Champions League returns with goals, upsets, late drama

Oore -Oluwa Emmanuel 

The UEFA Champions League returned with a bang as clubs across Europe battled for early points in the group stage.

Matchday One produced drama, comebacks, and plenty of goals. Here are the highlights:

Athletic Club 0–2 Arsenal
Arsenal began their campaign with a strong away performance in Bilbao. Leandro Trossard and Gabriel Martinelli were on target to secure three points for Mikel Arteta’s side, along with a clean sheet to boost their start.

PSV Eindhoven 1–3 Union Saint-Gilloise
Union Saint-Gilloise delivered an impressive victory in Eindhoven. Promise David, Anouar Ait El Hadj, and Kevin Mac Allister all found the net, while Ruben Van Bommel scored the only goal for PSV.
Benfica 2–3 Qarabag
One of the surprises of the round came in Lisbon.

Benfica raced into a two-goal lead, but Qarabag showed determination and staged a remarkable comeback to win 3–2. The result gave them a famous away victory against the odds.
Juventus 4–4 Borussia Dortmund
The Allianz Stadium hosted one of the most entertaining matches of the week.

All goals came in the second half as Dortmund surged to a 4–2 lead, but Juventus fought back late to snatch a 4–4 draw in a true Champions League classic.

Real Madrid 2–1 Olympique de Marseille
Kylian Mbappe was decisive once again for Real Madrid, scoring two penalties to give his team the win at the Bernabéu.

Despite being reduced to ten men, Xabi Alonso’s side showed character to hold off Marseille and secure three points.
Tottenham Hotspur 1–0 Villarreal
Tottenham edged Villarreal in North London, thanks to an early own goal by goalkeeper Luis Junior.

It was enough to hand Thomas Frank’s side the win and a clean sheet to start their campaign.