Barcelona, Inter Milan claim big Champions League wins

Barcelona hammered Swiss champions Young Boys 5-0 in the UEFA Champions League on Tuesday night in Spain.

Polish forward Robert Lewandowski scored a brace, while skipper Raphinha and Spanish centre-back Inigo Martinez also got on the scoresheet.

A late own goal by defender Mohamed Ali Camara summed up a disappointing night for the visitors.

Bouncing back from an opening-day defeat away to AS Monaco, Barca climbed to 10th on the table with three points, while Young Boys are at the foot of the standings with two defeats.

Speaking after the game, Barca manager Hansi Flick was pleased with the performance.

“I’m very satisfied with the way we played,” the German tactician said.

“At first we were not so confident, but after the first goal it was much easier.

“We need to keep working game by game. There is still a lot to do and we always try to offer our best performance.

“Nobody knows exactly how this new Champions League will work and what we’ll need, but it’s always good to get a good goal difference just in case.”

Barcelona will be in domestic action on Sunday, and top sports betting sites are paying -169.49 for the league leaders to defeat hosts Deportivo Alaves (+436).

Inter brush aside Crvena Zvezda in Milan

Elsewhere, Inter Milan cruised to a 4-0 victory against Serbian SuperLiga champions Crvena Zvezda at the Stadio Giuseppe Meazza.

Hakan Calhanoglu gave the hosts the lead with a stunning free-kick in the 11th minute, while Marko Arnautovic, Lautaro Martínez and Mehdi Taremi netted in the second half.

With four points from their first two games, Internazionale climbed to fifth in the Champions League standings — behind Manchester City, Bayer Leverkusen, Stade Brestois and leaders Borussia Dortmund.

Inter manager Simone Inzaghi lauded his side’s impressive performance on home soil.

“The boys were great,” he said.

“They played a serious game against a very defensive team that kept it tight at the back.

“We moved the ball well and after Hakan opened the scoring, we had more chances through (Henrikh) Mkhitaryan.

“We wanted to build on the performance in Manchester and we did that. I’m satisfied because I saw the responses I was hoping for from the lads.”

Inter will host fifth-placed Torino in the Serie A this weekend, and top bookie Bovada has the champions at -285.71 to beat their guests from Turin (+774).

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