Senegal kicked off their AFCON 2025 campaign with a 3-0 victory over Botswana, powered by a brace from Bayern Munich striker Nicholas Jackson.
The Chelsea loanee opened the scoring in the first half and doubled the lead in the second, giving the Lions of Teranga a comfortable start to the tournament.
Second-half substitute Ndiaye wrapped up the win with a simple tap-in, sealing Senegal’s victory.
So far, Jackson is the only player to have scored twice in the competition, putting him in contention for the Golden Boot.
Senegal will face DR Congo in their next AFCON 2025 group-stage match on December 27, 2025. (Punch)
Alexis Mac Allister scored the only goal as Liverpool beat Real Madrid in the Champions League on Tuesday, while Luis Diaz grabbed a brace as Bayern Munich sunk title-holders Paris Saint-Germain 2-1 in the French capital.
Premier League leaders Arsenal won 3-0 at Slavia Prague as rising star Max Dowman came off the bench to become the youngest player in the competition’s history, at just 15 years and 308 days old.
Leaders Bayern and second-placed Arsenal remain the only teams with a perfect record in the competition — alongside Inter Milan, who play their fourth match on Wednesday against Kazakh newcomers Kairat Almaty.
At Anfield, Real Madrid goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois produced a stellar performance to frustrate six-time champions Liverpool.
In a performance reminiscent of his match-defining display in the 2022 final against the same opposition — which the Spaniards won 1-0 — Courtois produced eight saves to keep back the hosts.
“He is a fantastic ‘keeper — we all know,” Mac Allister told Amazon Prime. “But today I think we were better and deserved to win.”
The Argentinian eventually broke Courtois’ resistance shortly after the hour with a header from a Dominik Szoboszlai free-kick in an encounter which saw former Liverpool hero Trent Alexander-Arnold return to his hometown amid a hail of boos when he emerged from the Madrid bench late on.
Arne Slot will be hoping the result marks a turning point for his side after they had come into the match with six defeats in their previous eight outings.
For previously unbeaten Madrid, it was first defeat in any competition since September’s 5-2 reversal at Atletico Madrid.
“It’s a tough blow to take because we came from a run of good games, but the important thing is to move forwards,” Real’s Fede Valverde told Movistar.
PSG welcomed Bayern to the Parc des Princes for a fixture which midfielder Vitinha had said would bring together “the two best teams in Europe”.
And it was the Bundesliga champions who emerged victorious as they made it 16 wins from 16 outings in all competitions this season.
“I know the Champions League winner is not decided now, otherwise PSG would not have won it last season,” Bayern coach Vincent Kompany said.
“But this was a very important three points.”
Summer signing Diaz claimed the headlines as he netted a brace before being sent off for a dangerous tackle on Achraf Hakimi, all in the opening 45 minutes.
Hakimi had to be helped from the field in tears, following recent Ballon d’Or winner Ousmane Dembele who came off after just 25 minutes.
Bayern took the lead inside five minutes and then overwhelmed PSG’s usually unflappable midfield and defence with their intense pressing game.
Diaz grabbed a second when he robbed Marquinhos of possession and slotted home after the half-hour.
His dismissal then changed the game as PSG fought back in the second period but Joao Neves’ 74th-minute header was not enough to stop the Ligue 1 champions falling to a first defeat in this year’s league phase.
Bayern, on the other hand, sit top with a perfect 12 points.
Arsenal lie just behind them after a Mikel Merino-inspired win in the Czech Republic earned them a fourth win from four.
The Spaniard netted twice in the second period to seal victory against Slavia Prague, after Bukayo Saka opened the scoring from 12 yards in the 32nd minute.
Another clean sheet meant Mikel Arteta’s side are still yet to concede in the competition this year.
“We are a very strong team, we are performing in an amazing way with a lot of clean sheets,” Merino said.
“But we know that this is just the beginning and we have to keep up this good work in the future to win big things.”
Elsewhere, Micky van de Ven scored a stunning solo effort as Europa League winners Tottenham won 4-0 at home to FC Copenhagen.
Atletico Madrid got back to winning ways following a heavy defeat to Arsenal last time out by seeing off Belgium’s Union Saint-Gilloise 3-1.
Serie A sides Napoli and Juventus both endured frustrating draws as the league champions played out a goalless stalemate at home to Eintracht Frankfurt and Sporting Lisbon held Juventus 1-1 — the Old Lady’s third draw so far this campaign.
