Two of Europe’s top sides met on Wednesday with the hosts taking the full three points in Paris.
Paris Saint-Germain rolled in Group A play at the Parc Des Princes, downing Real Madrid 3-0. Despite being without the likes of Kylian Mbappe, Neymar, and Edinson Cavani, PSG comfortably downed their La Liga opponents.
Angel Di Maria broke the deadlock against his former club in the 14th minute, poking a Juan Bernat pass past Thibaut Courtois and into the bottom corner. It was Di Maria’s third goal in all competitions this season.
Di Maria continued his strong performance as he added to PSG’s first-half lead in the 33rd minute. Idrissa Gueye set up the Argentine who needed one touch before rifling a shot past Courtois for a second time.
Video review ruled out a possible goal from Gareth Bale two minutes later, as the Welshman used his arm to control a pass before scoring.
Los Blancos continued to struggle in the second-half and PSG put them out of their misery in stoppage time. Bernat and Thomas Meunier linked up and the right back slotted home to ice the scoreline at 3-0.
PSG travels to Galatasaray on Matchday 2 in October, while Real Madrid hosts Club Brugge.
Atletico Madrid 2 – Juventus 2
Two familiar foes met up at the Wando Metropolitano on Wednesday with Atletico Madrid fighting back for a 2-2 draw against Juventus.
After a scoreless opening half in Madrid, Juventus scored a pair of goals over a 17-minute span to take a two-goal advantage. Juan Cuadrado’s opener came three minutes into the second stanza as the Colombian capped off a fast break by the Old Lady.
Blaise Matuidi headed in Alex Sandro’s cross in the 65th minute to double the Serie A side’s lead, but Atletico did not collapse on the night.
Stefan Savic pulled a goal back in the 70th minute, heading home from a set piece play for Diego Simeone’s men. Hector Herrera earned his side a point in the final minutes, heading in Kieran Trippier’s cross to end the match at 2-2.
Cristiano Ronaldo almost played the hero in stoppage time, but the Portuguese winger’s missile missed the bottom-right corner.
Juventus hosts Bayer Leverkusen on Matchday 2, while Atletico travels to Lokomotiv Moscow.
Olympiakos 2 – Tottenham 2
Olympiakos fought back from a one goal halftime deficit in Greece to tie Tottenham 2-2 at the Georgios Karaiskakis Stadium.
Harry Kane and Lucas Moura scored four minutes apart in the first-half to give the London club an early cushion in Piraeus. Kane drew a foul in the 26th minute and scored from the penalty spot to give Spurs a lead. Moura’s long-range shot in the 30th minute doubled Spurs’ advantage heading into the interval.
Daniel Pondence pulled a goal back before halftime for Olympiakos, beating Hugo Lloris to the bottom-left corner.
Mathieu Valbuena was fouled by Jan Vertonghen in the 52nd minute and the Frenchman leveled the match from the penalty spot shortly after.
Erik Lamela’s late effort was denied by Jose Sa to earn the Greeks a share of the points at home.
Olympiakos travels to Red Star Belgrade on Matchday 2, while Tottenham hosts Bayern Munich.
Here’s a full scoreboard of Wednesday’s action:
Club Brugge 0 – Galatasaray 0
Olympiakos 2 – Tottenham 2
PSG 3 – Real Madrid 0
Bayern Munich 3 – Red Star Belgrade 0
Shakhtar Donetsk 0 – Manchester City 3
Dinamo Zagreb 4 – Atalanta 0
Atletico Madrid 2 – Juventus 2
Bayer Leverkusen 1 – Lokomotiv Moscow 2
That Juan Guardado goal celebration was Stanky leg mixed with Cat Daddy
(Juan Cuadrado. Andrés Guardado is another guy.)
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But the goal was nice, wasn’t it? Worth some kind of celebration.
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Of the Colombians in the spotlight, Cuadrado certainly had a better day than James Rodríguez, who seemed shaken in his postgame interview. The Univisión commentators were hard on him in the studio, pointing out that he’s no replacement for Modric. But he was once so promising …
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Question for the experts: Why is it that the game no longer seems able to find a place for players like James or, say, Mesut Özil who are clearly very skilled, but mainly at offense and mainly only if others up front can and will work with them in the give and go? What can coaches or teammates do to bring more out of them?
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