OneFootball
Padraig Whelan·18 September 2019
OneFootball
Padraig Whelan·18 September 2019
The remaining teams kicked off their Champions League campaigns on Wednesday night and delivered all of the excitement we expected.
Hereâs what happened on night two of week one.
In the nightâs blockbuster game, PSG had an early penalty appeal turned down before capitalising on their good start with the opener.
A Juan Bernat cross from the left found Ăngel Di MarĂa and he fired in at the near post, helped in a big way by a weak wrist from Thibaut Courtois.
He wasnât done with his former club there either and celebrated his 100th appearance in Uefa competition by curling a beauty in to take his tally to two.
Gareth Bale then had a goal ruled out via the aid of VAR for a handball in the build-up and it was the correct decision.
The better chances after the break went the hostsâ way and they ultimately grabbed an injury time third when Thomas Meunier got forward to compound Realâs misery.
It was all at AtlĂ©tico for much of the first half of this one as they looked to gain some revenge for last seasonâs elimination, with Matthijs de Ligt again looking unsteady.
So naturally, Juventus took the lead moments after the break when Juan Cuadrado bulleted a sweet left foot strike into the top corner after fine work from Gonzalo HiguaĂn.
That goal came down the Rojiblancosâ right, as did the second midway through the half when Alex Sandroâs cross was headed home by Blaise Matuidi.
But two second half headers stunned Juve and sent the home fans away happy, with Stefan SaviÄ netting first before HĂ©ctor Herrera rescued a point in injury time.
After a dominant start from this one by City against familiar foes, they went ahead as Riyad Mahrez kept up his impressive European form.
The winger was in the right place at the right time to easily turn the ball home after an İlkay GĂŒndoÄan effort had came back off the post.
However, the German wouldnât be denied his goal and did indeed double Cityâs half-time when he weaved into the box and stabbed the ball home.
The weekend loss to Norwich and lack of central defenders didnât hinder them much in Ukraine, with Gabriel Jesus scoring a third from yet another Kevin De Bruyne assist.
After passing up two big early chances to score, Ivan PeriĆĄiÄ made amends for his missteps by providing a perfect assist for the opener.
The Croatian tore into space down the left and delivered a perfect cross for Kingsley Coman to power in a diving header.
Philippe Coutinho had a goal ruled out for offside towards the end of a first half which a free-flowing Bayern completely dominated.
The second half was more of the same, with PeriĆĄiÄ hitting the bar and a falling Robert Lewandowski somehow missing the target with his follow-up.
The Pole wouldnât be denied though and after a double deflection sent the ball his way in the box, he prodded into the corner for his 200th Bayern goal.
Thomas MĂŒller added a late third off the bench.
Atalantaâs fairytale first ever Champions League game only lasted 10 minutes before they conceded with the first shot they faced.
It was all too easy as a low cross from the right was easily turned in by Marin Leovac and things soon worsened when Mislav OrĆĄiÄ steered into the corner from the edge of the area.
Dinamoâs experience at this level really began to tell as more disastrous La Dea defending was punished when OrĆĄiÄ scored his second from close range.
Not to be outdone by Erling HĂ„landâs heroics the night before, OrĆĄiÄ completed his hat-trick with a calm finish to take the match ball home.
Leverkusen were surprisingly caught cold after 15 minutes when a nifty through ball was chased into the area by Grzegorz Krychowiak.
The Pole ruthlessly dispatched his effort into the corner on the run to stun the Bay Arena into silence, although they were rocked back into life 10 minutes later.
A Charles Arångiuz strike deflected in off Benedikt Höwedes but his spirits were perked up shortly afterwards by a disastrous error.
Goalkeeper LukĂĄĆĄ HrĂĄdeckĂœâs aimless pass fell to the feet of Dmitri Barinov, who produced a well-taken finish to beat the red-faced Finn for what proved to be the winner.