Category: UEFA Champions League

PSG brushed aside Atalanta despite mounting injuries, Belgium’s clubs stole a march on Dutch rivals and Marcus Rashford reminded Barcelona of his worth

The defending champions, Paris Saint-Germain, got off to a stylish start in beating Atalanta 4-0, though their injury problems continued. Joining a lengthy casualty list is João Neves, who limped off with a thigh problem. Luis Enrique’s team are suffering the wear and tear of last season’s triumph being followed by summer endeavors at the Club World Cup. Désiré Doué, Lucas Beraldo and Ousmane Dembélé, the latter the Parisian lobby’s chosen candidate for Monday’s Ballon D’Or award, were missing. Without them, PSG still showed the same form as last season, with 19-year-old Senny Mayulu in attack. Atalanta looked much reduced without the coaching of Gian Piero Gasperini, now at Roma, after a summer of sales and discontent, with Ademola Lookman exiled after being denied a move.

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• England striker hits two stunning goals to beat Newcastle

• He reveals he is ‘excited and motivated’ by move to Spain

Marcus Rashford believes he can finally fulfil his true potential at ­Barcelona after scoring two stunning Champions League goals in front of the watching England coach Thomas Tuchel at Newcastle on Thursday night.

The 27-year-old Manchester United loanee opened the scoring with a fine 58th-minute header before firing in the second goal from 20 yards. Rashford had done enough to ensure that, despite Anthony Gordon’s 90th-minute consolation, Eddie Howe’s side were beaten. “It is going good. I am obviously learning a lot,” Rashford said afterwards as he praised his new manager, Hansi Flick. “It is a new way of football, but I am enjoying it all and I think it is making me a better player.

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• Kazakhstani side beaten 4-1 at Sporting

• Frankfurt and Brugge enjoy victories

Kairat Almaty’s debut in the league phase of the Champions League was ruined by conceding three goals in four second-half minutes as Sporting ran out 4-1 winners at the Estádio José Alvalade.

The visitors from the city of Almaty in south-eastern Kazakhstan undertook the longest journey ever recorded between two clubs in Champions League history, and they struggled to find their rhythm in the first half. Sporting were handed a penalty after 21 minutes when Aleksandr Mrynskiy brought down Luis Suárez, but Morten Hjulmand’s spot kick was kept out by 18-year-old Kairat goalkeeper Sherhan Kalmurza.

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• Manchester City striker reaches mark in 49th game

• Manager backs Norwegian to beat Ronaldo’s record

Pep Guardiola hailed Erling Haaland’s 50th Champions League goal in a record 49 games and stated he is now in the company of the “monsters Cristiano and Messi” in the competition’s all-time greatest scorers, as Manchester City beat Napoli 2-0 in the opening group match.

Haaland’s 56th-minute opener was his 12th in seven appearances for City and Norway, Jérémy Doku’s second clinching victory for Guardiola’s side. Haaland beat Ruud van Nistelrooy’s previous 62-appearance mark for 50 goals.

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A little over 24 hours before kick-off, Hansi Flick spoke about how lucky he felt to have acquired Marcus Rashford on loan from Manchester United.

Barcelona’s manager was not remotely bothered that the forward’s stock had fallen so far at Old Trafford. Rashford, he said, was a player he had long admired and could help improve.

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Pep Guardiola said of drawing Napoli and having Kevin De Bruyne return: “It was always going to happen, right?” He might have spoken, too, of his No 9’s ruthlessness, as Erling Haaland broke this game open with Champions League goal No 50 in a record 49 matches, a feat that handsomely beats Ruud van Nistelrooy’s previous 62-appearance mark.

His strike was a seventh in five for City – form as ominous as the Norwegian’s in the 2022-23 treble season.

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Newcastle’s failure to capitalise on a dominant first-half performance cost them, as an excellent Marcus Rashford brace won the points for Barça

• Read Louise Taylor’s match report from St James’ Park

Eddie Howe: “When we were drawn against Barcelona, it had a magical feel to it,” said the Newcastle head coach. “I’m really excited to sample the atmosphere - I think it will be an incredible thing again. We will try to get a positive result and prepare the players for the game. I’m looking forward to how we match up against them and there is a lot of confidence restored after winning on Saturday.”

