In an evening where little happened outside elite-level football, the Uefa Champions League truly delivered.
It was the first match day of the new format which pitted several heavyweights against each other and it produced shocks, big wins and catapulted two of Europe’s big guns into “crisis mode”.
Nevertheless, we’re still scratching our heads to understand what these results actually mean in the long term.
Anyway, here’s a round up of all the action, as well as any other major sporting news which occurred while you were sleeping.
City lose UCL ‘derby’
What a way for incoming Manchester United boss Ruben Amorim to announce himself to his new fans.
Confirmed as Erik ten Hag’s replacement last week, but not set to take up his post until later this month, the 39-year-old stayed at Sporting CP for three more matches, of which one was the mammoth task of facing Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City in the Champions League.
Yet the Portuguese champions produced a performance for the ages as they came from a goal down to beat City 4-1 with striker Viktor Gyokeres netting a hat-trick – his seventh goal in two matches.
It was City’s third defeat on the spin across three competitions and the questions really are coming fast for Guardiola and his side as Erling Haaland also missed a penalty.
For Amorim, it was the dream exit: in his final match at Sporting’s home stadium, he delivered a famous victory which also put smiles on the faces on the supporters at his new club.
Real concern
What’s going wrong in Madrid?
Carlo Ancelotti’s side lost 3-1 at home to AC Milan to follow on from their 4-0 humbling at the Bernabeu against Barcelona.
That’s two defeats from their last three matches in the Champions League.
Vinicius Junior’s equaliser after Malick Thaw’s opener did not bring about the expected comeback as former Madrid forward Alvaro Morata restored the visitors’ lead and Tijjani Reijnders added a third.
Question marks over Ancelotti’s future at the Bernabeu are only going to grow.
Alonso’s Anfield agony
After a sensational 2023/34, the 2024/25 campaign has been a struggle for Bayer Leverkusen.
Level until the hour mark, a late Liverpool flurry earned the hosts a whopping 4-0 victory to make Anfield hero Xabi Alonso’s “homecoming” a nightmare.
The Germans have won just two of their past seven matches, while Liverpool’s incredible start under Arne Slot has seen them earn 12 victories from their 14 matches across all competitions so far this campaign.
Elsewhere, Lille’s impressive Champions League campaign continued as they followed up wins over Real and Atletico Madrid with a 1-1 draw against Juventus and there was even a memorable 3-1 victory for Celtic over German heavyweights RB Leipzig.
In the evening’s other matches, Borussia Dortmund edged out Sturm Graz 1-0, PSV Eindhoven crushed Girona 4-0, Monaco won 1-0 in Bologna and Slovan Bratislava were hammered 4-1 at home by Dinamo Zagreb.
