Bayern Munich carved out a 1-0 win at CSKA Moscow on Tuesday thanks to Thomas Mueller's first-half penalty in the strangely muted atmosphere of a cold, damp and deserted Khimki Arena.
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The Group E match was played in front of an empty house after a ban from European soccer's governing body UEFA was imposed for the racist behaviour of CSKA's fans.
The lack of atmosphere only made life more comfortable for the five-time champions as they dominated proceedings on the way to their second straight victory in this year's competition.
CSKA's Finland midfielder Roman Eremenko even hit the bar in the first half with one curling effort but the decisive moment proved to be Mueller's 21st minute spot-kick.
After Germany team mate Mario Goetze was fouled in the area by Mario Fernandes, Mueller notched his 22nd career goal in Europe's elite competition with his expertly-taken strike.
Underdogs Maribor stun Schalke to draw
Schalke 04 had to come from a goal down to rescue a 1-1 draw against underdogs Maribor on Tuesday having failed to replicate their improving Bundesliga form in the Champions League.
Damjan Bohar gave the visiting Slovenians a surprise lead against the run of play in the 37th minute with Klaas-Jan Huntelaar levelling 11 minutes after the restart before Schalke missed several good chances to win the game in the second half.
The Ruhr valley club, who had recovered their league form with two wins in succession, looked slow at the back and were repeatedly caught napping despite dominating possession.
The result leaves the Germans on two points in Group G, following their opening draw at Chelsea, with Maribor also on two, following their 1-1 draw against Sporting Lisbon.
Porto's Jackson Martinez steals show at Shakhtar
Porto striker Jackson Martinez came off the bench to score two goals in the closing minutes, including a penalty, to earn a 2-2 draw at Shakhtar Donetsk in Champions League Group H on Tuesday. The Colombian struck in the 89th minute from the spot and equalised in the 94th after Shakhtar scored second-half goals through Brazilians Alex Teixeira and Luiz Adriano at Lviv Arena.
Teixeira had put Shakhtar ahead seven minutes after the break when 19-year-old Oliver Torres lost the ball in his area.
Shakhtar keeper Andriy Pyatov then saved a controversial first-half penalty from Yacine Brahimi, who scored an amazing hat-trick on his Champions League debut against BATE Borisov.
Shakhtar's Luiz Adriano seemed to have wrapped up the win after 85 minutes as he latched on to Bernard’s curled pass. But Porto struck back four minutes later through Jackson Martinez's spot kick awarded for handball by Yaroslav Rakitskyi.
The visitors' pressure paid off in added time with Jackson Martinez finding a perfect one-touch finish to Tello’s low cross from the left leaving the Lviv Arena silent.
Ajax pay the penalty as APOEL hold out for a draw
Ajax Amsterdam and APOEL played out an exciting 1-1 draw in the Champions League on Tuesday but both sides were left regretting missing the opportunity to seize all three points.
Gustavo Manduca's penalty just after the half-hour for APOEL cancelled out Lucas Andersen's 28th-minute opener in Group F.
Both teams created enough chances at APOEL's GSP stadium to earn victory but Ajax, who enjoyed the lion's share of possession, were left most annoyed after squandering the lead.
Andersen opened the scoring for the Dutch champions when the ball fell to him after Lasse Schone's tame effort was beaten away by keeper Uker Pardo.
Ajax almost scored again straight from the restart following a mix-up at the back but it took APOEL just three minutes to draw level when a handball by right back Ricardo van Rhijn gave Manduca the opportunity to equalise from the spot.
He sent Dutch number one keeper Jasper Cillessen the wrong way to send the home fans into a frenzy.
Ajax coach Frank De Boer was disappointed by the penalty decision, despite replays appearing to support the officials.
