European nights are finally back after months and we could not have asked for a better start. In the two opening matches, Inter Milan took on Spurs in San Siro while PSV traveled to Catalunya to take on the Spanish champions. Tottenham took the lead but could not hold on as Inter staged a late comeback to win 2-1 at home. A thunderous strike from captain Mauro Icardi brought them back into the game while a late Vecino goal deep in injury time sealed the match. It was a different picture in Barcelona though, who ran away with a 4-0 victory to start off their Champions League campaign. Messi started off the scoring with a brilliant freekick around the half-hour mark to give Barcelona the lead. Dembele doubled the lead in the second half, scoring one of the best goals in the first round of play. A beautiful turn to go past two players, running into open space and finishing with a brilliant curling shot from outside the box. Messi added two more in the dying moments of the game to bring up his 8th Champions League hat-trick, highest ever by any player.
Real Madrid also registered an impressive win against Roma putting three past the Italian side. A neat free kick from Isco kicked things off before a through ball from Modric found a sprinting Gareth Bale who finished it off with relative ease going past the last defender. Mariano Diaz added the third with a brilliant right footed shot, cutting in from the left.
PSG travelled to Anfield to take on Liverpool in what promised to be a thrilling encounter. Sturridge opener put Liverpool ahead while James Milner doubled their lead. PSG came right back in the game before the half time whistle as Munier scored from a nicely struck shot. Mbappe made it 2-2 towards the end of the game and it looked like we were going to have to settle for a draw. However, Bobby Firmino, who came on as a substitute, had other ideas as he scored the winner in the 92nd minute to earn Liverpool all three points.
Juventus traveled to Spain to take on Valencia. This was going to be Ronaldo’s first UCL match in a Juventus shirt and his first return to Spain since he left Real Madrid. However, things did not go well for the Portuguese as he was shown a straight red. It was controversial to say the least as the whole incident looked rather soft. 10-man Juventus, however, won the match as Pjanic scored twice from the spot.
The biggest shock of the game week was Manchester City’s defeat against Lyon. Nabil Fekir and Cornet scored two early goals in the Etihad to stun the English champions. Bernando Silva pulled one back in the second half, but it was too little too late as Manchester City lost their fourth Champions League match on a trot.
Here is a look at the rest of the results:
Manchester United 3-0 Young Boys
Atletico Madrid 2-1 Monaco
Benfica 0-2 Bayern Munich
Plzen 2-2 CSKA Moscow
Shakhtar 2-2 Hoffenheim
Ajax 3-0 AEK
Schalke 1-1 Porto
Galatasaray 3-0 Lokomotiv Moscow
Dortmund 0-1 Club Brugge
Crvena zvezda 0-0 Napoli
