Champions League is back and Lazio goalkeeper Ivan Provedel stole the show with a goal in the 95th minute of play against Atletico Madrid to rescue a 1-1 draw. It was a game that Atletico thought was in control until Provedel placed an excellent header past Jan Oblak in stoppage time. Elsewhere, Manchester City also pulled back a victory after going into the half behind by a goal to Crvena zvezda but the heroics of a Julian Alvarez brace turned the tide.
Paris Saint-Germain also pulled away with two goals after halftime to sink Borussia Dortmund and a Joao Felix brace pushed Barcelona to a 5-0 victory over Royal Antwerp in their first Champions League group stage appearance. Another team who has had a long absence from the completion is Feyenoord who saw Celtic go down to nine men, Joe Hart save a penalty and even that wasn't enough to stop the Dutch side from winning 2-0.
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Ivan Provedel, Lazio's keeper, was able to become only the second goalkeeper to score from open play in Champions League history. It's an important point for the Italian side but Atletico Madrid will have thought they had that one wrapped up. Coming up he was able to drive Luis Alberto's chance into the back of the net for the leveler.
It is all over in Paris and the French champions claim an opening victory over their German rivals to seize early control of Group F after Milan and Newcastle drew. Kylian Mbappe and Achraf Hakimi's second half goals were enough for Luis Enrique's side to run out 2-0 winners and Vitinha as well as substitute Goncalo Ramos could have made it more on a convincing night from the hosts. PSG controlled Dortmund for most of the game after getting to grips with the Bundesliga side and their stylistic rebuild from this summer continues to show clear signs of coming to fruition on the field.
So far everything Felix has touched has turned into a goal so ascribing "Liquid Luck" to him seems to be quite appropriate. With only three appearances to Barcelona to his name, he has now scored three goals as Barca are ahead 5-0 against Royal Antwerp. It's important to remember that the potion has a time-limit, so how long will Felix keep it going for?
But Joe Hart comes up big making a penalty save on Paixao's take. Even at 36, Hart is showing that he can still come up in big moments but even that may not be enough with Gustaf Lagerbielke being dismissed after his rash challenge. With 13 mintues remaining Feyenoord will want to add to their lead.
No one has really got carried away by Julian Alvarez since he arrived in England but he may well have his fourth goal of the season. I say may well because after a brilliant finish early in the second to draw City level he has bent a free kick towards but just wide of the far post, where Glazer punches the ball. It's a horrible nick he gets on it, however, sending the ball flying into his own net. For now UEFA are crediting it as an Alvarez goal rather than an own goal, something that will probably be popular with all parties.
What a fine goal that was. Hakimi and Vitinha with a lovely exchange to work the ball into the box before the Moroccan's clever footwork enabled him to poke home against his former club. Brilliant goal and one that PSG have very much been looking for in all of their intricate build-up play so far. Ideal start to the second half from the hosts who could now go on to grab a few as the seek to exploit the draw between Milan and Newcastle earlier.
Kylian Mbappe converts a penalty right out of the gate for PSG while Julan Alvarez scores for Manchester City and everything is closer to how it should be as second halves get underway. City are still only level but it feels like a matter of time until they add another goal to their tally. They had the ball in the back of the net again but the flag was raised.
Kylian Mbappe converts from the penalty to give the French champions the lead minutes into the second half. The second 45 has started as the first ended with a Parisien penalty shout, but this time it was confirmed by VAR and PSG have a not undeserved lead at Parc des Princes. Can Luis Enrique's men build on it, or will Dortmund hit back?
While Milan took 23 shots in the entire game, City have taken 22 in one half but still trail heading into the break. Adjustments won't be needed immediately as when a team shoots that much it feels inevitable that they'll score, but if it gets past 60 minutes with Red Star leading, things may get dicey.
James may have pointed out how Celtic got off to a good start to the match but deep into stoppage time, Feyenoord has found a breakthrough with a stunning free kick. It's their first UCL goal in almost six years and Calvin Stengs scored it in impressive fashion to provide the 1-0 lead to the Dutch side. Depending on how Group E goes, these teams have a shot to make the knockout stage so this is a critical goal.
