The league phase of the 2025-26 season’s Champions League kicked off on Tuesday, with Arsenal, Tottenham Hotspur and Real Madrid all in action in the European competition.
Below we discuss some of the major talking points from yesterday’s action.
Martinelli offers a reminder of his quality
Gabriel Martinelli is no longer a guaranteed starter in Mikel Arteta’s team, with the London club having overhauled their attacking options this summer. The Spanish boss started new signing Eberechi Eze for Tuesday’s Champions League clash against the Athletic Club.
But when Eze struggled to make an impact at the Estadio de San Mames, Arteta turned to Martinelli and he repaid the faith of his manager with an excellent display. The Brazilian found the back of the net just 36 seconds after being introduced, and then set up Leandro Trossard for another goal, with the Gunners sealing a 2-0 win.
Tottenham sealed narrow win despite unconvincing display
Tottenham Hotspur made a winning start to the new Champions League campaign, beating Villarreal 1-0 after an early own goal from Luiz Junior. It was far from a vintage display from Spurs, who produced some poor passages of play and sloppy passes whenever they broke forward.
However, Tottenham were solid in defence, with Micky van de Ven and Rodrigo Bentancur making some crucial tackles. Manager Thomas Frank will be happy with the result but will hope for a better display from his team when they face Brighton & Hove Albion on the weekend.
Mbappe makes the difference for Madrid
Kylian Mbappe scored twice as 10-man Real Madrid fought back to victory over Marseille on Tuesday. Los Blancos lost Trent Alexander-Arnold to injury early in the game, and then Dani Carvajal was sent off on 72 minutes after head-butting goalkeeper Geronimo Rulli.
Xavi compares Dembele with Neymar after dominant display over Plzen
Trending
Xavi compares Dembele with Neymar after dominant display over Plzen
However, Mbappe led his team to a 2-1 victory after twice scoring from the penalty spot. The France international also produced six key passes and had five shots on target, while he completed 86 per cent of his passes.
Juventus and Dortmund play out eight-goal thriller
Juventus and Borussia Dortmund played out an eight-goal thriller at the Allianz Stadium. Remarkably all the eight goals came in the second half, with the breakthrough coming on 51 minutes when Karim Adeyemi put the visitors ahead from a fine low strike.
Juventus levelled the scores and performed the same feat after Felix Nmecha’s 65th-minute strike. The Bundesliga giants were on the verge of victory after goals from Yan Couto and Ramy Bensebaini, but a stunning late comeback saw Dusan Vlahovic and Lloyd Kelly scoring to salvage a draw for Igor Tudor’s side.
Qarabag create history after stunning comeback at Benfica
Qarabag claimed a stunning comeback win at Benfica to become the first Azerbaijani side to win a Champions League main draw match. Gurban Gurbanov’s side were left trailing 2-0 after just 16 minutes following strikes from Enzo Barrenechea and Vangelis Pavlidis.
Qarabag halved the deficit on the half-hour mark before Camilo Duran scored with an expert finish three minutes into the second half. Oleksii Kashchuk came off the bench to grab the winner five minutes from time, as the minnows created history at the Estadio da Luz.
Stats from Sofascore