Real Madrid, Man City register wins as Champions League returns

Kylian Mbappe and Erling Haaland both found the net in the Champions League as Real Madrid and Manchester City kicked off their campaigns with wins yesterday.

Mbappe gave record 15-time champions Madrid an early lead en route to 2-1 victory over Inter Milan at the Santiago Bernabeu.

Haaland scored both goals as 2023 winners City beat Porto 2-0.

Madrid and City are expected to be among the main challengers to back-to-back defending champions Paris Saint-Germain this season and both will be relying on their star strikers.

Mbappe’s goal after 14 minutes was his 71st in European club football’s top competition and saw him move level with Madrid great Raul in fifth place on the all-time scorers list. Haaland took his tally to 59 in 59 appearances in the Champions League.

Borussia Dortmund beat Villarreal 3-2, and Real Betis won by the same score at Lille.

Aston Villa also won 3-2 over Club Brugge, and AEK Athens sealed a 1-0 win over LASK.

CLASSIC MOURINHO

Jose Mourinho made a winning return to the Champions League with Madrid despite Inter dominating possession.

It was a classic Mourinho performance as Madrid capitalised on two first-half errors by the visitors.

When Inter lost possession deep in their own half Brahim Diaz slid in Mbappe, who fired low past Josep Martinez.

The Inter goalkeeper was then guilty of indecision when Federico Valverde closed him down in his own area and poked the ball into an empty net.

Inter, who ended the game with 61 per cent possession, set up a tense finish when Carlos Augusto scored in the 77th.

“There’s so much criticism when a game is boring, but today it was crazy — it could easily have ended 7-6,” Mourinho told broadcaster Movistar.

Mourinho won his second Champions League title with Inter in 2010 and is aiming to join the likes of Pep Guardiola, Luis Enrique and Zinedine Zidane by lifting the trophy for a third time.

UNSTOPPABLE HAALAND

With five goals in his last three games, Haaland is on fire. And it could have been even more if not for Porto goalkeeper Diogo Costa’s first-half heroics.

Haaland eventually found the breakthrough at Estadio do Dragao with a header two minutes into the second half. He side-footed City’s second in stoppage time to make certain of the win and ensure new coach Enzo Maresca’s 100 per cent start continued.

“We have to learn. Enzo demands a lot from us and we have to demand a lot from each other,” Haaland told Amazon Prime. “We have to win games because at Man City, you have to win trophies. That’s what we have to do at this club.”

ASTON VILLA WIN

Aston Villa put their domestic problems behind with a win over Club Brugge.

Victory in Belgium ended Villa’s winless and goalless start to their 2026-27 season, after early struggles in the Premier League.

John McGinn recorded the first goal of the Champions League campaign with a sweeping low shot from an angle in the 11th minute. Hugo Vetlesen equalised for Brugge, but Emiliano Buendia and Nicolas Jackson put Villa 3-1 up by the break.

Nicolo Tresoldi scored for the home team with a 61st-minute penalty, but Villa held on for the win.

DORTMUND’S KARETSAS

Borussia Dortmund teenager Konstantinos Karetsas was taken to the hospital after slumping to the turf 25 minutes into his Champions League debut.