Category: UEFA Competitions

• Juventus 1-2 Benfica, PSG comeback denies Maccabi Haifa
• Real Madrid see off Leipzig, Giroud leads Milan victory

Benfica fought back to secure a 2-1 win at Juventus, with goals from João Mário and David Neres maintaining their perfect start in Group H and leaving their hosts without a point from their first two Champions League games.

Juventus took a fourth-minute lead when Arkadiusz Milik climbed highest inside the box to head the ball into the bottom-left corner from Leandro Paredes’ free kick. The Italian side dominated much of the first half, but Mário levelled just before the break from the penalty spot after Fabio Miretti was penalised for fouling Gonçalo Ramos.

The Norwegian’s influence sometimes looked lacking against Dortmund but his patience again proved devastating

Erling Haaland poses the professional writer a problem. Most of the time, he doesn’t do very much. He jogs towards the ball. He jogs away from the ball. He prowls and waits.

He had a grand total of 26 touches, which is quite a lot by his standards, but still comfortably fewer than both goalkeepers. And so discussing Haaland’s influence becomes something of an unsatisfying binary, pivoting around a single volatile question: did he score or not? If he did, his contribution is likely to have been decisive. If not, then you’ve spent 90 minutes watching a tall blond man look at things.

After everything that has gone on over the past week or so, all of the upheaval, sparked by the sacking of Thomas Tuchel, Chelsea needed something here. Graham Potter needed something here. It was the new manager’s first experience of a Champions League tie, a detail to highlight his sudden ascent. It would be a wild night for him.

For plenty of the second half, it seemed as though Raheem Sterling had kickstarted Potter’s tenure. With a roll of his studs to set the ball and a swish of his right boot, the wide attacker found the far corner of the Red Bull Salzburg net and Chelsea could sense a similar ignition point for their Champions League campaign – following the trauma of the defeat at Dinamo Zagreb in the opening game.

A record of 11 goals conceded and none scored in three games can never bode well for a Rangers manager. Nonetheless, on a curious night at Ibrox, Giovanni van Bronckhorst took heart from the competitiveness of his team against Napoli before Rangers were reduced to 10 men.

Napoli ultimately emerged as deserved winners but the whiff of controversy filled the Govan air from the moment of James Sands’s dismissal. Rangers felt wronged, as opposed to the embarrassment suffered by back-to-back 4-0 losses to Ajax and Celtic.

Celtic failed to build on a dominant start to their Champions League contest against Shakhtar Donetsk as they were held to a 1-1 draw in Poland.

Reo Hatate’s run beyond the home defence led to Celtic taking an early lead but Mykhaylo Mudryk equalised against the run of play in the 29th minute. Off the pitch, anti-monarchy banners and chants from travelling Celtic fans led to an on-air apology from BT Sport.

Manchester City won, Celtic and Chelsea drew, while Rangers were well beaten on a busy night of elite football across the continent

• View the Champions League group tables

Chelsea: Arrizabalaga, James, Azpilicueta, Thiago Silva, Cucurella, Kovacic, Jorginho, Mount, Havertz, Aubameyang, Sterling.

Subs: Pulisic, Loftus-Cheek, Bettinelli, Chalobah, Broja, Zakaria, Chilwell, Ziyech, Gallagher, Koulibaly, Chukwuemeka, Fofana.

Chelsea spurned several chances as Graham Potter’s first game in charge ended in disappointment

Salzburg get the ball rolling. They’ll be kicking towards the Matthew Harding stand in this first half. They’ve been forced to make one late change: Fernando injured himself during the warm-up, and has been replaced by Benjamin Sesko.

Before kick-off, a minute of silence in honour of Queen Elizabeth II. Impeccably observed. Then the release of a roar.

• 17-year-old Antonio Nusa scores on European debut
• Atlético Madrid and Marseille both lose

Club Brugge pulled off a shock 4-0 victory at FC Porto to win a second successive Champions League game and go top of Group B.

An early penalty converted by Ferran Jutgla was followed by two quick goals after half-time from Kamal Sowah and Andreas Skov Olsen before a late effort from teenage substitute Antonio Nusa put the seal on a massive upset.

Joël Matip’s late winner gave Liverpool a crucial win, while Robert Lewandowski missed a pair of great chances on his return to Munich, then watched Bayern put Barcelona away

Oh man, Sporting have scored again! They lead Spurs 2-0, playing injury-time.

Elsewhere…

Perhaps the nicest thing you could say about Barcelona here was that of all their recent humiliations against Bayern Munich, this was by some distance the least humiliating. They moved the ball with verve and purpose, enjoyed some excellent chances, looked at times like the old Barcelona with that vague whiff of sophisticated arrogance. Gavi and Pedri were two of the best players on the pitch.

But winning the argument is a poor substitute for winning games of football. Xavi had it right afterwards when he said that his side had to “learn to compete as Bayern do”. The difference here was not one of talent or of ambition, but of maturity. Bayern soaked up the pressure in the first half and took their chances in the second. Once Lucas Hernandez and Leroy Sané had put them clear, they simply slipped into the comfortable old grooves: relentless passing football, players fighting and covering for each other.

• Rangers have lost both their last two matches 4-0
• ‘I can pick seven players who did not reach their level’

Giovanni van Bronckhorst has challenged his Rangers players to respond to the wounding criticism that has followed successive and heavy defeats when Napoli visit Ibrox. Rangers have conceded eight goals without reply against Celtic and Ajax; next up, the Serie A leaders. Van Bronckhorst was defiant in the face of suggestions he might have to alter his coaching approach.

“Three weeks ago we qualified for the Champions League, everything was fine,” the manager said. “Everyone was praised: the team, the staff, the club. We’re doing well. Two defeats later it looks like we haven’t performed in the last couple of years. That’s the dynamic of football.