Win at Zenit, draw for Lazio and loss at Dortmund

Blue-Black's European opponents enjoyed varying degrees of success. Zenit won 3-1 at home against Fc Krasnodar and Lazio drew 1-1 in extremis against Juventus. Borussia Dortmund narrowly lost to Bayern Munich: it lost 2-3 to the national champion at home.

Zenit - Krasnodar 3-1

Zenit St. Petersburg won 3-1 at home against FK Krasnodar, which is also active in the Champions League. After the 1-1 draw in the Champions League against Lazio, the Russians are building on a nice run. Krasnodar did lead 0-1 after 15 minutes of play through a penalty kick by Berg, but just before halftime Zenit had a chance to undo Krasnodar's lead. Only striker Dzyuba missed his penalty. In the second half, Zenit was able to completely rectify the situation. Kuzyaev and Dzyuba provided the turnaround and deep into injury time substitute Sutormin recorded the 3-1 final score. Thanks to this victory, Zenit remains on the trail of leader CSKA Moscow. (KN)

Zenit: Kerzhakov, Karavaev, Rakitskiy (90' Chistyakov), Santos, Lovren, Barrios, Wendel (88' Zhirkov), Mostovoy (74' Sutormin), Ozdoev, Kuzyaev (90' Krugovoy), Dzyuba.

Goals: 17' Berg (0-1, penalty kick), 65' Kuzyaev (1-1), 79' Dzyuba (2-1), 90' Sutormin (3-1).

Lazio - Juventus 1-1

Lazio played a 1-1 draw against national champions Juventus thanks to a late goal by Felipe Caicedo. The Romans again had access to a corona-free Luis Alberto and Stefan Radu who returned from injury. Thomas Strakosha, Lucas Leiva and Ciro Immobile had to miss this topper due to corona issues. The home side created the first goal threat through a header from Muriqi but goalkeeper Bonucci prevented the opening goal with an ultimate save. At the other end, they did score after 15 minutes. Cuadrado dribbled past the Lazio defense and brought the ball into the path of Ronaldo, who did not miss. Simone Inzaghi's team had a house-high chance for the equalizer shortly thereafter. Ex-Genken player Milinković-Savić kicked the ball in front of goal, but teammate Muriqi was a few centimeters short of putting the ball into the goal. The visitors also had a goal on the counter, but Ronaldo's effort hit the post. Just before halftime, the Portuguese striker took a free kick to the top left corner, but Reina cleared the ball out of the goal, making it 0-1 at halftime.

In the second half, the home team was immediately dangerous through Marušić, but the Montenegrin aimed his effort a little too high. Lazzari saw his right-footed shot blocked and at the other end Reina prevented a double with a save on a Rabiot kick. Lazio started looking more explicitly for the equalizer and put on a real final offensive in the last twenty minutes. The Romans created goal danger through Milinković-Savić, Alberto and Marušić, but it was finally substitute Caicedo who redeemed the home team with the deserved equalizer deep into injury time. (VM)

Lazio: Reina, Radu (54' Hoedt), Acerbi, Felipe, Fares (54' Lazzari), Alberto (77'Pereira), Cataldi (77' Akpa Akpro), Milinković-Savić, Marušić, Correa, Muriqi (54' Caicedo).

Goals: 15' Ronaldo (0-1), 90+4' Caicedo (1-1).

Dortmund - Bayern Munich 2-3

Der Klassiker between Dortmund and Bayern was won by national champions Bayern Munich with the smallest of differences. For Dortmund, both Thomas Meunier and Axel Witsel appeared at the kickoff as well as Mats Hummels who appeared recovered from a hamstring injury. From minute one, the topper erupted with a shot by top marksman Lewandowski that only just missed the frame. At the other end, it was the turn of Witsel, back in his familiar midfield position, to shoot wide. Initially Bayern was the better team and had VAR not intervened for offside by the same Lewandowski it would have been 0-1 in the 24th minute. Dortmund sensed wetness and in turn crafted some clever attacks. On the stroke of halftime, Marcus Reus, after an assist from Guerreiro, managed to beat goalkeeper Neuer with a hard shot, but the home joy after the 1-0 was short-lived. In the added time of the first half, the visitors struck in turn with a crisp free kick from Alaba that disappeared into goal via Meunier's body. Both teams headed for the locker room at 1-1.

Even after the break, the tension remained. After just a few minutes, captain Reus just couldn't reach a cross from the escaped Haaland. The ball went across the goal line and there it was. Hernández was allowed to cross from the left and who else but Robert Lewandowski was able to beat home goalkeeper Bürki with a precise header. 1-2 and Dortmund was left to chase. The game continued to go up and down at a high tempo and both teams had chances to score in the following minutes, but both goalkeepers did not budge. Ten minutes before time, Haaland lost the ball and in the ensuing counter, the incoming Sané scored the 1-3 cleverly into the right corner with a placed shot. The Norwegian soccer prodigy righted his wrong three minutes later by slaloming past Neuer and depositing the 2-3 in goal. The home side now went all out, but in added time a goal by Lewandowski was rightly disallowed for narrowly offside after VAR intervention. As a result, this highly entertaining top match ended 2-3 in favor of national champions Bayern Munich, who of course remain in the lead in the Bundesliga. (FDC)

Borussia Dortmund: Bürki, Hummels, Guerreiro, Akanji, Witsel, Delaney (60' Bellingham), Meunier, Sancho (69' Brandt), Reyna (69' Hazard), Reus, Haaland.

Goals: 45' Reus (1-0), 45'+4' Alaba (1-1), 48' Lewandowski (1-2), 80' Sané (1-3), 83' Haaland (2-3).