Manchester City and Real Madrid marched on with a third straight win in the Champions League on Wednesday while struggling Sevilla suffered a 4-1 loss at home to Borussia Dortmund.
Paris Saint-Germain was held for the first time despite Lionel Messi’s fine opening goal in a 1-1 draw at Benfica.
Erling Haaland was needed on the field for only the first half yet still scored twice in what has become a routine rout for Man City this season, defeating Copenhagen 5-0 at Etihad.
It is now five goals in three Champions League games and 19 in 12 club games overall for the relentless Norwegian forward.
Madrid is making less spectacular progress in defense of its title yet had 35 attempts on goal in holding off Shakhtar Donetsk for a 2-1 win.
First-half goals from Madrid’s young Brazilian forwards, Rodrygo and Vinícius Júnior, opened a five-point lead in Group F over Shakhtar before their return game in Poland next week.
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Lopetegui’s exit from Sevilla, where he won the Europa League title in 2020, seemed likely after only one win in seven La Liga games left the team 17th in the table.
It was confirmed after the loss to a rampant Dortmund, which followed a four-goal loss to Man City in the Spanish club’s previous home game in Group G. Fans chanted Lopetegui’s name as he left the field.
PSG went to Benfica tied on six points and left tied on seven after a lively, well-matched 1-1 draw in Lisbon.
Messi’s 127th career goal in the Champions League was a curling shot after linking passes with fellow star forwards Kylian Mbappe and Neymar.
Also in Group H, Juventus closed the gap on the leaders with its first points in a 3-1 win over Maccabi Haifa. France midfielder Adrien Rabiot scored in each half.
Chelsea got its first win for new coach Graham Potter, cruising to a 3-0 over AC Milan, though Salzburg now leads Group E.
Noah Okafor kept up his goal-a-game rate in the Champions League to lift Salzburg to a 1-0 win over Dinamo Zagreb.
Christopher Nkunku, France forward who is a widely speculated transfer target of Chelsea, opened the scoring in Leipzig’s 3-1 win over Celtic in the group led by Madrid.
