BARCELONA began their Champions League campaign with a 2-1 away victory over Newcastle United on Thursday evening. Marcus Rashford scored both goals for the Spanish champions in his first start since joining on loan from Manchester United. The England international broke the deadlock just before the hour mark with a headed finish from Jules Kounde’s cross. Rashford doubled Barcelona’s lead with a powerful long-range strike into the top corner midway through the second half. Anthony Gordon pulled one back for the home side but Barcelona held on for all three points. “It’s an amazing experience playing for Barcelona,“ Rashford said after the match. “I’ve always been a huge admirer of the club.”
Manchester City secured a comfortable 2-0 home win against Serie A champions Napoli in their opening group match. The game turned in City’s favour when Napoli captain Giovanni Di Lorenzo received a straight red card for fouling Erling Haaland midway through the first half. Haaland opened the scoring early in the second half with a headed goal from Phil Foden’s cross, marking his 50th Champions League goal in just 49 appearances. Jeremy Doku sealed the victory with City’s second goal, extending Napoli’s winless run against English opposition to 13 matches. Pep Guardiola praised Haaland’s incredible goal-scoring record after the match.
Eintracht Frankfurt recorded the biggest victory of the night with a 5-1 thrashing of Galatasaray. The German side came from behind after Yunus Akgun’s early opener for the Turkish visitors. Davinson Sanchez’s own goal brought Frankfurt level before Can Uzun and Jonathan Burkardt scored in first-half stoppage time. Burkardt added another after the break before Ansgar Knauff completed the scoring for the Bundesliga club.
Bayer Leverkusen fought back twice to earn a 2-2 draw away to FC Copenhagen. Jordan Larsson gave the Danish side an early lead before Alejandro Grimaldo equalised with a superb free-kick. Robert looked to have won it for Copenhagen with an 87th-minute strike before Pantelis Hatzidiakos’s own goal gifted Leverkusen a point in stoppage time.
Club Brugge continued their impressive European form with a 4-1 victory over Monaco in Belgium. The home side took control after Maghnes Akliouche missed an early penalty for the visitors. Nicolo Tresoldi, Raphael Onyedika and Hans Vanaken all scored in the first half for Brugge. Mamadou Diakhon added a fourth before Ansu Fati grabbed a late consolation for Monaco.
Sporting Lisbon overcame an early missed penalty to defeat Kairat Almaty 4-1 in Portugal. Francisco Trincao scored twice for the hosts after Morten Hjulmand’s penalty miss. Alisson Santos and Geovany Quenda added quickfire goals in the second half before Edmilson pulled one back for the Kazakh visitors. – AFP
