The UEFA Champions League 2025/26 is already underway. Like last season, the tournament repeats the format, with a league of 36 clubs instead of the group stage, eight matchdays, and a general table that determines qualification for the round of 16. On Tuesday, 23 goals were scored in the first 6 matches.
Real Madrid was the only one of the three Spanish teams that managed to win in their debut. The 'merengues', with controversy, defeated Marseille at the Santiago Bernabéu (2-1) with a brace from Kylian Mbappé. Both goals came from the penalty spot, the second at the end due to a very dubious handball by the Argentinian Facundo Medina.
The French side had taken the lead with a great goal from Timothy Weah in the 21st minute, but Madrid equalized five minutes later. The winning goal came in the 80th minute, with the Whites already at a numerical disadvantage due to the expulsion of Dani Carvajal.
Athletic and Villarreal suffered in their debut
Athletic Club and Villarreal had less luck in their debut. The Basques went from more to less at San Mamés against Arsenal (0-2), without Nico Williams available. The match was very even in the first half and went to halftime without goals. In the second half, the 'gunners' asserted their hierarchy with two blows.
The first, by Gabriel Martinelli. The Brazilian took advantage of an error in Athletic's exit and, at full speed, left Dani Vivian behind to shoot Unai Simón with a lethal left-footed strike. The 0-1 fell in the 72nd minute and, towards the end, came the sentence from Leandro Trossard, in the 87th minute.
Villarreal, on the other hand, fell by the minimum in London against Tottenham (1-0). An own goal by goalkeeper Luis Júnior was enough for the 'Yellow Submarine' to fall on their return to the Champions League. The 'Spurs' arrived less in the area, but took advantage of the only mistake of the visitors to add the 3 points.
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Qarabag and Saint-Gilloise gave the upsets of the day
The big surprises of the day, without a doubt, occurred in Lisbon and Eindhoven. In the first match of Tuesday, Union Saint-Gilloise surprised PSV in the Netherlands (1-3) with a remarkable performance from the French players. Promise David opened the scoring in the 9th minute, from a penalty, and El Hadj extended the lead in the 31st minute.
Towards the end, the Belgians sealed the match with another goal from the Argentinian Kevin Mac Allister. PSV discounted in the 90th minute through Ruben van Bommel, but the victory of Sébastien Pocognoli's team was indisputable.
Even more incredible was Benfica's defeat at home against Qarabag (2-3). The Portuguese were leading 2-0 in just 16 minutes with goals from Barrenechea and Pavlidis, but the Azerbaijanis came back in the second half. Leandro Andrade discounted in the 30th minute and Camilo Durán made it 2-2 in the 48th minute.
In the 86th minute, came the goal of the historic victory, by Oleksiy Kashchuk. This is the second time in the Champions League that Benfica has lost a match that they were winning by two goals. The first was against FC Barcelona, in January of this year (4-5).
Juventus and Dortmund drew in a great match in Turin
In Italy, Juventus and Borussia Dortmund starred in the match of the day. The match went 0-0 at halftime, but ended 4-4 with an unusual ending. The Germans took the lead in the 52nd minute with a goal from Adeyemi, but Juve reacted with a goal from Kenan Yildiz.
Nmecha put Borussia ahead again in the 65th minute and Vlahovic made it 2-2 a couple of minutes later. With the match completely broken, Yan Couto scored the third for the Germans in the 74th minute and Ramy Bensebaini, from a penalty, seemed to seal the match in the 86th minute.
However, Juventus woke up in added time and again Vlahovic, in the 90+4th minute, put the Italians back in the game. Incredibly, Lloyd Kelly made it 4-4 in the 90+6th minute, being this the fifth draw by that score and the first since 2019 (Chelsea-Ajax).
| Match | Result |
|---|---|
| PSV- Union SG | 1-3 |
| Athletic-Arsenal | 0-2 |
| Real Madrid-Marseille | 2-1 |
| Juventus-Dortmund | 4-4 |
| Benfica-Qarabag | 2-3 |
| Tottenham-Villarreal | 1-0 |
The rest of the matches of matchday 1 of the league phase
Wednesday:
- Olympiacos vs Pafos: 18:45 CEST
- Slavia Prague vs Bodo/Glimt: 18:45 CEST
- Bayern Munich vs Chelsea: 21:00 CEST
- PSG vs Atalanta: 21:00 CEST
- Ajax vs Inter: 21:00 CEST
- Liverpool vs Atlético: 21:00 CEST
Thursday:
- Copenhagen vs Leverkusen: 18:45 CEST
- Bruges vs Monaco: 18:45 CEST
- Newcastle vs FC Barcelona: 21:00 CEST
- Frankfurt vs Galatasaray: 21:00 CEST
- Sporting CP vs Kairat: 21:00 CEST
- Manchester City vs Napoli: 21:00 CEST