Salzburg 2-6 Bayern Munich: Lewandowski nets twice as late flurry keeps champions perfect

 Salzburg 2-6 Bayern Munich: Lewandowski nets twice as late flurry keeps champions perfect

Robert Lewandowski scored twice as Bayern Munich maintained their 100 per cent start in the Champions League with a rollicking 6-2 win at Salzburg despite a scare on Tuesday.

The holders eased to victory over Atletico Madrid in their opening game and then saw off Lokomotiv Moscow but looked as though they might come unstuck in Austria when Masaya Okugawa levelled matters at 2-2 in the 66th minute - just 54 seconds after he was introduced as a substitute.

Jerome Boateng, Leroy Sane, Lewandowski and Lucas Hernandez all scored inside the final 11 minutes to clinch the points, however, with Bayern earlier bouncing back from Mergim Berisha's opener to lead through a Lewandowski penalty and Rasmus Kristensen's own goal.

The late show leaves Bayern sitting pretty at the summit of Group A with nine points, five ahead of second-placed Atletico Madrid. Salzburg, meanwhile, are bottom having picked up just one point from their opening three games.

Bayern started slowly and fell behind for the first time in 11 Champions League games when Berisha slotted past Manuel Neuer at his near post after Sekou Koita's shot had deflected into his path.

Gnabry had a superb effort disallowed for offside before Lewandowski scored his first Champions League goal of the campaign, slotting home from 12 yards after Thomas Muller had been tripped by Enock Mwepu, having seen an earlier spot-kick award overturned.

Bayern then forged ahead in the 44th minute when Kristensen headed Muller's cross into his own net from close range.

Kingsley Coman clipped the crossbar from 10 yards shortly after the hour mark, but substitute Okugawa equalised for Salzburg with his first touch after Lewandowski had been caught in possession.

Bayern stormed back in the closing stages, though, Boateng putting the Bundesliga champions back in front with a powerful header from Joshua Kimmich's corner in the 79th minute.

Substitute Sane superbly curled into the top-left corner four minutes later after being teed up by Kimmich, while Lewandowski grabbed his second two minutes from time with a back-post header from Javi Martinez's cross.

The scoreline was then given a final flourish in stoppage time when Hernandez lashed into the roof of the net to cap a third group-stage win in style.

What does it mean? Dogged Salzburg crumble at the death

Despite the emphatic nature of the scoreline, Bayern did not have it all their own against an impressive Salzburg side, who forced Neuer into eight saves from their 18 shots.

Bayern's firepower ultimately proved too strong for Jesse Marsch's men, though, as they stretched their unbeaten away run in the Champions League to 15 games, with only Manchester United (16 between 2007 and 2010) having achieved a longer such streak.

Kimmich the creator

Kimmich's superb form in the Champions League continued, with his two assists from five chances created taking his goal involvements in his past six games in the competition to nine (two goals, seven assists). He also completed 92 per cent of his passes - the second-highest rate of any Bayern starter.

Mwepu's game to forget

His clumsy foul on Muller led to the penalty for Bayern's first goal and things did not get much better after that for Mwepu. The Zambia international lost possession a team-high of 18 times and won just 30.8 per cent of his 13 duels.

Key Opta Facts

- Salzburg have lost all five of their Champions League matches against the reigning champions by an aggregate scoreline of 16-5.

- There have been seven matches in which a side has scored six or more goals in a Champions League game since the start of last season, with Bayern responsible for four of them.

- Lewandowski has scored all 12 penalties he has taken in the Champions League (two for Borussia Dortmund, 10 for Bayern).

- Okugawa's equaliser came just 54 seconds after he came off the bench - the second-fastest goal from a substitute in the Champions League this season after Vinicius Junior against Shakhtar Donetsk at 11 seconds.

- Only Real Madrid (16) and Barcelona (15) have benefited from more own goals in Champions League history than Bayern (13).

What's next?

Bayern travel to Borussia Dortmund for Der Klassiker on Saturday before the international break, while Salzburg visit Rapid Vienna in domestic action a day later.

Real Madrid 3-2 Inter: Rodrygo rescues Zidane's men late on

Rodrygo struck 10 minutes from time to earn Real Madrid a 3-2 win and deny Inter after the visitors had battled back from two goals down in Tuesday's Champions League clash.

Madrid head coach Zinedine Zidane labelled the Group B match a "final" and his side made a bright start thanks to Karim Benzema and Sergio Ramos – the latter scoring his 100th goal for the club.

Inter, who entered the contest one point better off than their opponents, battled back through well-taken strikes from Lautaro Martinez and Ivan Perisic either side of half-time.

But Madrid regained their lead late on when substitutes Vinicius Junior and Rodrygo combined on the counter, making it five games without a win for Inter and under-pressure boss Antonio Conte.

Marco Asensio was denied by a smart Samir Handanovic save and Nicolo Barella scraped the top of the crossbar with a header in a lively and end-to-end start to the showdown.

That set the tone for what was to follow as Benzema pounced on Hakimi's underhit backpass, rounded Inter goalkeeper Handanovic and tucked the ball into an empty net for the 25th-minute opener.

Ramos added a second for Madrid eight minutes later by getting away from his marker to meet Toni Kroos' corner and head in from the edge of the six-yard box.

Inter gave themselves an instant lifeline as Barella superbly flicked the ball into the path of Martinez to pick out the bottom-left corner 10 minutes before the interval.

Conte's Inter, once again without injured striker Romelu Lukaku, initially struggled to get at their opponents in a quieter second half in the Spanish capital.

However, against the run of play, Martinez nodded the ball into the path of Perisic and the makeshift striker held off Lucas Vazquez before rifling across Thibaut Courtois.

Both teams went in search of a winner and it was Madrid who found it – Vinicius leading a break down the left and feeding the ball to fellow Brazilian Rodrygo, who took a touch to set himself and then found the top-right corner to win the match during the closing stages.

What does it mean? Madrid off the mark, Inter bottom

This could prove to be a truly massive victory for Madrid, with this first Group B win moving them onto four points from three matches, two more than bottom side Inter.

Borussia Monchengladbach now lead the way after crushing second-placed Shakhtar Donetsk 6-0 earlier on Tuesday, meaning it is very much all to play for in a tight group.

Inter, who were second best in terms of possession (45 per cent) and shots on target (three to Madrid's seven), head into the reverse fixture with Zidane's men knowing that they will surely need a win to keep alive their hopes of progressing.

Ramos reaches a century

Three days after making his 500th LaLiga appearance, Ramos crossed off another milestone with his 100th goal for Madrid in all competitions – 55 of those via his head.

He also won more aerial duels than any other player on the pitch (three) and turned over possession eight times, which was second only to Casemiro among Madrid's players.

Hakimi's horror moment

Madrid's decision to let Hakimi join Inter in the close season raised eyebrows given the full-back's impressive form during his time on loan with Borussia Dortmund.

He topped the charts for tackles (three) and crosses (four) for Inter, highlighting his importance at both ends of the pitch, but his lapse in concentration for Benzema's opener will be the defining moment of his match.

What's next?

Madrid travel to Valencia on Sunday in their final LaLiga outing before the international break, while Inter make the trip to Atalanta in Serie A on the same day.