Champions League Recap: Real Madrid Lose, Aston Villa Beat Bayern and Juventus Come From Behind
Several European giants faced surprising results in a dramatic night of Champions League action. Real Madrid suffered a shock defeat, while Aston Villa secured a remarkable victory over Bayern Munich, and Juventus mounted an impressive comeback against RB Leipzig.
Aston Villa 1-0 Bayern Munich
Aston Villa celebrated a historic repeat of their iconic European Cup final triumph by defeating Bayern Munich 1-0 in a Champions League clash at Villa Park. Jhon Duran once again played the hero, netting the decisive goal in the 79th minute to seal Aston Villa’s 1-0 victory. The strike marked his fifth goal as a substitute this season, continuing his impressive role as a super sub.
Unai Emery’s men successfully held on to secure their second win in as many games during their first-ever Champions League campaign, delivering their finest European performance since their glory days in the early 1980s.
LOSC 1-0 Real Madrid
French club Lille shocked the reigning champions, Real Madrid, with a 1-0 victory at home in their Champions League group stage clash. This defeat snapped Madrid’s remarkable 36-match unbeaten run across all competitions. Lille came close to opening the scoring after 26 minutes when Andriy Lunin made an incredible double save, first blocking Jonathan David’s header and then stopping his follow-up attempt.
The hosts eventually broke through in stoppage time, as Eduardo Camavinga was penalized for handling Edon Zhegrova’s free-kick. After a VAR review, David calmly converted the penalty which resulted in Lille taking the lead. Lille managed to hold off pressure in the second half to hand Real Madrid a shock European defeat.
Liverpool 2-0 Bologna
Liverpool continued their strong start in the revamped Champions League format with a comfortable 2-0 victory over Bologna at Anfield, thanks to first-half and second-half goals from Alexis Mac Allister and Mohamed Salah. With this win, Arne Slot became the first Liverpool manager to win his first 8 of his 9 matches as a new manager.
The victory lifts Liverpool to fifth in the Champions League standings, while Bologna drops to 26th. The Reds will next face RB Leipzig in an away fixture on October 23 as they continue their European campaign.
Benfica 4-0 Atletico Madrid
Benfica delivered a dominant 4-0 performance against Atletico Madrid in the Champions League on Wednesday, with goals from Kerem Akturkoglu, Angel Di Maria, Alexander Bah, and Orkun Kokcu, securing their second consecutive win in the tournament. The host’s victory marked their joint-largest margin of victory in a home Champions League match, previously achieved with a 5-1 win over Club Brugge in March 2023.
RB Leipzig 2-3 Juventus
Ten-man Juventus staged a remarkable comeback against RB Leipzig, winning 3-2 on Wednesday, with Francisco Conceicao netting the decisive goal in the 83rd minute. Juve found themselves down to ten men just before the hour mark when goalkeeper Michele Di Gregorio received a red card for handling the ball outside the penalty area.
Benjamin Sesko gave Leipzig the lead for the second time by converting a penalty, marking his third European goal of the season after Dusan Vlahovic had equalized for Juve. However, just three minutes later, Vlahovic responded brilliantly with a left-footed shot that curled into the top corner, leveling the score at 2-2 for Juventus.
The Old Lady completed the turnaround when Conceicao finished brilliantly to break the hearts of home support and hand Juve their second win of the campaign.
SK Sturm Graz 0-1 Club Brugge
Christos Tzolis’s goal secured a 1-0 for Club Brugge against Sturm Graz in the Champions League group stage. The Greek forward scored the only goal of the match in the 23rd minute, expertly placing a powerful shot into the far corner off the post from the edge of the area after controlling the ball with a deft touch.
This victory was a crucial boost for the Belgian side, who dominated the match after recovering from their initial loss to Borussia Dortmund.
Shakhtar Donetsk 0-3 Atalanta
Atalanta achieved their first victory of the Champions League season with a convincing 3-0 win against Shakhtar Donetsk. Goals from Ademola Lookman, Berat Djimsiti, and Raoul Bellanova helped secure the triumph for Gian Piero Gasperini’s side at VELTINS-Arena.
Shakhtar faced significant difficulties throughout the match, failing to register a single shot on target. This marked the first time since their encounter with Roma in March 2018 that they experienced such a shot-drought in a Champions League match, and it was also the first occurrence of this at home.
Dinamo Zagreb 2-2 Monaco
Monaco staged a remarkable comeback to secure a 2-2 draw against Dinamo Zagreb at the rain-soaked Stadion Maksimir, with Denis Zakaria converting a penalty in the 89th minute to equalize. Petar Sucic gave Dinamo the lead with a superb chipped finish just before halftime, and he doubled their advantage in the 66th minute when Martin Baturina struck powerfully from long range.
However, Mohammed Salisu scored with a header from a corner in the 74th minute, igniting a strong response from Monaco, which led to Maxime Bernauer committing a foul on Folarin Balogun and conceding a penalty in the 89th minute. Zakaria’s successful conversion allowed Monaco to secure four points in the group, following their initial victory against Barcelona in the opening match.
Girona 2-3 Feyenoord
Girona suffered a 3-2 defeat at home against Feyenoord in an exhilarating match that featured missed penalties from both sides and two own goals. Lopez gave Girona the lead in the first half, but the momentum shifted when Yangel Herrera inadvertently scored an own goal, followed by a goal from teenager Antoni Milambo, putting Feyenoord ahead.
Both teams missed penalties, Ayase Ueda for Feyenoord and Bojan Miovski for Girona, before Donny van de Beek, a former Ajax midfielder, equalized for the home side at 2-2.
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Mohd Faisal Hakak is a sports author from Kashmir. He likes to keep tabs on the sporting world with a keen interest in football, motorsports, NBA, and other marquee sports. He is a science graduate from Islamia College Srinagar.
