Pundit Arena Because Sport Is Everything
The second half of the Matchweek 1 of the Champions League took place tonight, as the likes or Real Madrid, Juventus and Borussia Dortmund were all in action.
The Group C fixture between Manchester City and Borussia Mönchengladbach finally took place having been rained off 24 hours earlier. A Sergio Aguero hat-tick ended the tie as a contest before Kelechi Iheanacho added to his derby goal at the weekend by adding a late fourth.
That Gladbach keeper Yann Sommer was probably still man of the match despite his side losing 4-0 speaks volumes.
In Group E, Tottenham endured a night to forget as they went down 2-1 to Monaco at Wembley.
Elsewhere, Bayer Leverkusen somehow let a 2-0 lead slip at home to CSKA Moscow. Goals from Admir Mehmedi and Hakan Calhanoglu had the Bundesliga side firmly in control after fifteen minutes, but two goals in three minutes from Alan Dzagoev and Roman Eremenko brought CSKA back into the game.
The game finished 2-2, and Leverkusen will definitely feel that they have dropped two points.
In Group F, Borussia Dortmund went one better than Bundesliga rivals Bayern Munich last night by beating Legia Warsaw 6-0 in Poland. An opening goal from Mario Götze, hos first since returning to the club, set Thomas Tuchel’s side well on their way to victory.
The game had six different goalscorers, as Sokratis Papastathopoulos, Marc Bartra, Raphael Guerreiro, Gonzalo Castro and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang all found the net in a comprehensive victory.
In the group’s other game, Real Madrid looked like heading for defeat at the Bernabéu as Bruno Cesar had Sporting ahead with a goal just after half time. However, a late (and rare) free-kick goal from Cristiano Ronaldo drew Real level, before substitute Álvaro Morata broke Sporting hearts with a winner deep into injury time.
Real got their 2-1 win but looked far from convincing.
In Group G, Leicester got their Champions League campaign off to the best possible start, recording an impressive 3-0 win away to Belgian side Club Brugge.
In the other game in the group, FC Porto could only manage a 1-1 draw at home to FC Copenhagen. Otavio put the home side ahead within the first fifteen minutes, only for former Cardiff striker Andreas Cornelius to equalise early in the second half.
Finally to Group H, where Juventus, with €90m striker Gonzalo Hiaguaín leading the line, drew 0-0 with Europe League champions Sevilla. Higuaín hit the bar in the second half but this is a match that Max Allegri will feel his side should have won.
Lyon had a much easier time of it in the group’s other game, running out 3-0 winners at home to Dinamo Zagreb. Corentin Tolisso, Jordan Ferri and Gnaly Maxwell Cornet all got on the scoresheet as the French side had a comfortable evening.
