Here are all the major happenings from matchday 1 of the Champions League.
Matchday 1 headlines
PSG held to a draw
French giants PSG were held to a 1-1 draw against Club Brugge. Lionel Messi was making his much anticipated first start for his new club in a frightening looking front three along side Neymar and Kylian Mbappé. However, it was Ander Herrera who grabbed the goal for PSG.
The other group A encounter was a goalfest between Manchester City and RB Leipzig. Last year’s runners up ran out 6-3 winners with Champions League debutant Jack Grealish among the goals. Christopher Nkunku netted a hat-trick for the visitors, but it wasn’t enough against Pep Guardiola’s ruthless side.
Barcelona’s Bayern Munich nightmare continues
Opening day matches don’t come bigger than Barcelona vs Bayern Munich. Memories of the 8-2 humiliation in 2020 still fresh in the minds, Barcelona set out to seek revenge. However, Thomas Müller’s deflected shot gave Bayern the lead in the 34th minute, and it was a sign of things to come. The visitors took control of the game and Robert Lewandowski added two in the second half to complete a merited 3-0 win at Camp Nou. Not quite 8-2, but another damaging defeat suffered at the hands of a European heavyweight for Barcelona.
Liverpool fight back against Milan
In the group of death, there was a rematch of the 2005 Istanbul final. Liverpool edged out a thrilling encounter against Milan, winning it 3-2. After conceding early, Milan went into the break in the lead but goals from Mo Salah and Jordan Henderson completed another comeback against Milan for Liverpool. The Reds got off to a winning start, but the match between Atletico Madrid and Porto ended goalless.
Defending champions get underway, Cristiano Ronaldo’s Manchester United lose
Chelsea got their Champions League defense off to a winning start thanks to a second half goal by Romelu Lukaku. The champions were far from their best but had that little bit of quality to see out a spirited Zenit side. Their next assignment is a trip to Juventus, who are top after winning 3-0 at Malmö.
Cristiano Ronaldo opened the scoring for Man United and it looked like a formality, but Aaron Wan-Bissaka’s red card changed the course of the game. BSC Young Boys equalized in the second half and won it in stoppage time after a misplaced back pass from Jesse Lingard. With the other encounter ending in a draw, United are bottom of the group and have work to do.
Sébastien Haller makes history, FC Sheriff win on Champions League bow
In group C, Ajax thumped Sporting CP 5-1 to go top. Sébastien Haller scored four goals, becoming only the second player after Marco van Basten to score four goals on his Champions League debut. Borussia Dortmund joined them at the top with a 2-1 win at Besiktas.
This season’s debutants FC Sheriff surprised everyone when they beat Shakhtar Donetsk 2-0 to go top of group D. They are ahead of European giants Real Madrid, who narrowly edged out Inter.