34-year-old Dutch winger Robben, in his tenth and possibly last season at Bayern, put the hosts ahead after thirteen minutes when he cut inside to curl in a shot with his left foot following a superb solo run down the right wing. He repeated the trick on the half-hour mark to make it 2-0 and when Lewandowski grabbed his fiftieth Champions League goal with a header it was game over before half-time.
Benfica’s half-time substitute, 19 year-old Gedson Fernandes, gave them a glimmer of a hope when he scored thirty-six seconds after the break, but Bayern were in no mood to let the game slip. Lewandowski, who became only the seventh player to reach the 50-goal mark in the competition, restored their three-goal advantage with another glancing header and Franck Ribery slotted in from eight metres to make it 5-1 fifteen minutes from time. Benfica will finish third in the group and drop into the Europa League knockout stages of that competition.
Meanwhile, Cristiano Ronaldo was at his sparkling best as Juventus clinched a place in the Champions League knockout stages with victory over Valencia whilst beleaguered José Mourinho felt some relief after Marouane Fellaini’s dramatic injury-time winner against Young Boys of Berne.
Juventus clinched a place in the Champions League knockout stages when a brilliant Cristiano Ronaldo assist set up Mario Mandzukic to give them a 1-0 win over Valencia on Tuesday. The Serie A champions had struggled to break down Valencia’s defence until João Cancelo slipped the ball to Ronaldo in the Valencia area fifteen minutes after the break. Ronaldo wrong-footed Gabriel Paulista with some fancy footwork, giving himself space to roll a low cross across the face of goal for Mandzukic to turn in from two metres.
Juventus top the section with twelve points from five games while Valencia, third with five points, were eliminated after second-placed Manchester United beat Young Boys 1-0.
Last weekend, Ronaldo scored his tenth goal of the season against Spal to send Juventus eight points clear in Serie A. Cristiano Ronaldo produces his iconic ‘si’, which means ’yes’ in English, celebration after every goal he scores and the Juve fans now chant the word in the 41,000-seater Allianz Stadium. The Juventus fans were not able to join in the celebrations too often at the start of the season as the five-time Ballon d’Or winner only managed to score three goals in his first eight appearances, which is a pretty low total by his remarkable standards. The 33-year-old superstar has now scored seven in his last eight games and Massimiliano Allegri’s side remain unbeaten having won twelve of the first thirteen league matches.