Views: 9
Champions League highlights and round-up: Arsenal beat Paris, Dortmund hit seven, Barcelona, City and Inter win big
Arsenal beat Paris on Tuesday to pick up their opening win of the league phase of the 2024/25 UEFA Champions League, while Borussia Dortmund hit seven, Barcelona scored five, and Manchester City and Inter also racked up emphatic victories.
UEFA.com rounds up all the action on the opening night of Matchday 2.
Tuesday night’s action
Salzburg 0-4 Brest
Brest’s excellent start to the Champions League continued with a second win which came courtesy of a clinical second-half performance in Austria. Abdallah Sima opened the scoring on 24 minutes when he raced on to Ludovic Ajorque’s pass and held off two defenders to score.
Salzburg had chances of their own, but Mahdi Camara added a second midway through the second period, then Sima grabbed the third with a close-range effort. Mathias Pereira Lage wrapped up a memorable night when he swept in the fourth from the edge of the penalty area.
Player of the Match: Abdallah Sima (Brest)
Matchday 3
23/10: Brest vs Bayer Leverkusen, Salzburg vs GNK Dinamo
Stuttgart 1-1 Sparta Praha
Kaan Kairinen’s sublime 32nd-minute equaliser earned Sparta a fourth point, curling in a free-kick via a post after Enzo Millot had nodded the opener with seven minutes played. Martin Vitík and Veljko Birmančević headed against the woodwork for the visitors either side of Kairinen’s strike, and Birmančević was denied by Alexander Nübel’s fine save shortly after half-time. Visiting keeper Peter Vindahl also excelled, turning Fabian Rieder’s late long-range effort behind as Stuttgart collected their first point.
Player of the Match: Enzo Millot (Stuttgart)
Matchday 3
22/10: Juventus vs Stuttgart, 23/10: Manchester City vs Sparta Praha
Arsenal 2-0 Paris Saint-Germain
First-half goals from Kai Havertz and Bukayo Saka gave Arsenal a comfortable home win over Paris. Havertz put the Gunners in front with a brave header 20 minutes in, and captain Saka scored directly from a wide free-kick 15 minutes later to confirm Arsenal in the ascendancy in north London.
João Neves’s shot was deflected onto the crossbar by David Raya as Paris sought to get on the scoresheet in the second half, but to no avail.
Player of the Match: Kai Havertz (Arsenal)
Matchday 3
22/10: Arsenal vs Shakhtar Donetsk, Paris Saint-Germain vs PSV Eindhoven
Bayer Leverkusen 1-0 AC Milan
Victor Boniface scored his maiden Champions League goal as Leverkusen picked up a second straight win in the league phase. Boniface struck the decisive blow on 51 minutes after Mike Maignan had parried Jeremie Frimpong’s shot. Álvaro Morata came closest to drawing Milan level, but the Bundesliga champions held out for maximum points.
Player of the Match: Florian Wirtz (Leverkusen)
Matchday 3
22/10: AC Milan vs Club Brugge, 23/10: Brest vs Bayer Leverkusen
Borussia Dortmund 7-1 Celtic
Dortmund cruised past Celtic with Karim Adeyemi starring with a first-half hat-trick. Emre Can struck first from the penalty spot on seven minutes, but Celtic equalised two minutes later through Daizen Maeda. Adeyemi soon scored two more, Serhou Guirassy converted another penalty and Adeyemi’s third simply sealed Dortmund’s emphatic half-time lead. In the second half, Guirassy netted again to make it six, then sub Felix Nmecha’s goal eleven minutes from time capped a super night for the home side.
Player of the Match: Karim Adeyemi (Dortmund)
Matchday 3
22/10: Real Madrid vs Borussia Dortmund, 23/10: Atalanta vs Celtic
Barcelona 5-0 Young Boys
Barcelona bounced back from an opening defeat at Monaco with a convincing 5-0 victory, spearheaded by teenager Lamine Yamal.
Two goals from Robert Lewandowski, either side of a headed set-piece conversion from Iñigo Martínez and Raphinha’s strike on the rebound, earned the hosts a four-goal advantage early in the second half.
Young Boys hit the woodwork through Joël Monteiro, before Mohamed Ali Camara netted a late own goal to add to the hosts’ tally.
Player of the Match: Raphinha (Barcelona)
Matchday 3
23/10: Barcelona vs Bayern München, Young Boys vs Inter
Inter 4-0 Crvena Zvezda
Inter claimed their first win, and made it ten Champions League home matches without defeat, by cruising past Crvena Zvezda. After Hakan Çalhanoğlu had curled in a splendid 11th-minute free-kick, Mehdi Taremi set up both Marko Arnautović and Lautaro Martínez to slot in during the second half. Summer signing Taremi then opened his account for the club by clipping in a penalty with nine minutes left.
Player of the Match: Mehdi Taremi (Inter)
Matchday 3
22/10: Monaco vs Crvena Zvezda, 23/10: Young Boys vs Inter
PSV Eindhoven 1-1 Sporting CP
PSV and Sporting shared the spoils in an entertaining 1-1 draw at the PSV Stadion. Jerdy Schouten intercepted a strass pass and strode into space before firing past Franco Israel to give PSV a 15th-minute lead. The Eredivisie side had several good opportunities to increase their advantage, but ultimately had to settle for a draw after sub Daniel Bragança equalised with an outstanding first-time finish at the near post from Maximiliano Araújo’s cross with 84 minutes on the clock.
Player of the Match: Jerdy Schouten (PSV)
Matchday 3
23/10: Paris Saint-Germain vs PSV Eindhoven, Sturm Graz vs Sporting CP
Slovan Bratislava 0-4 Manchester City
Manchester City got their campaign rolling with two goals either side of half-time. İlkay Gündoğan combined with Phil Foden to open the scoring with his first goal since rejoining the club, then Foden doubled their advantage with his opening goal of the campaign. Erling Haaland rounded Slovan keeper Dominik Takáč to make it three – the Norwegian’s 42nd strike in 41 Champions League appearances – before James McAtee pounced on Foden’s chip for his first goal in City colours.
Player of the Match: Phil Foden (Man City)
Matchday 3
22/10: Girona vs Slovan Bratislava, 23/10: Manchester City vs Sparta Praha
Wednesday fixtures
Shakhtar Donetsk vs Atalanta (18:45)
Girona vs Feyenoord (18:45)
Aston Villa vs Bayern München
GNK Dinamo vs Monaco
Liverpool vs Bologna
LOSC Lille vs Real Madrid
Leipzig vs Juventus
Sturm Graz vs Club Brugge
Benfica vs Atlético de Madrid
UEFA