Posted on Leave a comment

Liverpool lose to Galatasaray in Champions League; Chelsea beats Benfica

A Victor Osimhen penalty gave Galatasaray victory over Liverpool in the Champions League on Tuesday, while Chelsea edged out Jose Mourinho’s Benfica and Kylian Mbappe hit a hat-trick for Real Madrid in Kazakhstan.

Elsewhere in the second round of matches in the league phase of Europe’s elite club competition, Tottenham battled back to draw with Bodo/Glimt as Bayern Munich, Atletico Madrid, Marseille and Inter Milan recorded big wins.

In Istanbul, Osimhen beat Alisson Becker from the spot in the 16th minute, giving Galatasaray a 1-0 win and condemning Liverpool to a second straight loss after their defeat by Crystal Palace in the Premier League.

The English champions thought they had a chance to equalise late on when Ibrahima Konate went down and a penalty was given, but the referee overturned his decision on review.

Liverpool, who finished first in the league phase last season, also saw Alisson go off injured in the second half before the introductions off the bench of Mohamed Salah and Alexander Isak failed to have the desired impact.

“The margins were very small last season but then we were a lot of times on the right side of the score,” coach Arne Slot said.

“Today again the margins were really small, but for the second time in a row on the wrong side.”

Liverpool will now hope to bounce back on Saturday away to Chelsea, who themselves got back to winning ways with a 1-0 success against Benfica as the Portuguese giants’ new coach Mourinho came back to Stamford Bridge.

Richard Rios turned an Alejandro Garnacho cross into his own net for the only goal of the game in the 18th minute, with Benfica unable to recover as Mourinho returned to face the club he coached over two separate spells.

Chelsea had substitute Joao Pedro sent off in stoppage time but Enzo Maresca’s side were delighted to get the win after losing their opening European game of the campaign at Bayern.

“A defeat is always a defeat but this one can be a start for us. It was a stable performance,” Mourinho said of his team.

Spurs escaped Norway with a point in a 2-2 draw with Bodo/Glimt in a game played north of the Arctic Circle.

Kasper Hogh missed a penalty for the hosts before a brilliant second-half brace from Jens Petter Hauge had them two goals in front.

However, Micky van de Ven pulled one back on 68 minutes for last season’s Europa League winners, and Spurs then got a lucky 89th-minute equalizer when a Nikita Haikin save smashed into the stomach of Jostein Gundersen from close range and trickled over the line.

Record 15-time European champions Real made the long trip east to face Kairat Almaty and ran out 5-0 winners.

Mbappe opened the scoring from a first-half penalty and made it 2-0 soon after the break before firing in from the edge of the area to complete his hat-trick on 73 minutes, making it 60 career Champions League goals.

The Frenchman has now scored 13 goals in nine games in all competitions this season for Real, who also saw Eduardo Camavinga and Brahim Diaz net towards the end.

Bayern also scored five, with Harry Kane netting twice in the first half in a 5-1 win away to Pafos in Cyprus. The England star now has 17 goals in nine games in all competitions this season for his club.

Raphael Guerreiro, Nicolas Jackson and Michael Olise also found the net for Bayern, while Mislav Orsic scored for the hosts.

“I’m going into games with confidence, knowing I’ll get my chances. Scored a couple more goals today, I’m happy with that,” Kane said.

Atletico followed a 5-2 win over Real in the Madrid derby last weekend by thumping Eintracht Frankfurt 5-1.

Giacomo Raspadori, Robin Le Normand, Antoine Griezmann and Giuliano Simeone netted for Atletico before Julian Alvarez scored a late penalty. Griezmann’s goal was his 200th for the club. Jonathan Burkardt pulled one back for Eintracht.

Igor Paixao netted twice in the opening 12 minutes as Marseille hammered Ajax 4-0. Mason Greenwood and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang were also on target.

Lautaro Martinez got a brace either side of a Denzel Dumfries goal as last season’s runners-up Inter eased to a 3-0 win over Slavia Prague at San Siro.

