Champions League PIX: Inter down Arsenal; Barca win

IMAGES from the Champions League matches played on Wednesday.

Inter Milan's Hakan Calhanoglu maintained his incredible penalty record as his spot-kick secured a gritty 1-0 victory for the Italians over Arsenal in the Champions League on Wednesday.

Neither side had conceded a goal in their opening three games in the competition but Arsenal's defence was finally breached in unfortunate fashion on the stroke of halftime after a harsh handball decision against Mikel Merino.

The lethal Calhanoglu duly found the back of the net to take his record to 19 out of 19 penalties scored in all competitions since joining Inter.

Arsenal laid siege to the Inter goal in the second half with Kai Havertz denied by home keeper Yann Sommer and having another effort deflected just wide, but Inter defended superbly to move to 10 points from four games.

Mikel Arteta's Arsenal had 14 goal attempts in the second half but lacked creativity and are now outside the top eight automatic qualifiers for the knockout phase with seven points.

Arteta was left frustrated as he felt his side also should have had a penalty for what he thought was a foul on Merino by Sommer.

"I am very proud of my players, the level of domination we had. We were very harshly done by in the sense that is obvious," he said. "If you are going to give a penalty, the other one has to be a 100% penalty because he punched him in the head."

The first meeting between the clubs for 21 years began with Inter on top and they were denied an early goal when Denzil Dumfries thumped a ferocious shot against the crossbar.

Calhanoglu went close before the game turned into a cagey affair with neither side taking risks.

Arsenal had looked comfortable but were cursing their luck when Merino was adjudged to have blocked a flick-on by Mehdi Taremi and Romanian referee Istvan Kovacs pointed to the spot.

A VAR check could not save Arsenal and there was never any doubt that penalty wizard Calhanoglu would beat David Raya.

Inter were content to soak up pressure in the second half with Arsenal lacking the invention to break them down.

The closest the visitors came to equalising was when Dumfries cleared the ball off the line following a corner.

Arsenal have now won only two of their last six games in all competitions, although the sight of captain Martin Odegaard coming off the bench after a lengthy injury absence offered a silver lining for the travelling fans in the San Siro.

Lewandowski double helps Barcelona thrash Red Star

Striker Robert Lewandowski scored a goal in each half to help Barcelona secure a comprehensive 5-2 win at Red Star Belgrade in the Champions League on Wednesday.

It was another commanding victory for LaLiga leaders Barcelona who are in an imperious vein of form, scoring 24 goals in six successive wins in all competitions, including thrashings of Bayern Munich and Real Madrid.

Barca climbed to sixth place in the 36-team Champions League table with nine points. Red Star languishing in 35th spot with no points from four games.

Manager Hansi Flick made two changes to the Barcelona team who beat local rivals Espanyol 3-1 in LaLiga on Sunday, giving Dutch midfielder Frenkie De Jong his first start since recovering from an ankle injury.

It took the Spanish side only 13 minutes to open the scoring when defender Inigo Martinez netted a close-range header from a Raphinha free kick in the 13th minute, but Silas beat Barca's aggressive offside trap to equalise with a tidy finish from a quick counter-attack.

Barca held their nerve, however, and stuck to their aggressive game plan, pressuring the home side high and creating several chances before Lewandowski fired home a rebound from a Raphinha strike in the 43rd minute and extended Barca's lead eight minutes into the second half with a first-time strike from a cross by Jules Kounde.

The French full back also set up Raphinha for Barca's fourth and provided his third assist in the 76th minute, putting the ball on a plate for Fermin Lopez to fire home Barca's fifth from inside the box, before substitute Milson reduced the deficit for the home side.

With 15 goals scored in four games, Barca have the best attack in the Champions League this season, with Raphinha and Lewandowski level with Bayern Munich's Harry Kane and Sporting's Viktor Gyokeres as the competition's top scorers on five goals.

PSG suffer last-gasp defeat by Atletico

Paris St Germain's disappointing Champions League campaign continued on Wednesday as they slumped to a last-gasp 2-1 home defeat by Atletico Madrid that left the Ligue 1 leaders in the elimination zone.

Warren Zaire Emery's opener was quickly cancelled out by the visitors' Nahuel Molina in the first half of a largely disappointing match which ended with Angel Correa stabbing in the winner three minutes into added time.

On four points from as many games, PSG are 25th in the 36-team league, six points behind fellow Ligue 1 teams Monaco and Stade Brestois, while Atleti moved out of the red zone with six points.

PSG next travel to Bayern Munich and RB Salzburg while Atletico play Sparta Prague away and Slovan Bratislava at home.

