Barca, Man City and PSG start Champions League with wins

1 / 2
Barcelona's Joao Felix, right, scores his side's fifth goal during the Champions League Group H soccer match between Barcelona and Royal Antwerp at the Olympic Stadium of Montjuic in Barcelona Tuesday. (AP)
2 / 2
Paris Saint-Germain's French forward Kylian Mbappe shoots and scores a penalty kick during the UEFA Champions League 1st round Group F match between Paris Saint-Germain and Borussia Dortmund at the Parc des Princes stadium in Paris on Tuesday. (AFP)
Short Url
Updated 20 September 2023
Follow

Barca, Man City and PSG start Champions League with wins

  • Manchester City started their title defense by coming from behind to beat Red Star Belgrade 3-1 at home
  • In the wildest celebrations of the night Lazio goalkeeper Ivan Provedel headed in the equalizer in the fifth minute of injury time to earn a 1-1 draw with Atletico Madrid

BERLIN: Barcelona’s João Felix, Manchester City’s Julian Alvarez and Paris Saint Germain’s Kylian Mbappe all scored Tuesday as their teams made winning starts in the Champions League.

But the wildest celebrations of the night came in Rome, where Lazio goalkeeper Ivan Provedel headed in the team’s equalizer in the fifth minute of injury time to earn a 1-1 draw with Atletico Madrid. It was the last action of the game.

As the group stage began without either Lionel Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo for the first time since 2002-03, a 16-year-old almost scored on his competition debut for Barcelona.

Lamine Yamal struck the side netting, then saw an effort saved by Antwerp goalkeeper Jean Butez after coming on as a substitute in Barcelona’s 5-0 win over the Belgian team.

Celtic finished with nine players in a 2-0 loss at Feyenoord that stretched the Scottish champion’s winless streak in the group stages to 11 games.

Here’s a closer look at Tuesday’s games:

CITY HAVE TO COME FROM BEHIND

Manchester City started their title defense by coming from behind to beat Red Star Belgrade 3-1 at home.

City had 22 shots on goal in the first half yet found itself 1-0 down at the break after Mirko Ivanić played Ghana winger Osman Bukari through to score in first-half injury time.

The linesman raised his flag, but a VAR check confirmed Bukari was onside, setting off celebrations among the 3,000 traveling supporters.

Alvarez equalized right after the break, finishing from a narrow angle after going past the goalkeeper, and it seemed only a matter of time before the second goal arrived as the home team pushed for more.

The otherwise outstanding goalkeeper Omri Glazer was at fault when it came on the hour mark, missing the ball as he went to punch away a free kick from Alvarez that sailed inside the far post.

Spanish midfielder Rodrigo sealed the win in the 73rd.

Leipzig defeated Swiss team Young Boys 3-1 away in the other Group G game.

BARCELONA FLYING

Antwerp endured a chastening evening in Barcelona, where Jelle Bataille’s own goal in the 22nd minute came after João Felix had already scored and set up Robert Lewandowski for another.

There was no respite for the visitors, with Gavi adding another in the second half before Félix grabbed his second.

Porto defeated Ukrainian champion Shakhtar Donetsk 3-1 away in the other Group H game. Shakhtar is playing their home games in Hamburg, Germany because of the Russian invasion of its country.

PSG OFF THE MARK

Mbappe scored a penalty to break the deadlock as Paris Saint-Germain earned a 2-0 win over Borussia Dortmund. Achraf Hakimi scored against his former team to seal what was a deserved win.

Dortmund midfielders Marcel Sabitzer and Marius Wolf both left the field with injuries.

AC Milan were held to 0-0 draw by Newcastle in the other Group F game.

GOALKEEPER HAS LAST WORD

Atletico coach Diego Simeone was booked for protesting on his return to the Stadio Olimpico and Lazio, the club he won four trophies with as a player.

