Kylian Mbappe of Real Madrid, on the left, celebrates after scoring the first goal of his party during the football match to open the Champions League between Real Madrid and Marseille (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez) Real Madrid launched the Champions League campaign with a close victory of 2-1 over Marseille in Santiago Bernabeu, although he played a closing phase with 10 men. Marseille stunned the home crowd when Timothy Weah put them before the first half. He actually equalized before the interval when Mbappe transferred the punishment after Rodrygo was contaminated in the box. The home side faced other problems in the second half. Trent Alexander-Arnold was injured and Dani Carvajal was sent after a VAR review for his head to the goalkeeper Marseille Geronimo Ruli. Even the IS ten men held Real Madrid thanks to another MBAPPE punishment after Facendo Medina was punished for handball. Mbappe, who has achieved 50 goals for the club, said, “For me it’s a punishment, but I understand that there are people who don’t. We are all lost with this rule.” Arsenal followed a strong victory of 2-0 against Athletic Bilbao. Gabriel Martinelli and Leandro Trossard, both substitutes, scored late in the game. Martinelli passed to open scoring in the 72 minute and trossard closed the victory with a diverted blow. “We started to grow throughout the game. In the second half we were smoother, dominant, and the finishers had an impact on winning the game,” coach Mikel Artta said. It was an ideal beginning for Arsenal, which lost with possible champions of Paris Saint-Germain in the semifinals last season. Tottenham Hotspur lined Villarreal 1-0 in northern London, while the match decided Farric’s own goal from Villarreal goalkeeper Luiz Junior. The cross of Lucas Bergvall ran into the net and gave Spurs victory. “It was a very uniform game we have just been limited,” said manager Thomas Frank, when Tottenham continued his strong form under the new leadership. Juventus and Borussia Dortmund released one of the most amazing games of the night and completed 4-4 in Turin. After the first half of Goalesles, Karim Adeyemi gave Dortmund ahead, but Kenan Yildiz soon equalized. The leadership changed their hands several times, with Felix NMECH, Dusan Vlahovice, Yan Couto, Ramy Bensebaini and late goals from Vlahovice and Lloyd Kelly, making him a roller coaster of the match. In Lisbon, Benfica seemed to float against Qarabag, led 2-0 early through Enzo Barreneche and Vangelis Pavlidis. But Qarabag fought with Leandro Andrade, Camilo Duran and Oleksiy Kashchuk to win 3-2-Jichich the first ever masters victory. Union Saint-Gillis also created a history with a victory of 3-1 in PSV Eindhoven. The promise of David, Ana Ait El Hadj and Kevin Mac Allister scored on the Belgian side, while Ruben van Bommel pulled one back for PSV. The opening night of the Champions League combined drama, historical victory and late drama and set up a thrilling group scene throughout Europe.
