Group D: Inter surprisingly fails
- Real Sociedad – Inter Milan 1-1
Last year’s CL finalist and previously flawless Serie A leader surprisingly stumbled at the start of the “premier class”: Yann Sommer’s Inter Milan played in San Sebastian for a long time like a shadow of themselves. After just 4 minutes, the Nati goalie had to Get behind yourself: Teammate Alessandro Bastoni misused a ball and opened the scoring for Brais Mendez to make it 1-0. The Italians remained pale after that, especially on the offensive, nothing was going well. It wasn’t until the 87th minute that Lautaro Martinez slipped the ball into the net to make it 1-1, saving his team from a complete false start.
- Benfica Lisbon – Salzburg 0:2
2 penalties in the starting quarter of an hour: The game between the Portuguese and Austrian champions was all bad at the start. Benfica goalie Anatolij Trubin hit an opponent in the head with his fists in the second minute, and the 19-year-old took the first penalty Karim Konaté but over the housing. Almost 10 minutes later, Antonio Silva cleared with his hand on the line, and Roko Simic confidently converted the second Salzburg penalty to make it 1-0. Although the Austrians – who started with the youngest starting eleven in CL history (average age 21 years and 183 days) – were able to play in the majority afterwards, they were not the better team. Oscar Gloukh’s counterattack goal to make it 2-0 (51st) provided some security, but Benfica pressed until the end.
Group C
- Real Madrid – Union Berlin 1-0
Real Madrid against Union Berlin – what seemed utopian years ago has now become a fact. On the first matchday of Group C, the 14-time Champions League winner and the debutant faced each other. And the Berliners, trained by Urs Fischer, were actually on track to win points at the Bernabeu for a long time. But a quickly taken corner in stoppage time broke the Union team’s neck late on. Jude Bellingham scored in the 94th minute to make it 1-0, which was well deserved due to the proportion of the game. Previously, both Rodrygo (51st) and Joselu (63rd) had failed at the post, and Union goalie Frederik Rönnow had also made numerous saves.
In the second game of this group, the favorite also came late and somewhat fortunately to victory. After a half full of chances, Napoli took the lead through Giovanni Di Lorenzo via the underside of the crossbar shortly before the half-time whistle, but in the 84th minute the Italian champions conceded a not undeserved equalizer from Armindo Bruma. It took an own goal from Braga (88th) so that Napoli could flirt with 3 points again. In stoppage time, the Portuguese only hit the post – bad luck for the underdog.
Group B: Arsenal with a lot of power
- Arsenal – PSV Eindhoven 4-0
Arsenal were on fire as they made their comeback to the Champions League after a six-year absence. After just 38 minutes, the Londoners led 3-0 against PSV Eindhoven. Bukayo Saka (8th) and Leandro Trossard (20th) with their debut goals in the “premier class” and Gabriel Jesus made things clear. After the break, Martin Odegaard even increased the score to 4-0. This continues an inglorious series for the Dutch: they have now been winless in 15 games in the Champions League.
Legend:
Celebrations about the 4:0
Martin Odegaard flexes his muscles.
imago images/Colorsport
Europa League winners Sevilla with Swiss national team player Djibril Sow (substituted after 63 minutes) had to be content with a 1-1 draw at home against Lens. After the optimal start with the opening goal by Lucas Ocampos in the 9th minute, the Spaniards equalized with a free kick from Angelo Fulgini (24th). Lens, who got off to a disastrous start in Ligue 1 with just 1 point from 5 games, were impressive on their return to the biggest stage and were even closer to the winning goal in the second half.