ANFIELD GOES SILENT; Christiano clinches 70th goal in the Champions League as Balotelli's performance questioned

Real Madrid's Portuguese forward Cristiano Ronaldo (R) vies with Liverpool's English defender Glen Johnson (L) during the UEFA Champions League, group B, football match between Liverpool and Real Madrid at Anfield in Liverpool, northwest England, on October 22, 2014. AFP PHOTO / PIERRE-PHILIPPE MARCOU

Cristiano Ronaldo scored his 70th Champions League goal and Mario Balotelli again failed to deliver as Real Madrid cruised to a 3-0 win at Liverpool on Wednesday to take complete control of Group B with a third straight win.

While Tuesday night’s 40-goal bonanza never looked like being matched, there was still drama elsewhere as Arsenal scraped a 2-1 win at Anderlecht with late goals from defender Kieran Gibbs and forward Lukas Podolski — a peripheral player this season.

German sides continue to score for fun, as Borussia Dortmund romped to a 4-0 win at Galatasaray the day after Bayern Munich’s magnificent 7-1 in Roma and Schalke beat Sporting Lisbon 4-3. Bayer Leverkusen also underlined the Bundesliga’s fine form in Europe, beating Zenit St. Petersburg 2-0 on Wednesday.

By contrast, it was a bad night for Italian champion Juventus, which slumped to a surprise 1-0 defeat at Greek side Olympiakos.

At Anfield, all eyes were on Ronaldo but it was Karim Benzema — usually Ronaldo’s favourite goal supplier —