The opening matchday of the 2025-26 Champions League was an eventful one for fans, as they witnessed some pulsating action on and off the football field. After the first round of matches, Eintracht Frankfurt, PSG, Club Brugge, Sporting, Union Saint-Gilloise, Bayern Munich, Arsenal, Inter Milan, Manchester City, Qarabag FK, Liverpool, Barcelona, Real Madrid, and Tottenham came away with maximum points.
Save for the goalless draw between Olympiacos and Pafos, almost all teams found themselves in the Champions League 2025 highlights reel for the right and wrong reasons. Fans at the Allianz Stadium (in particular) were in for a huge treat last Wednesday, as the match between Juventus and Borussia Dortmund featured eight goals. On the other hand, the 3-2 result between Liverpool and Atletico Madrid at Anfield was marred by an off-field incident.
Just in case you missed it, here is today’s SBOTOP recap of some of the notable happenings on opening day.
Juventus and Borussia Dortmund gave us a classic
Juventus and Borussia Dortmund drew 4-4 in Turin last Wednesday in a game that featured seven goal scorers from both sides. It is the seventh time in Champions League history that both teams have scored at least four times in a match.
Kenan Yildiz and Lloyd Kelly had one goal each for the hosts, while Dusan Vlahovic, whom the Old Lady tried to sell last offseason, bagged a brace. Karim Adeyemi, Felix Nmecha, Yan Couto, and Ramy Bensebaini scored for the Yellow Wall.
Adeyemi drew first blood in the 52nd minute with a left-footed shot from the edge of the box. 11 minutes later, Yildiz secured the equaliser on a shot into the top corner. Less than a minute later, Adeyemi teed up Nmecha, who scored another goal from outside the box. Yildiz replied with an assist of his own to Vlahovic in the 67th minute.
Couto’s goal in the 74th minute put BVB up 3-2, and Bensebaini scored at the 86th from the penalty spot after Kelly’s handball. Vlahovic scored off a Pierre Kalulu cross in the 94th minute before Kelly made amends with his 96th-minute equaliser.
There was some controversy on Borussia Dortmund’s end, as Serhou Guirassy took exception to Bensebaini’s penalty. Guirassy, being the team’s No. 9, attempted to take the ball but conceded after receiving instructions from head coach Niko Kovac and the interventions of Adeyemi and Julian Brandt. After the match, Kovac downplayed the altercation.
Spitgate mars Liverpool-Atletico Madrid match
Liverpool eked out a 3-2 win against Atletico Madrid at Anfield, as Virgil van Dijk scored a stoppage-time winner. Arne Slot’s side has now scored the winning goals in the 83rd minute or later in each of their last five games to start their season. On the other hand, a livid Diego Simeone was sent off by the referee in the aftermath.
All eyes were on Alexander Isak, who was on his Reds debut, but it was the veteran duo of Andy Robertson and Mohamed Salah who opened the scoring for Liverpool. Robertson and Salah had one goal apiece in the opening six minutes.
Marcos Llorente poked one in for Los Rojiblancos before halftime, and the La Liga side’s resilience was rewarded, as Llorente completed his brace in the 81st minute.
Against Bournemouth, it was Federico Chiesa. At Newcastle United, it was Rio Ngumoha. Dominik Szoboszlai did it against Arsenal, and Salah’s late penalty beat Burnley, and now we can add van Dijk’s towering header to the list.
UEFA will reportedly launch an investigation into the fracas that overshadowed Liverpool’s victory. Footage showed that Diego Simeone had a heated exchange with a Reds fan, and an Atletico Madrid member appeared to spit into the crowd.
Rashford had a coming-out party for Barcelona
Barcelona won 2-1 against Newcastle United last night, as Marcus Rashford lit up St. James’ Park. The Manchester United loanee bagged a brace in nine minutes in the second half, which was enough to win the game and the Man of the Match citation. Rashford also had 65 ball touches, two key passes, and four duels won.
He drew first blood in the 58th minute by getting on the end of Jules Kounde’s cross to head the ball past Nick Pope’s hands. This was Rashford’s first Champions League goal in almost four years. Nine minutes later, Rashford fired a volley from outside the box, and the ball first hit the crossbar before going into the net.
According to the Champions League 2025 odds, Barcelona are one of the favourites to win this year’s tournament, more so if Rashford has games like last night.
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