Mario Pasalic scored a late winner as Atalanta beat Club Brugge 2-1, after a Lazar Samardzic penalty had cancelled out a Christos Tzolis opener for the Belgians. (JapanToday)

Posted on Leave a comment

Arsenal, Real Madrid win Champions League openers; Juve snatches dramatic draw

Arsenal won 2-0 away to Athletic Bilbao as the league phase of this season’s Champions League kicked off on Tuesday, with two Kylian Mbappe penalties giving Real Madrid a narrow win over Marseille while Juventus and Borussia Dortmund drew an eight-goal thriller.

Tottenham Hotspur also won on the tournament’s opening night which saw outsiders Union Saint-Gilloise and Qarabag claim first ever victories in the Champions League proper.

Arsenal are eager to make a big impression again in Europe’s elite club competition, following their defeat by eventual champions Paris Saint-Germain in the semi-finals last season.

They got off to an ideal start in the Basque Country, with Gabriel Martinelli and Leandro Trossard scoring late goals to settle the game.

The Brazilian had only just come on when he ran through to open the scoring in the 72nd minute at San Mames. Arsenal then went on to seal the victory late on as Trossard — another substitute — scored with the aid of a deflection.

“We started to grow throughout the game. In the second half we were more fluent, dominant, and the finishers made the impact for us to win the game,” said Arsenal coach Mikel Arteta.

Real Madrid came from behind to beat Marseille 2-1 at the Santiago Bernabeu, despite playing the closing stages of the game down to 10 men.

Marseille, winners of the inaugural Champions League in 1993, stunned the home crowd by taking the lead through Timothy Weah midway through the first half.

The record 15-time European champions grabbed an equaliser before the interval when Mbappe converted from the spot for the first time after Rodrygo was fouled in the area.

Xabi Alonso’s side lost Trent Alexander-Arnold to injury early on and were reduced to 10 men in the second half when his replacement, Dani Carvajal, was sent off following a VAR check for a head butt on Marseille goalkeeper Geronimo Rulli.

But the home side still snatched all three points thanks to another Mbappe penalty late on after Facundo Medina was harshly penalised for handball.

“For me it’s a penalty, but I understand there are people who don’t (think so), we’re all lost with this rule,” Mbappe, who reached 50 goals for the club, told broadcaster Movistar.

Thomas Frank’s Spurs, who qualified for the Champions League after winning last season’s Europa League, edged Villarreal 1-0 in North London.

The match was decided by a farcical early own goal from Villarreal goalkeeper Luiz Junior, who contrived to let Lucas Bergvall’s cross trickle into the net.

The victory maintained Tottenham’s impressive form under new boss Frank. “It was a very even game that we just edged,” he told broadcaster Amazon Prime.

Juventus against Dortmund in Turin was a repeat of the 1997 final won by the Germans, and the fixture more than lived up to its billing, finishing in a spectacular 4-4 draw.

Remarkably the first half ended goalless, with the breakthrough coming seven minutes after half-time when Karim Adeyemi put the visitors ahead from a fine low strike.

Kenan Yildiz equalised with a stunning effort high into the top corner just after the hour mark, only for Felix Nmecha to put Dortmund back in front in style.

Dusan Vlahovic made it 2-2, but Yan Couto restored the Bundesliga side’s advantage and they appeared to have sewn up the points when Ramy Bensebaini converted a penalty in the 86th minute.

However, Vlahovic pulled one back in the 94th minute and then crossed for Lloyd Kelly to head home in the sixth minute of stoppage time, rounding off an extraordinary evening.

There was similar drama in Lisbon, where Benfica seemed to be cruising at home to Qarabag after Enzo Barrenechea and Vangelis Pavlidis scored early goals.

However, Leandro Andrade pulled one back for the club from Azerbaijan before Camilo Duran equalised and Oleksiy Kashchuk turned and fired in from inside the area four minutes from time to make it 3-2.

It is the first time Qarabag have ever won a match in the Champions League proper.

Union Saint-Gilloise qualified after winning a first Belgian title in 90 years and they recorded a 3-1 victory away to PSV Eindhoven.

Promise David, Anouar Ait El Hadj and Kevin Mac Allister scored their goals in the Netherlands before Ruben van Bommel pulled one back. (JapanToday)