Mbappe scores 4, PSG hit 5, Arsenal topple Bayern and teenage scorers shine in Champions League

Real Madrid’s French forward Kylian Mbappe (R) celebrates with teammate Brazilian forward Vinicius Junior after scoring Real Madrid’s fourth goal during the UEFA Champions League, league phase - matchday 5, between Olympiakos (GRE) and Real Madrid (ESP) on Wednesday. (AFP)
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Updated 27 November 2025
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Mbappe scores 4, PSG hit 5, Arsenal topple Bayern and teenage scorers shine in Champions League

  • Arsenal took Bayern Munich’s top spot in the standings with a 3-1 win, title holder Paris Saint-Germain romped to a 5-3 win over Tottenham
  • Liverpool slumped to another loss at Anfield, 4-1 to PSV Eindhoven

LONDON: On a wild Champions League night with stellar teenage scorers, Kylian Mbappe also struck four including the second-fastest Champions League hat trick ever to show the old guys have still got it.

Arsenal took Bayern Munich’s top spot in the standings with a 3-1 win, title holder Paris Saint-Germain romped to a 5-3 win over Tottenham with Vitinha scoring a hat trick, and Liverpool slumped to another loss at Anfield, 4-1 to PSV Eindhoven.

The 26-year-old Mbappe scored three times for Real Madrid between the 22nd and 29th minutes, and again in the 60th, of a 4-3 win at Olympiakos.

At age 17 — the same as when Mbappe was launching his Champions League career at Monaco — Lennart Karl and Viktor Dadason both scored Wednesday, and so did 18-year-old Geovany Quenda.

Karl’s exquisite first-timer for Bayern leveled the game in the first half but barely bothered Arsenal in a clash of the Premier League and Bundesliga leaders. It was Bayern’s first loss this season.

Only Arsenal now have five straight wins in the Champions League after Inter Milan lost 2-1 at Atletico Madrid, whose captain José María Giménez won it with a stoppage-time header — the 42nd and last goal on the nine-game slate.

In Copenhagen, Dadason set the Danish champion on its way to a three-goal lead in a 3-2 win over Kairat Almaty.

In Lisbon, Quenda opened the scoring in Sporting’s 3-0 win over Club Brugge, spinning almost a full circle to hook a left-footed shot into the corner of the net. The exciting wing-back will join Chelsea after the season.

At the other end of the age scale, 38-year-old David Luiz scored with a soaring header to help Pafos to a 2-2 draw with Monaco. He became the second-oldest scorer in the Champions League, behind only another veteran defender Pepe, who was approaching his 41st birthday when he scored for Porto two seasons ago.

Atalanta won 3-0 at Eintracht Frankfurt with three goals in five minutes starting with Ademola Lookman in the 60th.

Mbappe’s fast hat trick

Three goals in a span of six minutes, 42 seconds was fast by Kylian Mbappe, but not quite the fastest ever in the Champions League.

That was Mohamed Salah’s in six minutes, 12 seconds for Liverpool against Rangers in October 2022.

Mbappe is now second fastest, with his second hat trick in the competition this season, and fifth of his Champions League career. He’s also now top scorer this season with nine, ahead of the now-injured Victor Osimhen who has six for Galatasaray.

Dadason’s big future

Viktor Dadason already was the third-youngest scorer in the Champions League ‘s 34-season history last month in Copenhagen’s 4-2 loss at Borussia Dortmund. Only Ansu Fati and Lamine Yamal were younger than the Iceland youth international when they scored their first goals for Barcelona.

The 6-foot-3 (1.93 meter) Dadason set Copenhagen on the way to a three-goal lead Wednesday with a header in the 26th. The Danish champion had to hang on for a 3-2 win over Kairat Almaty, which scored twice late on yet ended the night 35th in the standings above only hapless Ajax.

Veteran David Luiz

David Luiz returned to Europe at age 38, after four years in his native Brazil, to help Cyprus champion Pafos in their debut Champions League season.

The former Brazil star scored his first goal in the competition since October 2017 with a powerful header into the Monaco net at a corner. His previous Champions League goal came in his second spell at Chelsea where he was key in the 2012 Champions League title-winning team.

Monaco held a 2-1 lead from the 26th, when US forward Folarin Balogun intercepted a pass by goalkeeper Neofytos Michaeland to score with a low shot. Pafos leveled in the 88th when the ball struck Monaco defender Mohammed Salisu after rebounding from the crossbar for an own goal.


Carlos Alcaraz joins other tennis stars in first-ever tennis event at Marlins’ loanDepot Park

Updated 09 December 2025
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Carlos Alcaraz joins other tennis stars in first-ever tennis event at Marlins’ loanDepot Park

  • It was a one-time event — the first time tennis has ever been played at loanDepot Park — and also featured rising Brazilian standout Joao Fonseca and women’s stars Amanda Anisimova and Jessica Pegula
  • Alcaraz: I’m having a lot of fun. Getting the energy from the people, playing in some places that we are not used to. It’s exciting

MIAMI: Carlos Alcaraz wanted to play in front of an energetic crowd at the inaugural Miami Invitational.

The No. 1 men’s tennis player got his wish, drawing a roar of applause when he stepped onto the court and electric cheers throughout an exhibition event Monday night at loanDepot Park, the home of Major League Baseball’s Miami Marlins.

It was a one-time event — the first time tennis has ever been played at loanDepot Park — and also featured rising Brazilian standout Joao Fonseca and women’s stars Amanda Anisimova and Jessica Pegula.

Alcaraz defeated the 24th-ranked Fonseca 7-5, 2-6, 10-8 in a thrilling singles match, their first time facing each other. Anisimova topped Pegula 6-2, 7-5 earlier in the night. Alcaraz and Pegula also beat Anisimova and Fonseca in a mixed doubles 10-point tie breaker.

“I just expect that the people are going to get entertained by watching us play,” Alcaraz said before the match. “I think it’s unusual watching us play in these kinds of stadiums and court. I’m really excited about playing here with Joao. I’m just excited to see how people are going to respond.”

The 22-year-old Alcaraz recently wrapped up the 2025 season, ending the campaign with the ATP’s year-end No. 1 ranking, tour-highs of 71 match wins and eight trophies and a pair of Grand Slam titles that lifted his career total to six.

He’s still been busy during the exhibition season, which also included an exhibition event in Newark, New Jersey, on Sunday in which Alcaraz played a singles match against two-time US Open semifinalist Frances Tiafoe.

“I’m having a lot of fun,” Alcaraz said. “Getting the energy from the people, playing in some places that we are not used to. It’s exciting. It’s been great so far, and I’m enjoying it a lot.”

The crowd Monday included Inter Miami stars Sergio Busquets and Jordi Alba, who became MLS champions just a couple days ago in the final match of their decorated careers.

Anisimova, a US Open and Wimbledon finalist this year, and Pegula, who reached the US Open semis, both noted that Monday’s exhibition was a great way to prepare for the upcoming season in a new environment.

“I think we love playing tennis and we love competing,” Pegula said. “Being able to change what that looks like a little bit where it’s not something we do 95 percent of the year is always really nice and refreshing for us. I think it’s great for the sport. It gives it a diff look for the fans, for everyone that’s involved. For players, it kind of keeps us refreshed and kind of brings you back to why you’re playing.”