To be fair to him, Pep Guardiola knew something was up for the holders. That's why he took Bernardo Silva off, bringing on Jeremy Doku. Immediately the game opened up but in favor of Crvena zvezda, who are only still in this game thanks to heroics from goalkeeper Glazer. Up the other end however they get half an opening when a goal kick bounces around half way. Osman Bukari burst in behind, rolling the ball past Ederson.
The flag goes up and on first viewing it does look like he went too soon. The VAR check says otherwise however and Manchester City, treble winning European conquerors, go into the break trailing.
VAR has ruled out a potential penalty for PSG through handball. The hosts are pressing most of late, but this has been impressively solid from Dortmund -- so far. Vitinha hitting the post is still the closest either side has come, but it has opened up a bit of late. Will we get a goal before half time? Possibly not, but it has been an entertaining opening 45 despite the lack of goals for now at Parc des Princes.
Just how you drew it up Feyenoord vs. Celtic, Manchester City vs. Red Star, and PSG vs. Dortmund are all scoreless at the 30 minute mark. Erling Haaland has come close to scoring for City but in a few matches that could go either way, things will need to pick up before long. PSG have taken 10 shots but so far none of them have been on target.
Twenty two minutes gone in Montjuic and it really is a quite brutal return to European football for Antwerp, who trail by three to Barcelona. It's one thing being ripped to shreds in such brilliant fashion as they were for the second, Frenkie De Jong's beautiful pass and a dainty clip from Joao Felix teeing up Robert Lewandowski. That's the sort of goal few teams in Europe could stop.
If you were inclined to think this is just destined to be a rough night for Antwerp though, the third goal would make for pretty good supporting evidence. Raphinha looks to hang the ball up towards the back post but Bataille gets a boot on it, enough to nick the ball past his goalkeeper and into the net. This is going to be a long night for the Belgian champions. Perhaps leaving Sam Vines out of the squad was an act of mercy.
It may be early but Barcelona's not missing Ousmane Dembele after Felix has hit the ground running with a UCL goal. It didn't take long for Lewandowski to follow him either with Barcelona ahead 3-0 in only the 23rd minute with the entire front three hitting the back of the net. Last season, Barcelona crashed out of Champions League because their attack couldn't keep up with the defense but while they're only playing Antwerp right now, the attack is humming on all cylinders.
It's probably not the match you thought you wanted to tune into, but 15 minutes in the game is out of control with the visiting Porto side ahead 2-1. The game is being played in Hamburg because Shakhtar can't host games in Ukraine given the country is at war with the invading Russia. For more on Shakhtar's plight you can check out the docuemntary series Football Must Go On on Paramount+. Until then, enjoy the goals
Taking a second look at Milan vs. Newcastle, while shot advantages don't always tell the full story of a match, in some cases, they do. Milan outshot Newcastle 25 to six, putting nine shots on target in comparison to Newcastle's one. Magpie striker Alexander Isak didn't take a single shot in the match, while Newcastle couldn't get a foot on the ball.
There are already concerns about if Newcastle can measure up to teams on the big stage and while this match isn't enough to push the panic button, concern is growing. Only so much can be taken from a match during which there weren't any goals but you can't allow 25 shots while expecting to win a match.
It has been lively at Parc des Princes so far without a goal being scored. Both sets of fans are in fine voice and each side has had a few interesting scenarios without enjoying a clear cut chance. PSG's attack sees Kylian Mbappe and Ousmane Dembele joined by Randal Kolo Muani for a full home debut while Dortmund are looking mainly to Julian Brandt, Donyell Malen and Karim Adeyemi. First real chance sees Gianluigi Donnarumma make a solid block and you could say that the Germans are edging it so far although Marcel Sabitzer was forced off injured. That said, Vitinha has just hit the post for Les Parisiens who are passing it around nicely!
