Kylian Mbappé and Erling Haaland took their high-flying scoring acts into Europe as the Champions League returned, while last season’s standout star Karim Benzema limped off with an injury after less than 30 minutes, Abbeylivenetwork.com reports.
Mbappé and Haaland both netted two goals as their respective clubs Paris Saint Germain and Manchester City began their European campaigns with victories, underlining just why those two teams are again among the favorites for the title.
Group H
Paris Saint-Germain 2-1 Juventus
Paris Saint-Germain opened their UEFA Champions League campaign with a 2-1 win over Juventus in the French capital.
The hosts got off to the perfect start as Neymar’s neat lofted pass found Kylian Mbappe, who sent a first-time finish past Matias Perin.
Mbappe got his and PSG’s second goal in the 22 minute, with French forward finishing off a lovely passing move with another first-time finish.
Juventus managed to pull one back eight minutes after the break when Weston McKennie rose above his marker to power home a header.
Benfica 2-0 Maccabi Haifa
Benfica made a winning start in Group H with a 2-0 victory over Maccabi Haifa.
Rafa Silva opened the scoring four minutes after the halftime break while Alex Grimaldo doubled the lead with a sensational strike six minutes later.
Group F
Celtic 0-3 Real Madrid
Reigning champions Real Madrid opened their campaign with a 3-0 win away to Celtic.
Carlo Ancelotti recalled Toni Kroos at the expense of Eduardo Camavinga, as Antonio Rudiger kept his spot on the bench.
Thirty minutes into the contest, Ancelotti was forced to make a change as star man Karim Benzema was forced off with an knee injury and replaced by Eden Hazard.
After the first half ended goalless, Vinicius Junior opened the score 11 minutes into the second half, before Luka Modric doubled the lead four minutes later.
Hazard managed to round off the scoring Los Blancos in the 77th minute with his first goal of the season.
RB Leipzig 1-4 Shakhtar Donetsk
Shakhtar Donetsk made a winning start in F after defeating RB Leipzig 4-1 at the Red Bull Arena.
A brace from Marian Shved and further strikes from Mykhaylo Mudryk and Lassina Traore guided the visitors to victory.
Mohamed Simakan got the only goal for Leipzig, who host Real Madrid in two weeks.
Group G
Sevilla 0-4 Manchester City
Manchester City a promising start to the group stages after defeating Sevilla 4-0 on Tuesday evening.
Erling Haaland continued his fine start to the season after opening the scoring on 20 minutes after turning home Kevin de Bruyne’s cross.
Phil Foden added a second goal for the English champions in the 58th minute, before Haaland completed his brace just under 10 minutes later.
Ruben Dias rounded off the scoring for Pep Guardiola’s charges in second-half to stoppage time.
Group E
Salzburg 1-1 AC Milan
Red Bull Salzburg and AC Milan settled for a share of the spoils in their Group E opener on Tuesday evening.
The home side broke the deadlock on 28 minutes courtesy of a finish from Noah Okafor, before Alexis Saelemaekers equalised for Milan five minutes before the break.
