Champions League: Liverpool cruises, Juventus comes back, Bayern and Real Madrid stunned
The second match day of the new Champions League season concluded on Wednesday with 18 of Europe’s elite teams in action across the continent.
Here are the three biggest takeaways from the day’s games.
Liverpool tops Bologna to stay perfect
When the Reds lost at home to Nottingham Forest last month in Premier League play, it seemed as though the first season under new manager Arne Slot — who replaced club legend Jürgen Klopp after Klopp stepped down last spring — might be a bit of a roller-coaster ride.
Liverpool rebounded with a resounding 3-1 win away to seven-time European champion AC Milan, then reeled off a pair of Prem victories and another in the Carabao Cup.
That hot streak continued on Wednesday at Anfield, where Slot’s lot breezed by Italian side Bologna 2-0.
Alexis Mac Allister and Mohamed Salah scored on either side of halftime for the Reds, one of just five clubs off to an unblemished 2-0 start in the Champions League. Salah’s curling left-footed strike was a sight to behold.
Liverpool resumes its domestic duties with a trip to London to face Crystal Palace on Saturday. Salah & Co. will try to make it three straight Champions League triumphs following this month’s international break, when they meet RB Leipzig in Germany on Oct. 23.
10-man Juventus completes unlikely comeback Germany
Juventus looked to have done the hard part in the 50th minute of Wednesday’s contest in RB Leipzig, when star forward Dušan Vlahović canceled out the hosts’ first half opener by Benjamin Šeško.
Things then when sideways for the visitors. First Michele Di Gregorio got sent off after the video assistant referee determined that the Juve keeper had handled the ball outside his 19-yard box. Thiago Motta’s side then went on to gift Leipzig a penalty, which Šeško duly converted right on the hurdle mark.
Suddenly down a man and a goal, Juve could’ve crumbled. Instead, they clawed their way back, pulling level through (who else?) Vlahović before getting a worthy game winner from substitute Francisco Conceição with just eight minutes of regular time remaining.
Upsets aplenty as Atlético Madrid, Bayern Munich and Real Madrid all lose
Stunners happen in the Champions League on a semiregular basis, even to former winners of the world’s most important club competition. Two previous champs getting beat on the same day? That’s not nearly as common. Yet that’s precisely what happened on Wednesday, with six-time titlist Bayern and current trophy holders Real stunned by Aston Villa and Lille, respectively.
Former Chicago Fire forward Jhon Durán scored the only goal the Villains would need in 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 — looking on in Birmingham. Martinez made seven saves for the home team, none better than this stop deep into second half stoppage time:
In France, Lille took all three points in its first ever meeting with Real, the competition’s record 15-time champ, with Canadian striker Johnathan David converting from the penalty spot on the stroke of halftime.
Still, Wednesday’s most eye-popping result somehow came in Potugual, where Benfica crushed Atleti 4-0. Even more remarkable is the fact that Diego Simeone’s squad — the losing Champions League finalist twice in the last 11 years — failed to muster a single shot on target.
Doug McIntyre is a soccer reporter for FOX Sports. A former staff writer with ESPN and Yahoo Sports, he has covered U.S. men’s and women’s national teams at FIFA World Cups on five continents. Follow him @ByDougMcIntyre.
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