Real Madrid and the ‘old kings’ do not fail in the new Champions League

ParisMore teams, different format… but the favourites continue to impose their law. The current champion Real Madrid, Liverpool, Bayern Munich -with a 9-2 win-, and Juventus settled their first matches on Tuesday and are joint leaders of the new Champions League.

None of the six matches that raised the curtain on the 2024-2025 Champions League ended in a draw, and teams one step below such as Aston Villa and Sporting de Portugal also failed in their commitments against Lille (2-0) and Young Boys (0-3).

So, without surprises, the big They have earned their first three points in a competition expanded to 36 teams, each of which faces eight rivals in the first phase, after which the best eight qualify directly for the round of 16, while those occupying positions 9 to 24 will play a play-off to complete this round.

From Wembley… to the Bernabéu

After winning the Champions League last year after beating Borussia Dortmund in the final at Wembley, Real Madrid returned to their favourite competition by beating another German team, a Stuttgart team that created more problems than expected at the Santiago Bernabéu (3-1) but crashed against the wall of Belgian goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois.

It was Kylian Mbappé’s European debut in the white jersey. The new Real Madrid idol opened the scoring in the 46th minute, with Deniz Undav equalising in the 68th. Finally, Antonio Rüdiger’s header against the team where he was trained as a footballer gave the three points in the Spanish capital (83) and the Brazilian Endrick scored in the last play (90+5).

Afp Photo

“I know I can do more, I feel better every game. It was tough, it’s the Champions League, it’s always difficult but we won. We know that the format has changed and it’s important to win quickly to qualify quickly,” Mbappé summed up.

‘On the way to the sixteenth’, read a huge banner at one end of the Bernabéu, but if there is one team that has made its intentions known from the first matchday, it is Bayern Munich, who got off to a thunderous start by crushing Croatian side Dinamo Zagreb 9-2 on Tuesday at the Alliaz Arena, where the final will be played.

Bayern takes out the roller

In Vincent Kompany’s European debut on the Bayern bench, the Bavarians put on an offensive festival with four from Harry Kane (19, 57, 73 and 78), a double from Frenchman Michael Olise (38, 61) and goals from Raphaël Guerreiro (33), Leroy Sané (85) and Leon Goretzka (90+2).

Afp Photo

“I’m very happy for the lads. They scored goals, but we need more control, it will come,” said Kompany.

And in the star duel of this first date, between two teams that have 13 Champions League titles or its predecessor, the extinct European Cup, Liverpool won 3-1 on Milan’s court.

Los Reds Arne Slot’s side, who suffered their first league defeat of the season at Anfield against Nottingham Forest (1-0), made up for that disappointment by conquering San Siro with goals from French defender Ibrahima Konaté (23), his teammate in the centre of defence, the Dutchman Virgil Van Dijk (41), and Hungarian midfielder Dominik Szoboszlai (17), who nullified the opening goal by American striker Christian Pulisic (3) for the team. red and blacks.

Photo Ap

The night was not, however, perfect for Liverpool, after one of their fans, who had come to Italy to watch the match, died in a road accident in Bergamo.

Also in Italy, Juventus showed that their new, young and ambitious project led by the Italian-Brazilian coach Thiago Motta can have a future. Old Lady achieved a convincing home victory against PSV Eindhoven (3-1).

Afp Photo

And Unai Emery’s Aston Villa celebrated their return to the Champions League after a 41-year absence by beating Young Boys 3-0 in Switzerland.