Three days prior to the second Champions League group stage game at home to Bayern, CSKA Moscow have warmed up with a win. The Russian champions beat 13th-placed Ural Yekaterinburg 4-3 and remain second behind leaders Zenit St. Petersburg. Alan Dzagoev (29), Roman Eremenko (45) and sub Seydou Doumbia (69, 89) scored for CSKA, who were thumped 5-1 by Roma in their first Champions League match.
Alonso beats Thiago’s record
Xabi Alonso has set a new Bundesliga record. In Saturday’s 2-0 win away to Köln, the midfielder played the ball an extraordinary 206 times, the highest figure ever recorded since the stats were first collected in detail in 2004/05. The previous best was set by Alonso’s fellow-countryman and FCB team-mate Thiago, who finished the meeting with Eintracht Frankfurt in February 2014 with 187 touches.
Away kings Dante and Lahm
The weekend brought another record for Bayern: thanks to the 2-0 win in Cologne, Dante and Philipp Lahm are now undefeated in their last 33 matches away from home, the highest figure in league history.
Opening goal king Götze
Mario Götze is rapidly becoming Bayern’s Mr Dependable when it comes to scoring the opening goal. In the away meeting with FC Köln, the 22-year-old’s eighth appearance of the season, he scored his fifth goal – and four of those made the score 1-0 to the Reds. FCB went on to win all four of the games in question.
Bundesliga debut for Benatia
Summer signing Medhi Benatia will remember the 2-0 victory in Cologne for a long time to come as the 27-year-old made his Bundesliga debut when he came on as a 55th-minute sub. Benatia is the tenth Moroccan to appear in the German top flight and made his maiden appearance as an FCB player in the Champions League group meeting with Manchester City.
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