UEFA Champions League is here in its glory and every football fan is already at the edge of excitement and anticipation as the competition rolls around.
The 2023/24 Champions League group stage starts with another fascinating road towards the biggest prize in European club football.
Futballnews brings you all the results of Match Day 1 played on Tuesday, September 19.
Feyenoord 2-0 Celtic (Group E)
The hosts deservedly took all three points and got their first UEFA Champions League campaign off to a good start.
Feyenoord clinched all three points following a dramatic eight second-half minutes from Steng’s free-kick.
The host club came out re-energized after the break and built on their lead after substitute Jahanbakhsh sent in the Dutch champions’ second goal.
It went bad for Celtic as Lagerbielke and Holm were dismissed within five minutes of each other and, despite Hart saving a penalty from Paixão, they were unable to mount any sort of comeback.
Feyenoord’s numerical advantage saw them dominate the closing stages of the match.
Lazio 1-1 Atletico Madrid (Group E)
It seemed Simeone’s men were heading back to Madrid with all of the three points when Barrios opened the scoresheet, but a last-minute goal by Lazio keeper Provedel thwarted the visitor’s hope.
In an amazing stoppage time, Lazio came from behind against Atlético Madrid to split the points with an unhoped-for draw on the night of their UEFA Champions League return.
At Stadio Olimpico, the unbelievable hero Ivan Provedel, Biancocelesti goalkeeper, scored with a fantastic header deep in added time after Barrios’ first-half goal to make the game a tie.
PSG 2-0 Dortmund(Group F)
It took until the second half for PSG to make their breakthrough with Kylian Mbappé’s penalty before Hakimi got the second goal soon after.
Mbappé’s opener at the start of the second half was a true turning point for the host.
Thereafter, the Parisians built on their dominance by scoring a scintillating second goal through Hakimi.
More goals could have been conceded but Dortmund had defended valiantly and, thanks to many vital last-ditch interventions, they kept the deficit to just two goals.
AC Milan 0-0 Newcastle United( Group F)
With more than 20 attempts for the Rossoneri, they were not able to defeat Newcastle.
AC Milan will be disappointed given their dominance in the clash that ended 0-0.
In the first half, the Rossoneri had the energy to score against Newcastle, especially with the grand position of their midfielders.
In the second half, everything went more complicated for the host as they couldn’t help but share points with the Premier League club.
Meanwhile, Eddie Howe will be thrilled with the tenacity of his players, and their dedication to defend, throwing their bodies in the way.
Clinching a point against Milan is a fantastic start for Newcastle and they will take great confidence from this.
Young Boys 1-3 Leipzig( Group G)
Young Boys suffered only their second defeat out of 11 UEFA club competition matches as the visitors thrashed them 3-1.
Simakan opened the scoresheet for Leipzig but the host went toe-to-toe with them for much of the game thereafter, leveling through Elia before strikes from Schlager and Šeško sealed Leipzig’s away victory.
Manchester City 3-1 Crvena Zvezda( Group G)
Guardiola’s City were up and running in the defence of their Champions League title with a tight victory atainst Crvena Zvezda.
City were not at their clinical best but they managed to find a way to win thanks to the excellent Álvarez’s braze and Rodri’s 73rd-minute goal.
Manchester City had 37 shots in Tuesday’s match; the most by a club in a Champions League match since Real Madrid v Roma in March 2016 (also 37).
The UEFA Champions have now gone unbeaten in their last 27 home games in the Champions League (W25 D2) since a 1-2 loss to Lyon in September 2018.
This feat is the third longest run in the history of the competition, after Barcelona between September 2013 and November 2020 (38 games) and FC Bayern München between March 1998 and April 2002 (29 games).
Barcelona 5-0 Antwerp( Group H)
Van Bommel’s side started the match with an optimistic display of ball possession.
However, after just 10 minutes, Xavi’s men decided it was time to step on and show them how to play football, and what followed was a footballing masterclass from the Blaugrana, resulting in three straight goals.
The second half saw no reprieve for Antwerp as Barcelona effortlessly took over the control and extended their goals to five.
João Félix, the man of the match struck early, then assisted a goal for Lewandowski and also added a second of his own.
An own goal from Bataille contributed to the ruin and Barcelona’s youngster Gavi made a spot in the 5-0 victory.
Shakhtar Donetsk 1-3 FC Porto( Group H)
No goals in the second half as Porto already sealed their victory with three goals in the first half.
A brace from Galeno and one more from Taremi eclipsed Kelsy’s debut Champions League goal and won the Portuguese club an excellent start in this season’s Champions League tournament.
