The Champions League kicked off with a bang this week, as two of Europe’s heavyweights, Manchester City and Barcelona, secured crucial victories in their respective debuts.
At the Etihad Stadium, Manchester City made the most of their home advantage, defeating Napoli 2-0. The match took an early turn when Napoli captain Giovanni Di Lorenzo was shown a red card just before halftime, leaving his team with 10 men for over 70 minutes.
In the second half, City capitalized on the numerical advantage. Erling Haaland opened the scoring in the 56th minute with a header following a pass from Phil Foden, reaching a remarkable milestone in the process. With that goal, Haaland became the fastest player to reach 50 goals in the Champions League, achieving the feat in just 49 appearances.
Jeremy Dokua then doubled City’s lead in the 65th minute, sealing the victory for the English champions.
Meanwhile, in Newcastle, Barcelona had a tougher time but ultimately prevailed 2-1 against the hosts. On-loan striker Marcus Rashford was the hero for the Catalan giants, scoring a brace to secure the three points.
Rashford opened the scoring in the 58th minute with a header following a cross from Jules Koundé. He then doubled Barcelona’s lead nine minutes later with a powerful shot from outside the area, capitalizing on a rebound.
Newcastle managed to pull one back in the 90th minute through Anthony Gordon, but it was too little, too late, as Barcelona held on for the win.
In other Champions League action, Copenhagen surprised Bayer Leverkusen with a 2-2 draw, while Eintracht Frankfurt thrashed Galatasaray 5-1 and Sporting Lisbon defeated Kairat Almaty 4-1.
The opening round of the Champions League has set the stage for an exciting and unpredictable season, with Manchester City and Barcelona emerging as early contenders for the prestigious trophy.