The home side were, once again, left ruing their missed chances.

"We tried and tried, right up to the last minute. Unfortunately, we conceded a goal on their last chance. Would things be easier with a real centre-forward? Well, you never know. That's our game plan. We'll get better at it," said midfielder Vitinha.

Correa said things started to get better when Atleti loosened up after conceding the opener.

"They found the back of the net very quickly but the team then relaxed, started to play and the equaliser came from a great collective play. That's the idea the team should have, to play a little more," he said.

Achraf Hakimi shot just wide before Ousmane Dembele's effort whizzed over the bar as PSG made a lively start.

PSG, who have struggled in the competition this season, were gifted the opener when Clement Lenglet was easily dispossessed in the box by Dembele, who fed Zaire Emery and his France team mate finished with a clinical chip in the 14th minute.

That spurred Atleti into action and four minutes later Molina smashed a half volley home after poor defending by Nuno Mendes following Gianluigi Donnarumma's initial save to deny Giuliano Simeone.

Dembele played chief tormentor early in the second half, bringing danger to the Atletico defence several times, but it was Bradley Barcola who had the best scoring position, only to shoot straight at Jan Oblak.

Oblak palmed away another Barcola attempt in the 65th minute as PSG increased the pressure.

Marquinhos had a header blocked 10 minutes later and Oblak pulled off another save to deny Hakimi from close range.

Luis Enrique had sent Randal Kolo Muani and Lee Kang-in on for PSG, but neither had a chance, highlighting PSG's obvious lack of an out-and-out striker as they have scored only three goals in four games in the competition.

Diego Simeone's changes bore fruit, however, as Correa, who came on as a second-half substitute, kept his cool in the area to slot the ball past Donnarumma at the end of a swift counter attack just before the final whistle, triggering a barrage of boos and whistles from the home crowd.

Bayern's Musiala heads winner in 1-0 victory over Benfica

Bayern Munich's Jamal Musiala headed home in the second half to give the hosts a 1-0 victory over Benfica in the Champions League on Wednesday as they bounced back from two consecutive defeats in the competition.

Germany midfielder Musiala scored with a bullet-header from close range in the 67th minute with Bayern dominating and missing several chances before breaking the deadlock.

The result lifted the Germans to six points from four matches and into 17th place with Benfica, who were toothless in attack, also on six in 19th place.

"We did it well up to now. We can do it better. But overall we have a lot of faith in our players," Bayern coach Vincent Kompany told a press conference after his team's fourth consecutive clean sheet across all competitions.

"Jamal scored with a header but he was in the right place. He has the right examples in the team. He looks at what Thomas Mueller or Harry Kane do in the box in training."

Europe's top club competition has switched from a group stage to a league phase this season, where 36 teams play eight matches each, with the top eight in the table progressing directly to the next round, while the next 16 teams enter a two-legged playoff.

The game started with a 15-minute delay as fans arrived late following train problems, and with the Bavarians desperate to get back to winning ways after back-to-back defeats to Aston Villa and Barcelona in the competition.

They initially struggled to find a way through a crowded and compact Portuguese defence but gradually improved and Harry Kane had their first chance.

They came even closer in the 39th minute with both Kane's shot and Michael Olise's rebound effort stopped by keeper Anatoliy Trubin.

Kane tried his luck with a solo run into the box and low drive in the 54th minute before Trubin pushed Leroy Sane's effort wide on the hour.

Bayern, who are undefeated and in top spot in the Bundesliga, broke the deadlock with Musiala's header from a Kane assist to take a deserved lead.

The visitors had succeeded for large periods in soaking up the pressure but had little to offer in terms of attack with only one effort towards goal in the entire game to Bayern's 23.

"We needed to have a little more possession of the ball," said Benfica coach Bruno Lage. "We have good ball handlers, good positioning, used to this type of pressure. Unfortunately, we weren't able to apply it in the first half.

"We knew that with time the game would calm down and we could have more possession. Unfortunately we couldn't do it".

Shakhtar fight back to sink Young Boys

Shakhtar Donetsk staged a quick comeback to secure a 2-1 home victory over Swiss side Young Boys in their Champions League group clash on Wednesday.

Young Boys grabbed the lead in the 27th minute when Kastriot Imeri struck from close range.

Ukraine's Shakhtar responded quickly, however, as Oleksandr Zubkov tapped in four minutes later and Georgiy Sudakov put the hosts ahead four minutes before the interval in Gelsenkirchen, Germany.

Swiss champions Young Boys are still seeking their first victory of the competition while Shakhtar have four points from four games.