New Delhi: It’s that time of the year again and UEFA Champions League nights are back. Top clubs from all across Europe battle it out with each other to be called Champions of Europe and today was the beginning of another such journey. After both Juventus and Aston Villa began their journey towards the title on a winning note, it was time for at max four more teams to join them in the winners group.
With four games being played simultaneously, maximum of four clubs could emerge victorious and we had a winner in all four games. This meant that after the end of the first round of Matchday 1 fixtures, no game ended in a draw and we got six clear winners and six losers. Let’s dive in to find out what happened in the late kick-offs of UEFA Champions League’s Matchday 1.
Real Madrid 3-1 VfB Stuttgart
Real Madrid started their title defence with a comfortable win over Stuttgart.(Photo by David Ramos/Getty Images)
Defending Champions Real Madrid got their title defence off to a winning start against German side VFB Stuttgart, who are returning to the tournament for a 15-year long absence. The German side gave a tough fight to the defending champions and almost held them to a draw at home before conceding twice in the last ten minutes to slip to a defeat. Real Madrid were held to a goalless draw in the first half of the match before Kylian Mbappe scored his first UCL goal for his new club. Madrid were given the lead just 20 seconds into the second half when Rodrygo ran into the penalty box before squaring it for his new teammate who gets an easy tap in at the far post.
Stuttgart fought back and got themselves back on level terms through German striker Dennis Undav. A deep corner finds Jamie Leweling and he heads the ball towards Undav who heads a powerful header past Thibaut Courtois. The hosts took the lead once again, seven minutes from time via a corner of their own after Antonio Rudiger rose highest to a Luka Modric delivery and make it 2-1. Madrid’s new teenage sensation Endrick wrapped the three points up for them in the dying minutes from a counter attack and fired a shot past Nubel to finish the game 3-1 in favour of the hosts.
Bayern Munich 9-2 Dinamo Zagreb
Bayern produced a rampant display on Vincent Kompany’s UCL debut. (Photo by Peter Kneffel/picture alliance via Getty Images)
Bayern Munich were on a rampage tonight as they ran riot past Dinamo Zagreb to begin their title hunt in style. Vincent Kompany took charge of his first ever UEFA Champions League game as manager and this was a memorable one for the Belgian. The Bavarians had taken a 3-0 lead inside the first half courtesy a Harry Kane penalty, a debut UCL goal for Michael Olise and a goal from Raphael Guerreiro before increasing the tempo in the second half. Zagreb looked to fight back in the second half as two goals within a minute from Bruno Petkovic and Takuya Ogiwara made it 3-2.
However, that just acted as fuel to light a fire under Bayern as they found the net six more times in the half before the final whistle put the Croatian side out of their misery. Harry Kane got a second half hattrick in addition to his penalty in the first half as Zagreb gave away two more penalties in the second half. Olise made it a brace for himself on his Champions League debut before the German duo of Leroy Sane and Leon Goretzka added two more in the dying minutes of the game to complete the rout.
AC Milan 1-3 Liverpool
Defence was the best form of attack for Liverpool at the San Siro. (Photo by Giuseppe Maffia/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
Liverpool produced a solid performance to come from behind to beat Italian outfit AC Milan at San Siro to hand Arne Slot a victory in his UEFA Champions League debut for the club. The Merseyside team went behind early on in the game after former Chelsea attackers Alvaro Morata and Christian Pulisic combined together to give their side the lead in the third minute of the game. Liverpool seemed a little rattled by going behind early but never looked too uncomfortable and got back on level terms quickly.
Ibrahima Konate fired a header into the far post following a Trent Alexander Arnold free-kick to make it 1-1 in the 23rd minute to start their comeback journey. They had their lead minutes before half time when their other center-half, Virgil Van Dijk headed past Mike Maignan from another set-piece to take the lead at the San Siro. They added a third in the second half to capitalize on their dominant second half display through Dominik Szoboszlai, who volleyed a Cody Gakpo cross from close range to make it 3-1 for the visitors and seal the win.
Sporting CP 2-0 LOSC Lille
Viktor Gyokeres became the first Swede to score on his UCL debut since Zlatan Ibrahimovic. (Photo by Gualter Fatia/Getty Images)
Sporting CP got their UEFA Champions League campaign off to a comfortable start against French side LOSC Lille as they beat 10-man Lille 2-0 at home. After an uneventful start to the first half, the Portuguese side took the lead six minutes from half-time through star forward Viktor Gyökeres, who received the ball from Pedro Goncalves inside the box and fired the shot into the bottom right corner to make it 1-0. Minutes after they went behind, things went from bad to worse for Lille as English midfielder Angel Gomes was given his marching orders.
The French club had to play the entire second half with 10 men after Gomes received his second yellow card for a tackle on Gyökeres and it came back to haunt them in the 65th minute when Sporting made it 2-0. Young Belgian defender Zeno Debast fired a stinging shot from about 25 yards out towards goal that clips the upright before making it’s way into the top corner of the goal to double his side’s lead. The scoreline remained the same till the final whistle and it marked an easy win for Sporting as they continue their unbeaten start to the new season.
First set of games for matchday one come to an end as we saw a goal fest all around. Dive in to find out what happened in the late kick-offs of UEFA Champions League’s Matchday 1. Football Sports News: Latest Cricket News, Cricket Live Score, Sports Breaking News from Sports Today
