Champions League Night Recap: Benfica Start with Win, Barcelona Suffers First Defeat of Flick Era – Champions League

Champions League Night Recap: Benfica Start with Win, Barcelona Suffers First Defeat of Flick Era – Champions League

Benfica made their Champions League debut today with a win in Serbia, giving the Portuguese side a 100% winning start in a first round that ended with an unexpected defeat for Barcelona.

The Reds travelled to Belgrade to beat Red Star 2-1, continuing coach Bruno Lage's triumphant return, while Barcelona, ​​despite Yamal's first goal in the competition, ended up losing in Monaco (2-1).

Arsenal went to Bergamo to draw with Atalanta, with goalkeeper Raya the London side's 'hero', and Atletico Madrid needed extra time to beat Leipzig (2-1) in the Spanish capital.

Also worth mentioning is Bayer Leverkusen, who celebrated their return to the “champions” with a big win in Rotterdam against Feyenoord (4-0), in the “Festival” of Wirtz.

Facing the always “dangerous” Rajko Mitic, in Belgrade, Benfica ended up surviving and, with an excellent first half, managed to solve the problem thanks to a Turkish duo of Aktürkoğlu (09 min) and Küçükçü (29).

Angolan Milson pulled one back for the Serbian champions in the 86th minute, but Lage added a second win on his return as Reds coach, following a 4-1 win over Santa Clara in the first division.

Thus Portuguese football begins the new “Champions” regime in a triumphant manner, after Sporting beat Lille, at the Alvalade, 2-0 on Tuesday.

Barcelona had their first negative night under German coach Hansi Flick, who started the Spanish league with only wins in five matches.

At Luis II, Eric Garcia, in the 11th minute, saw a direct red card for the Catalans, and at Akliuş, in the 16th minute, he gave Monaco the advantage. Yamal, who scored his first ever goal in the competition, restored parity at the age of 28, but Ilinikhina, at 71, decided the match for the home team.

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In Italy, the legendary Portuguese goalkeeper Rui Patricio was a substitute for Atalanta and watched his Spanish teammate Raya decide the game, but in the Arsenal goal. The Spaniard saved a penalty kick taken by Retegui in the 51st minute and did the near impossible by stopping the rebound, while Atalanta were already celebrating the goal.

The tie remained until the end, in a new English disappointment match, after Manchester City won 0-0 over its guest, Inter Milan.

In Madrid, Andre Silva watched from the bench as Leipzig were beaten, even though they were winning, with a goal from Dzeko, after just four minutes, but ended up allowing the home team to come back.

The Frenchman Griezmann restored the equaliser in the 28th minute, and in the 90th minute he passed a decisive pass to the Uruguayan Jimenez, leading the Wanda Metropolitano to “madness”.

After a great season in 2024/25, Xabi Alonso's Bayer Leverkusen returned to the 'champions' with a warning to their rivals, making it clear that they want to enter the battle for the title, by beating Feyenoord in the Netherlands.

Everything was resolved in the first half, with a great goal from Wirtz, in the 5th and 26th minute, who, in addition to the “win”, gave a great performance. Grimaldo, a former Benfica player, also scored at the age of 30, and Timon Wellenreuther scored an own goal, unfortunately also in the count.

Brest, the newcomers to the Champions League, started their campaign with a 2-1 win over their guest Sturm Graz. Senegalese Sima scored in the 56th minute to give the French a historic win.

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By Melody Gross

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