Young Atletico midfielder Pablo Barrios put the visitors ahead in what was a heated game, but the biggest drama came at the end, when Provedel left his area to add support in attack and managed to score with a header to Luis Alberto’s cross.

Provedel didn’t know where to run as the stadium erupted around him.

Also in Group E, Feyenoord had two goals ruled out by VAR for offside and saw a penalty saved in their 2-0 win over Celtic.

Calvin Stengs broke the deadlock in first half injury time but the home team had to wait till the 76th minute for Iran midfielder Alireza Jahanbakhsh to get the second goal.

Celtic defender Gustaf Lagerbielke was sent off with his second yellow card as he conceded the penalty, and substitute Odin Thiago Holm followed him off with a straight red for a dangerous lunge at Mats Wieffer.


Bournemouth snap Liverpool’s unbeaten run to up pressure on Slot

Updated 24 January 2026
Follow

Bournemouth snap Liverpool’s unbeaten run to up pressure on Slot

  • Goals from Evanilson and Alex Jimenez put the home side in a commanding position
  • Defeat will intensify the scrutiny on Liverpool boss Arne Slot

BOURNEMOUTH, UK: Bournemouth ended Liverpool’s 13-game unbeaten run as Amine Adli’s 95th minute strike secured a thrilling 3-2 win for the Cherries on Saturday.
Goals from Evanilson and Alex Jimenez put the home side in a commanding position but Liverpool hit back through Virgil van Dijk and Dominik Szoboszlai to level.
However, Bournemouth won for just the second time in 15 matches after Adli fired in with virtually the last kick of the game.
Defeat will intensify the scrutiny on Liverpool boss Arne Slot with the Reds likely to fall outside of the Premier League’s top four after Sunday’s fixtures.
Slot, who guided Liverpool to Premier League glory last season, had steadied the ship after a run of nine defeats in 12 games earlier in the campaign.
But the Dutchman has attracted criticism for Liverpool’s uninspiring performances, even during their unbeaten run, and they are now winless in five league games.
The Reds put in a commanding performance to beat Marseille 3-0 and close in on the Champions League last 16 in midweek.
But they again struggled when faced with the rigours of breaking down a Premier League defense after gifting the Cherries a 2-0 lead.
The visitors dominated the ball throughout, but were made to pay for two defensive lapses in seven first-half minutes.
Van Dijk was too casual as he tried to flick Marcos Senesi’s ball over the top behind for a corner and Alex Scott pounced to cross for Evanilson to hammer home.
In trying to prevent the goal, Joe Gomez picked up an injury to further deplete Liverpool’s already threadbare options at center-back.
The visitors were down to 10 men as Wataru Endo waited to replace Gomez when Bournemouth doubled their lead.
Milos Kerkez was caught sleeping on his return to the Vitality Stadium to allow Jimenez to sneak in behind and slot in his first Bournemouth goal.
Van Dijk atoned for his previous error to begin the Liverpool fightback when he headed in Szoboszlai’s corner.

- Reward for positivity -

Andy Robertson replaced Kerkez at half-time despite being linked with a move to Tottenham before the transfer window closes in just over a week’s time.
Liverpool had little to show for their domination of the ball in the second period until Szoboszlai’s strike sparked a wild finale.
The Hungarian slotted a free-kick under the Marseille wall on Wednesday and this time used a flick from Cody Gakpo to work an angle to blast into the far corner.
Almost straight from kick-off, Liverpool needed Alisson Becker to produce a brilliant save from Ryan Christie to prevent Bournemouth retaking the lead.
Evanilson then wasted a glorious chance to win the game when the Brazilian slotted wide with just Alisson to beat.
Bournemouth could also have lost it when goalkeeper Djordje Petrovic made a fine save to prevent Florian Wirtz from finding the bottom corner.
But Andoni Iraola’s men were rewarded for going for the win when Adli smashed in from a narrow angle after Liverpool failed to clear a long throw.
Victory lifts Bournemouth up to 13th and 10 points clear of the relegation zone.