIS: Manchester United slumped to a shock 2-1 loss at Young Boys despite a goal from Cristiano Ronaldo in their Champions League opener on Tuesday, while Chelsea kicked off their title defence by beating Zenit. Robert Lewandowski struck twice for Bayern Munich as the German heavyweights inflicted a 3-0 defeat on Barcelona at Camp Nou in their first European game since the departure of Lionel Messi. Ronaldo, the leading scorer in Champions League history, bagged his 135th goal in the competition after 13 minutes in Bern, but Swiss champions Young Boys hit back after the sending-off of Aaron Wan-Bissaka. The United defender saw red for a dangerous tackle on Christopher Martins before half-time. Nicolas Moumi Ngamaleu equalised in the second half before Jordan Siebatcheu snatched the winner with the final kick. “It’s the first game in the group. We’ve got many games to bounce back and we must do,” said United captain Harry Maguire.

“We’ll try and pick up three points in our next game and build momentum from there.” United host Villarreal in two weeks. The Spaniards, who beat Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s men in last season’s Europa League final, drew 2-2 at home to Atalanta in the other Group F match. Remo Freuler gave Atalanta the lead but Villarreal responded with goals from Manu Trigueros and Arnaut Danjuma. Robin Gosens popped up with a late equaliser. Romelu Lukaku broke the deadlock for Chelsea after 69 minutes at Stamford Bridge to earn the holders a 1-0 victory over Zenit, whose Krestovsky Stadium in Saint Petersburg is the venue for next May’s final. Lukaku headed in Cesar Azpilicueta’s cross to give Thomas Tuchel’s team a winning start in Group H. “The guys who are there to score regularly for their teams are so important because one goal changes the whole momentum of the match,” Tuchel said of Lukaku. Juventus top the section after the opening round following their 3-0 win away to Malmo of Sweden.