Monaco earned a first win, 1-0 at debutants Bodo/Glimt of Norway, and PSV Eindhoven drew 1-1 at Olympiacos.
On Wednesday, Inter Milan will seek to rejoin Bayern and Arsenal atop the standings, while Manchester City host Borussia Dortmund and Athletic Bilbao travel to Newcastle’s St James’ Park. (JapanToday)
Hugo Ekitike scored against his old club as Liverpool got back on track with a 5-1 victory at Eintracht Frankfurt in the Champions League on Wednesday while Chelsea, Real Madrid and Bayern Munich were among the night’s other winners.
The Anfield side came into their trip to Germany reeling after a run of four consecutive defeats which included a 1-0 loss to Galatasaray in their last Champions League outing.
They bounced back in style by coming from behind to hammer Eintracht, who suffered a second straight 5-1 defeat in Europe — having started their Champions League campaign with a 5-1 win.
Rasmus Kristensen gave the hosts the lead but Ekitike broke away to equalise against the team he left in July in a £79 million ($105.5m) deal.
Virgil van Dijk headed the visitors in front at a corner on 39 minutes and Ibrahima Konate made it 3-1 before the interval in almost identical fashion.
Cody Gakpo and Dominik Szoboszlai added further goals in the second half as Liverpool moved up to 10th in the 36-team league phase standings.
“I don’t know if it’s a statement but it is a win and something to build on,” Van Dijk told broadcaster TNT Sports.
Chelsea won by the same scoreline against Ajax at Stamford Bridge, in a match which featured an early red card and three first-half penalties.
Kenneth Taylor was sent off for the Dutch visitors before Marc Guiu and Moises Caicedo scored for the Premier League side.
Wout Weghorst pulled one back from the spot for Ajax but Enzo Fernandez and Estevao both converted penalties before half-time for Chelsea.
Tyrique George rounded off the scoring in the second half as for the first time in Champions League history three teenagers scored for the same team.
“We trust a lot of young players,” said Maresca after the goals for Guiu, Estevao and George. “That is the strategy of the club, but not only the ones that we buy. Also the ones from the academy.”
Chelsea have now won their last two European outings since beginning their campaign with a 3-1 defeat at Bayern.
Ajax, meanwhile, are bottom of the standings as one of only two teams without a point after three games — the other is Jose Mourinho’s Benfica.
Bayern are one of five teams with the maximum nine points as Harry Kane scored his 20th goal in 12 club appearances this season in a 4-0 cruise against Club Brugge at the Allianz Arena.
Lennart Karl, 17, got the opener before Kane, Luis Diaz and Nicolas Jackson also hit the target for the Bundesliga champions.
Madrid also have nine points following a hard-earned 1-0 victory against Juventus at the Santiago Bernabeu as England captain Kane’s compatriot Jude Bellingham scored for the first time this season.
The goal came just before the hour mark, with Bellingham converting the rebound after Vinicius hit the upright. Juventus have now gone seven games without a win.
“I’m very happy with the win, it was a very tough game with chances at both ends and we had to sweat for it, but it was an important win against a big team,” Madrid goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois told Movistar.
Tottenham Hotspur became the only one of England’s six representatives to fail to win this midweek as they were held to a 0-0 draw away to Monaco.
In Lisbon, Portuguese champions Sporting came from behind to defeat Marseille 2-1 in a game which hinged on a red card in first-half stoppage time.
Igor Paixao’s stunner put Marseille ahead, but Emerson Palmieri was dismissed for a second yellow for diving after a decision to award him a penalty was overturned.
Sporting used the extra man to equalise in the second half through Geny Catamo before Alisson Santos got their winner.
Nigeria superstar Victor Osimhen netted twice as Galatasaray beat Bodo/Glimt 3-1 in Istanbul, with Yunus Akgun scoring their other goal before Andreas Helmersen pulled one back.
Athletic Bilbao beat Qarabag of Azerbaijan 3-1 at San Mames, coming from behind after Leandro Andrade had given the visitors a first-minute lead. Gorka Guruzeta bagged a brace for the Basque side either side of a Robert Navarro goal.
Atalanta and Slavia Prague drew 0-0 in the night’s other game.
The next round of Champions League action in a fortnight will include clashes between Paris Saint-Germain and Bayern, and Liverpool and Real. (JapanToday)
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)
Title holder Paris Saint-Germain roared to victory in the Champions League on Wednesday, and Liverpool found yet another late winning goal in its stunning start to the season.
Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk soared to score with a header in the second minute of stoppage time to seal a 3-2 win over Atletico Madrid when it seemed his team was going to waste a two-goal lead seized after just six minutes.
Bayern Munich and Inter Milan both won rematches of past finals — against Chelsea and Ajax, respectively — to start their eight-game league-phase programs, and newcomers Bodo/Glimt and Pafos impressed with hard-earned draws on the road.
PSG cruised to a 4-0 win at home over Atalanta and had the luxury of a penalty miss by Bradley Barcola not mattering much in the end.
“It’s a joy to see such a performance. I think our fans can be happy,” PSG coach Luis Enrique said.
Liverpool seemed to be sailing with early goals from Andy Robertson and a typically fine strike by Mohamed Salah but was pegged back by Marcos Llorente’s goals in first-half stoppage time and the 81st.
Llorente also scored twice at Anfield in 2020 when Atletico eliminated the then-defending champion in the round of 16.
Bayern held off Chelsea 3-1 with two goals from Harry Kane, whose England teammate Cole Palmer scored an impressive goal for the visitors. It was a very belated revenge for Bayern losing the 2012 final to Chelsea in its home stadium.
Inter got two powerful headed goals from Marcus Thuram in its 2-0 win at Ajax, which beat the Italians in the 1972 European Cup final.
Norway’s champion Bodo/Glimt had a second-half penalty kick saved and trailed by two goals late at Slavia Prague, before rallying to level at 2-2 in the 90th.
Pafos grinded out a 0-0 draw at Olympiakos after playing with 10 men from the 26th minute. Journeyman Brazilian midfielder Bruno Felipe was sent off for a second yellow-card foul.
Russian-owned Pafos is the first Cypriot team in the Champions League main phase since 2017, and Bodo/Glimt ended Norway’s 18-year absence.
The Ballon d’Or trophy is surely staying in Paris after the annual awards ceremony in the city on Monday.
PSG has campaigned for its currently injured striker Ousmane Dembélé to get the prize for his standout season, though full-backs Nuno Mendes and Achraf Hakimi also would be worthy winners.
Both were attacking threats against Atalanta — which is adapting to life without inspirational coach Gian Piero Gasperini, now at Roma — and Mendes scored in the 51st to make the score 3-0.
The standout goal was Khvicha Kvaratskhelia’s rising shot after a dancing run minutes before halftime.
Liverpool has won all four of its Premier League games this season with winning goals after the 80th minute, and twice in the last minute of stoppage time.
So when Atletico Madrid leveled late at Anfield, there was ample time for coach Arne Slot’s team to find the goal it needed. Dominik Szoboszlai swung in a corner from the right, and Virgil van Dijk wrestled away from his marker and steered a strong header back inside the near post.
Slot acknowledged “we should have made it easier for ourselves.”
The new kids on the Champions League block are fast learners.
Three of the four debutants — an unusually high number this season — have played so far, all on the road and all are unbeaten. Belgian champion Union Saint-Gilloise started it Tuesday winning 3-1 at PSV Eindhoven.
Bodo/Glimt and Pafos did not panic when events went against them Wednesday.
The champion of Norway trailed by two goals at Slavia Prague, having had Kasper Høgh’s 54th-minute penalty kick saved, before cutting the deficit in the 78th.
A stunning volley in the 90th by substitute Sondre Brunstad Fet rattled the crossbar and bounced down over the goalline to earn a point preserved by goalkeeper Nikita Haikin’s smart save deep in stoppage time.
Pafos lost both of its Brazilian veterans before halftime, with 38-year-old David Luiz lasting just 33 minutes before going off injured in his first start for the club.
The fourth debutant, Kairat Almaty, plays Thursday at Sporting Lisbon. That meant a 7,000-kilometer (4,350-mile) trip for players and fans from eastern Kazakhstan across four time zones to Portugal’s capital — one of the longest possible in European soccer.
The Champions League stretches into a third day just for the opening round which is completed Thursday with six more games, including 2023 winner Manchester City welcoming back Kevin De Bruyne with Napoli. Barcelona goes to Newcastle without the injured Lamine Yamal.