On Newcastle’s return to the Champions League: “The build-up is different to the Premier League and having done it before, that can help us again,” he said. “The squad is arguably stronger - it has changed from two years ago and I back the quality that we have. The early games are really important because they set the tone and that’s why we are really focusing on our performance to try and deliver a good one.”

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Napoli’s captain was sent off after 20 minutes and, after that, it was just whether Manchester City could break down the Italians. They could

6 mins: City break, Doku runs down the middle, Politano eventually dispossesses him on the edge of the area but in doing so accidentally passes to Foden, who’s just mulling over which corner he should aim his shot at when the referee blows his whistle for a foul on Politano.

4 mins: A shot! The bad news is that Ruben Dias took it, and he was at least 30 yards out. It is fair to say that Vanja Milinković-Savić was untroubled.

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As non-goalscoring club debuts go, Isak’s 57 minutes at Anfield made for a fascinating spectacle

Now witness the firepower of this fully operational Death Star. Four months, one record transfer and an endless rolling multiverse of internet rage since his last club game, Alexander Isak has now finally rematerialised in physical form.

As rust-laden, non-goalscoring club debuts go, Isak’s 57 minutes at Anfield made for a fascinating spectacle. In part for the sheer event glamour, the rubbernecking aspect, like witnessing a personal appearance at a shopping centre by your favourite controversial reality TV star. But also for the sheer data overload in a thrillingly open game dotted with wildness: from a Diego Simeone crowd‑surf red‑card climax, to the endless tactical complexities that continue to flow from Arne Slot’s attempts to re-gear his Liverpool team along these giddily attacking lines.

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• Finalists of last season make winning starts to campaigns

• Pafos and Bodø/Glimt both earn draws away from home

Paris Saint-Germain picked up where they left off following the club’s triumph last season as they opened their new Champions League campaign with an impressive 4-0 win against Atalanta at the Parc des Princes on Wednesday.

Marquinhos opened the scoring inside the first three minutes, and PSG followed that up with goals from Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, Nuno Mendes and Gonçalo Ramos, demonstrating the high pressing and fluid play that have become hallmarks of their game.

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• Coach has asked Belgian for advice on former side

• ‘We’re against a team where history speaks for itself’

Antonio Conte said Napoli’s opening Champions League game at Manchester City will pit his “students against the teachers” of Pep Guardiola’s side, with the Italian asking Kevin De Bruyne for advice about his former team.

Napoli will make their debut in the 36-club format in their meeting with City on Thursday. While they were last in the competition two years ago, Conte was not in charge then. He views his side as still in development despite being Serie A champions.

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Faustino Asprilla will be in attendance as Eddie Howe aims to prove his side are Champions League contenders

It is only two years since Eddie Howe attended his first Champions League match but now Newcastle’s manager is on a mission to disrupt Europe’s elite.

As Barcelona arrived on Tyneside on Wednesday Hansi Flick’s La Liga champions certainly displayed no sign of complacency. Indeed Flick warned of the “intensity” his players must be braced for at St James’ Park on Thursday night.

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A Harry Kane double consigned Chelsea to an opening defeat in the group stage despite Cole Palmer’s cracker

The TNT Sports pundits Cole and Owen Hargreaves, who played in the 2004/05 tie between these sides, are reminiscing about José Mourinho hiding in a laundry basket to give a team talk, due to a Uefa touchline ban.

“This is what it’s all about,” says pundit Joe Cole of tonight’s mouthwatering clash, which is a fair point.

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Liverpool took control of the game quickly, lost control of it gradually, and won it again eventually

Right then, the preambles have been entirely and completely completed, and as soon as Liverpool break from their huddle we can get on with kicking off.

The players are in the tunnel. The crowd have assuaged their lonely-walk-based fears. Not much stands between us and football.

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• Italian preparing to face Napoli, whom his mother supports

• De Bruyne, McTominay and Højlund could face City

Gianluigi Donnarumma has said he believes Pep Guardiola will help improve his ball-playing skills and that Manchester City were interested in signing him before the summer.

Donnarumma joined from Paris Saint-Germain for about £30m (€35m) on transfer deadline day. The move caused surprise because of the view that the 26-year-old is not as accomplished with his feet as Ederson, who left for Fenerbahce, or James Trafford, the £27m signing from Burnley in July.

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