The Champions League returned for its second matchday of the season and yet again it served up all the drama we needed.
From drama in the early kick offs to scraps later on in the night, Tuesday’s games involved plenty of great goals and fascinating entertainment. There was also the high profile return of a certain Robert Lewandowski to former club Bayern Munich.
Here’s the roundup of action from the evening’s play.
There was only one game played in Group A on Tuesday night, as Rangers’ fixture with Napoli was pushed back a day.
Liverpool went ahead against Ajax through Mohamed Salah but were pegged back when Mohammed Kudus swept in a flowing move from the visitors aided by some slack defending.
However, Joel Matip popped up in the 89th minute to put the Reds ahead and earn their first points in Europe this season.
Two goals in three late second-half minutes saw Bayer Leverkusen secure a vital victory over Atletico Madrid.
In a match which saw Antonio Griezmann subbed on around the 63rd minute mark – again – the deadock was eventually broken as Robert Andrich steered in six minutes from time.
The Bundesliga side made sure of the victory with another strike from speedster Moussa Diaby.
Arguably the biggest shock of the evening came in Portugal where Belgian outfit Club Brugge ran out 4-0 victors over Porto.
Ferran Jutglà had visitors ahead with a 15th-minute penalty before the visitors took the game away from the Primeira Liga side. Kamal Sowah and Andreas Skov Olsen struck within five minutes before Antonio Nusa made the scoreline 4-0 late in the second half.
Brugge are now top of Group B with two wins already.
Bayern Munich eventually swatted Barcelona aside courtesy of strikes from Lucas Hernandez and Leroy Sane.
Robert Lewandowski returned to the Allianz Arena after his high profile departure from Germany and the Polish striker struggled on his old turf, missing a host of excellent chances.
He and Barça were made to pay for their inefficiency as Hernandez headed in from a corner before Sane completed a sweeping move by finishing beyond Marc-Andre ter Stegen.
Inter got their first European points on the board as they comfortably saw off minnows Viktoria Plzen 2-0.
Edin Dzeko’s opener assisted by Joaquin Correa had the Nerazzurri up and running and they were aided by a 61st-minute red card for home midfielder Pavel Bucha.
Denzel Dumfries made sure of the result soon after, finishing from Dzeko’s assist to complete an easy night’s work for Inter.
Tottenham were made to rue a poor performance in Portugal as two late strikes saw Sporting CP emerge 2-0 winners.
Spurs struggled for any attacking fluency with both Harry Kane and Son Heung-min off the pace, and they eventually fell behind when substitute Paulinho headed in from a corner.
The disorganisation in Spurs’ ranks was clear to see when Arthur Gomes, only off the bench for a minute, made it 2-0 by weaving through and finishing beyond Hugo Lloris.
Europa League holders Eintracht Frankfurt bounced back from their opening day defeat to Sporting CP by defeating high-flying Ligue 1 outfit Marseille 1-0.
Jesper Lindstrom’s effort on the stroke of half time was enough to separate the two sides, with Marseille now needing to overturn a mighty deficit following two defeats from two games.
Credit: 90min.com
