Paris:
Bayern Munich produced a stunning display to demolish Roma 7-1 but they were not the biggest winners on the most prolific evening in Champions League history.
A record 44 goals were scored in just eight group games as Shakhtar Donetsk destroyed BATE Borisov 7-0 in Belarus and Chelsea recorded their biggest win in the competition, thumping Maribor 6-0 at Stamford Bridge on Tuesday.
There were also wins for Barcelona, Paris Saint-Germain, Schalke and Porto while Manchester City drew 2-2 away to CSKA Moscow, but it was Bayern who stole the show.
Pep Guardiola’s side underlined their status as one of the contenders to win the Champions League as they took apart a Roma outfit who had enjoyed a fine start to the campaign.
An Arjen Robben brace, Mario Goetze, Robert Lewandowski and a Thomas Mueller penalty made it 5-0 at the break in the Group E game.
Gervinho got one back for Roma in the second half before substitutes Franck Ribery and Xherdan Shaqiri added further goals in a performance reminiscent of Germany’s 7-1 win over Brazil in the World Cup semi-final in July, a game in which five of Bayern’s line-up against Roma featured.
“This is a one-off result, it doesn’t reflect the true difference between the sides,” a modest Guardiola later said.
However, Bayern’s performance was outdone by Shakhtar, as the Ukrainians romped to a remarkable victory away to BATE in Group H.
Brazilian forward Luiz Adriano became only the second player to score five goals in a Champions League game after Lionel Messi, with his tally including four goals in the space of 16 first-half minutes.
His compatriots Alex Teixeira and Douglas Costa were also on target as Shakhtar ended BATE’s unbeaten home record stretching back over a year in emphatic fashion.
Bayern and Shakhtar’s feat in each scoring seven goals away from home on the same night is all the more remarkable given that only two teams had ever previously done so in the Champions League—Marseille in 2010 and Lyon in 2011.
Jose Mourinho’s Chelsea fell just short of that mark against Slovenian champions Maribor in Group G, with Loic Remy, a Didier Drogba penalty and John Terry putting them three up at the break.
