Real Madrid suffered, but won, as (almost) always in the Champions League, at home against Stuttgart this Tuesday (3-1). At home, the Madrilenians launched their new-style Champions League campaign, with a match that reflected their start to the season. The style was not there, the victory was. At the same time, Liverpool largely dominated AC Milan at San Siro by the same score.
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For its first appearance in this brand new Champions League, Real Madrid played it the old way. Since it’s in old pots that we make the best jam, the 15-time European champion club used its already well-known recipes to win against Stuttgart this Tuesday, at home, in this first day of C1. Kylian Mbappé’s teammates suffered at first, then missed opportunities in a completely open match, in which we had the impression for a long time that both teams could win. But in the end, it was Carlo Ancelotti and the Madrilenians who won.
Thibaut Courtois held the fort for a long time against a German team that came to play their luck boldly under the roof of a brand new Santiago Bernabéu, closed for the occasion, while the weather was superb on this mild Spanish evening. The Belgian first imposed himself on a tight angle shot from Jamie Leweling (2nd), after a poor clearance from the defense. Then he shone again by keeping out of his goal a beautiful curling shot from Enzo Millot (8th), before following up with a firm hand one-on-one with Angelo Stiller (16th), at the end of a superb move from Stuttgart. The Real goalkeeper even benefited from a good dose of luck, since he saw Deniz Undav’s shot, blocked by Carvajal, crash against his crossbar (28th), while he was beaten.
Mbappé, evening of premieres
At the same time, Real Madrid, through the explosive trio of Mbappé-Rodrygo-Vinicius, still wasted a few shots. The fault lay with a courageous, if not disciplined, Stuttgart defense and a bit of clumsiness in the box. Except that after half-time, there was no clumsiness. After a handful of seconds, Rodrygo took advantage of yet another error by the German defense to overflow down the right side and calmly serve Mbappé, alone in front of the empty goal (46th). The Bernabéu was finally able to chant the name of its new favorite on a Champions League evening. Vinicius then tried to imitate him (58th), but only found the crossbar with a left-footed shot from the edge of the box.
Deniz Undav tried to spoil the party, finally scoring the goal that was hanging over Real Madrid’s nose, by leaving huge gaps in his defense. Found alone in the world at the far post, on a pass from Leweling, he had plenty of time to line up Courtois (68th). Except that, as expected, a Madrid player came out of his box. A devil named Rüdiger, who imposed himself with a header from a corner to make it 2-1 (83rd). A scenario that now seems like a prophecy when it comes to Real Madrid, especially when the opponent does not take advantage of an evening in which the Spaniards are approachable. And as a punishment, the very young Brazilian Endrick came to make the score 3-1 in added time.
Liverpool dominate AC Milan
Even though AC Milan opened the scoring very quickly through Christian Pulisic (3rd) on home turf, with a clear cross shot into the side netting, it was Liverpool who dominated this game after increasing their power. Ibrahima Konaté took advantage of a corner and a poor aerial exit from his French team-mate Mike Maignan to equalise for the Reds (23rd). And it was from another corner, where this time Maignan hesitated to come out, that Virgil van Dijk gave his team the lead with a header (42nd).
Proof that Milan were struggling before the break, Mohamed Salah, who greatly hampered the opposing defense, hit the crossbar twice. In the second half, the logic of the match was respected and Liverpool, still dominant, widened the gap through Dominik Szoboszlai (67th).
Bayern shuddered and then crushed Dinamo Zagreb
Bayern Munich got off to a perfect start in this new Champions League format by sweeping Dinamo Zagreb 9-2 on Tuesday night at the Allianz Arena. For the European debut of Belgian Vincent Kompany on the Bayern Munich bench, the Bavarians offered an offensive festival with a quadruple from Harry Kane (19th, 57th, 73rd, 78th), a double from French recruit Michael Olise (38th, 61st) and goals from Raphaël Guerreiro (33rd), Leroy Sané (85th) and Leon Goretzka (90th+2).
All results
Juventus Turin 3-1 PSV Eindhoven
Young Boys Bern 0-3 Aston Villa
AC Milan 1-3 Liverpool
Real Madrid 3-1 Stuttgart
Bayern Munich Dinamo 8-2 Zagreb
Sporting Club Portugal 2-0 Lille