Bayern Munich crushed Dutch side PSV Eindhoven 4-1 in Champions League Group D on Wednesday to bounce back after three games without a win in all competitions and take a big step towards the last 16.
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What had started as a walk in the park with Bayern riding roughshod over the Dutch with goals from Thomas Mueller and Joshua Kimmich turned into a nervous affair after PSV pulled a goal back through Luciano Narsingh before halftime.
The German champions, however, second in the group on six points behind leaders Atletico Madrid who have nine, kept their cool and Robert Lewandowski headed in the third goal on the hour.
Arjen Robben made sure of the three points and ended Bayern's run of three matches without a win, converting an 84th-minute header against his former team to stretch his side's Champions League record to 14 successive home wins.
Eindhoven are on one point, along with Russia's Rostov.
The hosts made their intentions clear early on, after talk of a mini-crisis surfaced following two draws in the league and defeat by Atletico, with Mueller firing narrowly wide in the third minute.
He did it better in the 13th, however, slotting home on the rebound.
The hosts, with captain Philipp Lahm making his 100th Champions League appearance for the club, hit the woodwork through Robben as they dominated the first half with Eindhoven's defence dazed.
Phillip Cocu's men, unbeaten in their previous 21 away games in all competitions, struggled to get past the halfway line.
Kimmich doubled Bayern's lead in the 21st with a close-range header to take his goal tally to three in three Champions League games this season.
The Dutch side struck against the run of play with their first shot on goal as Narsingh's effort four minutes before halftime went in off the post.
The improving Dutch came closer to an equaliser with Gaston Pereiro but just as PSV were gaining momentum Lewandowski nodded in on the hour to settle the home team's nerves.
Robben headed in the fourth goal from an outstanding Thiago Alcantara cross to complete Bayern's victory.
Carrasco strike lifts Atletico to win over dogged Rostov
Atletico Madrid laboured to a 1-0 win over Rostov on Wednesday to maintain their 100 percent record in Champions League Group D.
The impressive Yannick Carrasco scored the only goal in the second half to hand Rostov their first home defeat in 26 games.
Atletico were hot favourites and should have taken the lead after just 90 seconds. Soslan Dzhanaev could only weakly parry Carrasco's free kick straight into the path of Angel Correa who screwed his shot wide.
Dzhanaev made up for his error by saving well from Carrasco and midway through the half Correra wastefully blazed over from close range.
La Liga leaders Atletico continued to dominate in the second half but they had to wait until just before the hour mark until they had a decent effort on goal as Fernando Torres's header went inches over the bar.
The breakthrough came soon afterwards as Rostov failed to cut out Juanfran's cross and the ball dropped invitingly for Carrasco, who drilled a fierce left-foot shot past Dzhanaev.
The Rostov goalkeeper made another fine save to deny Antoine Griezmann late on as the visitors held on for a deserved victory.
PSG close in on last 16 with 3-0 win against Basel
Paris St Germain edged closer to the Champions League's last 16 as goals by Angel Di Maria, Lucas and Edinson Cavani secured a flattering 3-0 home win over Basel in Group A on Wednesday.
Di Maria put the hosts ahead five minutes before the break, Lucas made it 2-0 in the second half and Cavani's last-gasp penalty rounded it off to put PSG on seven points after three games, second in the group on goal difference behind Arsenal, who hammered Ludogorets 6-0.
Basel, who struck the woodwork three times at the Parc des Princes, are third on one point ahead of Ludogorets on goal difference.
The reverse games will be played on November 1 when PSG, who were under-par for much of Wednesday's encounter, will need to raise their performance-level if they want to stay in contention for top spot.
The French side got off to a shaky start and the visitors came close to opening the scoring in the fifth minute when Michael Lang's header struck the bar.
Basel hit the woodwork again in the 36th minute, this time through Seydou Doumbia, whose header crashed against Alphonse Areola's left-hand post.
PSG did improve, however, and five minutes before the interval, Blaise Matuidi's low cross was poked by Cavani into the path of Di Maria, who fired a right-footed shot into the net from close range.
It was then PSG's turn to hit the woodwork as Cavani's header struck the post three minutes into the second half.
The Uruguay striker had a huge opportunity to double the advantage shortly after the hour but he was denied by Tomas Vaclik.
The Basel keeper, however, could do nothing to prevent Lucas pouncing on a poor clearance to find the back of the net in the 62nd minute.
Marek Suchy's header then struck Areola's right-hand post as the Swiss side continued to be plagued by bad luck and their misery was completed when Cavani was brought down by Lang and converted the resulting penalty three minutes into stoppage time.
Benfica beat Dynamo in Kyiv to get back on track
Benfica's UEFA Champions League campaign received a timely boost in Ukraine, a 2-0 victory for the visitors placing Dynamo Kyiv's hopes hanging by a thread.
Both teams were seeking a first Group B win and it was the away side who struck the first blow, Eduardo Salvio dispatching a penalty after Antunes had felled Gonçalo Guedes. The Eagles doubled their lead after the restart, Franco Cervi finding the net at the second attempt.
Benfica moved up to third in Group C, a point behind Besiktas and two behind Napoli after three games. Dynamo has one point.
