CAPTAIN Vincent Kompany hailed "special" Sergio Aguero after he fired a superb hat-trick in Manchester City's dramatic 3-2 win over Bayern Munich.

The English side were on course for another Champions League nightmare until the Argentina striker scored twice in the closing minutes.

He had netted his first goal from the penalty spot in the 20th minute after being brought down by Bayern's Mehdi Benatia, who was sent off.

But despite being down to 10 men the Germans hit back through a Xabi Alonso free-kick and Robert Lewandowski header to lead 2-1 at half-time.

They maintained that advantage until five minutes from time but then Aguero snatched all three points for City with two goals - the winner coming in stoppage time.

The treble continued Aguero's superb scoring form for City this season and Kompany admitted they were lucky to have the 26-year-old forward in their ranks.

He said: "If you want to succeed at anything you need a special player in special form.

"Sergio is our special player. When he's in that form he makes things achievable that otherwise wouldn't be."

City hero Aguero said: "I'm very happy for us - the three points are very important. It was difficult but we are happy because this was a game that we had to win."

The result means City will qualify for the last 16 if they beat Roma in Italy on December 10 and CSKA Moscow don't beat Bayern in Munich.

And there were more broken German hearts at the Veltins Arena in Gelsenkirchen as Chelsea thrashed Schalke 5-0.

John Terry headed the opener after 86 seconds before Willian netted and Schalke's Jan Kirchhoff scored an own goal.

Two more goals after the break from Didier Drogba and Ramires gave the Blues Group G's top spot with a game to spare.

Ironically, the losing manager was Roberto di Matteo, who led Chelsea to their only Champions League triumph in 2012.

Praising his team, Jose Mourinho insisted: "They played a fantastic match.

"To win 5-0 away in the Champions League is not normal and in Germany is even less normal. But the team's performance was very impressive.

"We are defending well because we defend with 11 players and we attack well because we are very confident. The team is playing really well."