The Champions League returns tagging along the wow moments and upsets we didn’t expect. Europe’s elites battle it out across the tournament and match day 1 featured eight matches on Tuesday.
UEFA Champions League Day 1 Recap: Game-by-Game Preview
The defending champions, Manchester City, are considered the early favorites to win the Champions League, but they have proven they can go all the way. Man City is in a group with RB Leipzig, Crvena Zvezda, and Young Boys. They kicked off their title defense against Crvena Zvezda.
Bayern Munich in a quest to reclaim European glory got Harry Kane during the summer transfer window. They believe he can assist them in conquering Europe. The departures of Neymar and Lionel Messi have thrown Paris Saint-Germain off course in their pursuit of European glory this season. Barcelona on the other hand seeks redemption as they are joined by Porto, Shakhtar Donetsk, and newcomer Royal Antwerp.
Goal Thrillers: Match Day 1
Manchester City is the odds-on favorite due to their consecutive Premier League championship wins. They began title defense on Tuesday by defeating Red Star Belgrade 3-1 at home.
Red Star Belgrade’s goalkeeper, Omri Glazer, performed extremely well in the first half but failed to stop the City stars in the second half. Alvarez got off the mark in the second half with a brace. Rodri scored the third goal for Man City by squeezing it past him.
After Lionel Messi and Neymar left over the summer, Paris Saint-Germain’s attack seemed to lose its prowess. PSG however still overpowered the German powerhouse Borussia Dortmund 2-0.
PSG started Group F play with a victory after Kylian Mbappe scored from the penalty spot and Achraf Hakimi scored the game-winner after a great attack. Dortmund’s substitutes Jamie Bynoe-Gittens and Niklas Fullkrug gave them opportunities late in the game, but their lackluster performance resulted in a loss.
How often does a goalkeeper score from open play in the Champions League? It does not occur frequently. Ivan Provedel of Lazio scored an open-play goal against Atletico Madrid in the final play of the contest. He is just the second goalkeeper in UEFA Champions League history to strike from open play. The final tally of the contest was 1-1.
This occurred only once in the first 31 years of the event. Provedel was the first goalkeeper to score in the league in open play since Standard Liège’s Sinan Bolat scored against AZ Alkmaar in December 2009.
Joao Félix’s brace ensured FC Barcelona netted five times in two consecutive meetings. Royal Antwerp was humiliated just like Real Betis over the weekend in La Liga. Lewandowski’s goal earned him a seat at the table of elite players in UEFA club competitions. He is one of only three players, along with Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, to have scored 100 or more goals in UEFA club competitions.
After losing 5-1 to city foe Inter Milan in Italy’s Serie A on Saturday, AC Milan had to make a huge comeback against Newcastle in its first Champions League game. It ended up as another upset as the game ended as a stalemate.
Feyenoord won their game easily 2-0 against Celtic. This was after two Celtic players were sent off.