I was delighted to see that none of my fellow writers were all that sold on the prospect of Scotland's champions escaping from Group E ahead of Lazio and Feyenoord. Five minutes in -- and that's probably not quite enough to make any definitive calls -- I wonder if they're all beginning to see the error of their ways. Brendan Rodgers' side have brought the energy to De Kuip, their press asking all sorts of questions of Feyenoord on a pitch damp enough to keep the ball from fizzing around. Luis Palma in particular looks a livewire in his first start since joining from Aris in Greece. We're getting some handsome football from the boys in green. Just as I knew we would.
Hopefully, the late slate of matches can bring the goals.
It's a full debut for Matheus Nunes as Bernardo Silva will move to the wing while Guardiola compensates for injuries to Grelish, Stones, De Bruyne, and Kovacic
Manchester City: Ederson, Walker, Dias, Ake, Gomez, Rodri, Nunes, Silva, Alvarez, Foden, Haaland
Red Star: Glazer, Rodic, Dragovic, Djiga, Mijailovic, Stamenic, Hwang, Mitrovic, Ivanic, Bukari, Ndiaye
Randal Kolo Muani starts in the middle to give PSG additional firepower in a match that can help them take control of the group after Milan's draw with Newcastle United.
PSG: Donnarumma, Hakimi, Marquinhos, Skrinar, Hernandez, Zaire-Emery, Ugarte, Vitinha, Dembele, Muani, Mbappe
Dortmund: Kobel, Schlotterbeck, Hummels, Sule, Ryerson, Brandt, Can, Sabitzer, Wolf, Adeyemi, Malen
While Madrid are the stronger side, injuries all around could make this an interesting match in an away trip to Italy.
Lazio: Provedel, Marusic, Patric, Romagnoli, Pellegrini, Kamada, Vecino, Alberto, Anderson, Immoble, Zaccagni
Atletico: Oblak, Lino, Hermerso, Savic, Molina, Niguez, Barrios, Llorente, Morata, Griezmann
AC Milan should have won this opening game at San Siro, but after many chances missed the Rossoneri failed to score and the game ended 0-0 in Milan.
While Gimenez is suspended, it's still a strong lineup for Feyenoord as Celtic will play without American center back Cameron Carter-VIckers.
Feyenoord: Wellenreuther, Geertruida, Trauner, Hancko, Hartman, Stengs, Wieffer, Timber, Minteh, Ivanusec, Pixao
Celtic: Hart, Taylor, Scales, Lagerbielke, Johnston, Hatate, McGregor, O'Riley, Maeda, Furuhashi, Palma
It took a while but Xavier Schlager found the back of the net to hopefully end the German side's worries in the clash. Young Boys have been dangerous in the match but Lepzig's talent has pushed through.
AC Milan goalkeeper Mike Maignan injured himself and his forced to a change with Marco Sportiello replacing him.
AC Milan went close to score the opener with Rafael Leao, whose header went outside. The home team deserves to score at least one now...
Joao Felix starts for Barca while Joao Cancelo is also in the lineup in an XI that could overwhelm Royal Antwerp
Barcelona: Ter Stegen, Balde, Christensen, Kounde, Cancelo, Gavi, de Jong, Gundogan, Joao Felix, Lewandowski, Raphinha
Antwerp: Butez, Wijndal, Alderweireld, Coulibaly, Bataille, Keita, Vermeeren, Muja, Ekkelenkamp, Balikwisha, Janssen
Stefano Pioli makes two changes as American international Christian Pulisic makes his Champions League debut with his new club alongside Reijnders, who replaced Pobega and Chukwueze. The Nigerian didn't make the impact that Pioli hoped and this is why Pulisic is now called to make the difference in the last 30 minutes of the game against Newcastle. The American winger plays on the right winger of the attacking line, alongside Leao and Giroud. Few minutes later, Yunus Musah makes his Champions League debut to replace Ruben Loftus-Cheek who went down injured.
Pulisic got off to a quick start in Milan scoring goals in both of his first two matches, however, in the disaster over the weekend for AC Milan when they lost to their rivals Inter 5-1, Pulisic was hooked before the hour mark, and then didn't start today. This is a chance for him to make a decisive difference and earn his place in the starting lineup back.