A stoppage-time comeback by Juventus to draw 4-4 with Borussia Dortmund was the standout game of the first six played Tuesday while Kylian Mbappé converted two penalties and 10-man Real Madrid came back to beat visiting Marseille 2-1. (JapanToday)
Bayern Munich showed no mercy to amateurs Auckland City at the Club World Cup on Sunday, beating the minnows from New Zealand 10-0 in their opening game as Jamal Musiala came off the bench to score a second-half hat-trick.
Kingsley Coman, Michael Olise and Thomas Mueller all netted twice, while Sacha Boey was on target too for the German champions in the game in Group C, which also features Boca Juniors and Benfica.
Harry Kane started but didn’t get on the scoresheet before being replaced just after the hour mark by Musiala, who netted his three goals in the space of 18 minutes towards the end.
“We have to remain modest but it was important to be able to say that we took the game seriously,” said Bayern coach Vincent Kompany.
“It was a good first match at the tournament, but of course challenges are going to grow and it’s going to become more difficult.”
It was a stroll in the park in the midday sun in Cincinnati for Kompany’s side, with France winger Coman scoring twice in the opening 21 minutes either side of goals by compatriots Boey and Olise.
Coman’s sixth-minute breakthrough goal was the first of the tournament following the 0-0 draw between Inter Miami and Al Ahly in Saturday’s opening game.
Mueller got the fifth and Olise’s second of the afternoon made it 6-0 in first-half stoppage time for the Bundesliga heavyweights.
Olise’s strike for the sixth was the pick of the day’s goals, as he came in from the right before curling a shot on his left foot into the far corner.
Auckland City managed to stem the tide for much of the second half before Musiala came on and took centre stage, his three goals including one from the penalty spot after he had been fouled.
Mueller, who will leave Bayern after the tournament, made it 10-0 in the 89th minute with his 250th goal for the club.
The result confirmed the enormous gulf between one of Europe’s giants and an Auckland side who have won the Oceania Champions League 13 times but whose amateur players had to take unpaid leave to travel to the United States for the tournament.
“This is the reality of football against one of the world’s top teams,” admitted City’s interim coach, Ivan Vicelich.
“It is a dream for players coming from an amateur level to play in this environment.
“We knew it was going to be a very difficult game, playing against one of the top teams in the world, potentially one of the favourites for the Club World Cup, so we are just really proud of the players’ efforts.”
However the result made it an ideal start for Bayern, who won the Club World Cup twice in its former seven-team guise, in 2013 and 2020.
They have recorded bigger victories in the past in the German Cup, but the 10-goal winning margin equals their best ever in the Bundesliga, when they beat Borussia Dortmund 11-1 in 1971.
Bayern, who gave new signing Jonathan Tah a debut in central defence following his recent arrival from Bayer Leverkusen, play Boca in their next match in Miami on Friday.
Auckland City take on Benfica earlier the same day in Orlando. (Punch)
Harry Kane ended his long wait for the first team trophy of his career as Bayern Munich clinched the Bundesliga title – without playing – on Sunday.
Bayern’s celebrations were dramatically put on hold a day earlier when Yussef Poulsen scored a stoppage-time goal to earn RB Leipzig a 3-3 draw and make the leaders wait.
But Leverkusen, who had to win at Freiburg on Sunday to mathematically stay in the hunt, were held to a 2-2 draw that crowned the Bavarians this weekend after all.
Kane was forced to watch on against RB Leipzig after picking up a fifth yellow card of the season, moving to the touchline in expectation before Poulsen spoiled the party in the 94th minute.
But the 31-year-old England captain will be back for Saturday’s home game against Monchengladbach as Bayern can look forward to celebrating with their fans at the Allianz.
Kane has played a huge role in securing Bayern’s 34th league crown, topping the Bundesliga scoring charts with 24 goals, but in his 15th season as a pro – and two years after leaving boyhood club Tottenham – he has finally got his hands on silverware.
After 11 straight Bundesliga titles, Bayern fell short last season in Kane’s first year with the club, when invincible Bayer Leverkusen finished top. But Bayern have regained the championship this time with two rounds remaining.
Kane, who has lost Champions League and Carabao Cup finals at club level and twice lost European finals with England, has broken goal-scoring records in Germany but now has the team title he has craved.
Bayern boss Vincent Kompany, who won the Championship with Burnley in 2022/23, has claimed his first major honour as a manager, while Kane’s former England and Tottenham team-mate Eric Dier is also celebrating the first team trophy of his career. (SkySports)
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