The second match day of the brand new Champions League season concluded on Wednesday with 18 of Europe’s elite groups in motion throughout the continent.
Listed below are the three largest takeaways from the day’s video games.
Liverpool tops Bologna to remain excellent
When the Reds misplaced at dwelling to Nottingham Forest final month in Premier League play, it appeared as if the primary season underneath new supervisor Arne Slot — who changed membership legend Jürgen Klopp after Klopp stepped down final spring — is likely to be a little bit of a roller-coaster journey.
Liverpool rebounded with a convincing 3-1 win away to seven-time European champion AC Milan, then reeled off a pair of Prem victories and one other within the Carabao Cup.
That sizzling streak continued on Wednesday at Anfield, the place Slot’s lot breezed by Italian aspect Bologna 2-0.
Alexis Mac Allister and Mohamed Salah scored on both aspect of halftime for the Reds, one in every of simply 5 golf equipment off to an unblemished 2-0 begin within the Champions League. Salah’s curling left-footed strike was a sight to behold.
Liverpool resumes its home duties with a visit to London to face Crystal Palace on Saturday. Salah & Co. will attempt to make it three straight Champions League triumphs following this month’s worldwide break, once they meet RB Leipzig in Germany on Oct. 23.
10-man Juventus completes unlikely comeback Germany  Â
Juventus regarded to have performed the laborious half within the fiftieth minute of Wednesday’s contest in RB Leipzig, when star ahead Dušan Vlahovićcanceled out the hosts’ first half opener by Benjamin Šeško.
Issues then when sideways for the guests. First Michele Di Gregorio obtained despatched off after the video assistant referee decided that the Juve keeper had dealt with the ball exterior his 19-yard field. Thiago Motta’s aspect then went on to reward Leipzig a penalty, which Šeško duly transformed proper on the hurdle mark.
Instantly down a person and a aim, Juve may’ve crumbled. As a substitute, they clawed their method again, pulling stage by (who else?) Vlahović earlier than getting a worthy recreation winner from substitute Francisco Conceição with simply eight minutes of normal time remaining.
Upsets aplenty as Atlético Madrid, Bayern Munich and Actual Madrid all lose
Stunners occur within the Champions League on a semiregular foundation, even to former winners of the world’s most necessary membership competitors. Two earlier champs getting beat on the identical day? That’s not practically as frequent. But that’s exactly what occurred on Wednesday, with six-time titlist Bayern and present trophy holders Actual shocked by Aston Villa and Lille, respectively.
Former Chicago Hearth ahead Jhon Durán scored the one aim the Villains would want within the 79th minute, and Argentina’s World Cup-winning goalkeeper Emi Martinez was a brick wall as Villa secured a 1-0 with Prince William — England’s future king — trying on in Birmingham. Martinez made seven saves for the house staff, none higher than this cease deep into second half stoppage time:
In France, Lille took all three factors in its first ever assembly with Actual, the competitors’s report 15-time champ, with Canadian striker Johnathan David changing from the penalty spot on the stroke of halftime.
Nonetheless, Wednesday’s most eye-popping end result someway got here in Potugual, the place Benfica crushed Atleti 4-0. Much more exceptional is the truth that Diego Simeone’s squad — the shedding Champions League finalist twice within the final 11 years — didn’t muster a single shot on track.
Doug McIntyre is a soccer reporter for FOX Sports activities. A former workers author with ESPN and Yahoo Sports activities, he has lined U.S. males’s and girls’s nationwide groups at FIFA World Cups on 5 continents. Observe him @ByDougMcIntyre.
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