Doug McIntyre
Football journalist
In a rematch of final 12 months’s UEFA Champions League ultimate, trophy holders Real Madrid recovered from a two-goal deficit. Santiago Bernabeau Stadium within the Spanish capital to stun German titan Borussia Dortmund with 5 consecutive second-half targets and safe a transparent 5-2 victory.
Three of Real’s 5 targets got here courtesy of Vini Jr. The Brazilian celebrity accomplished his hat-trick in harm time after an audacious solo run:
While the primary recreation on matchday three greater than lived as much as expectations, a lot of the different eight matches performed on Tuesday additionally didn’t disappoint.
Here are three fast ideas.
First place Aston Villa it stays excellent
Back within the planet’s high membership competitors for the primary time in additional than 4 a long time, the Villans are taking advantage of the chance. After beating Italians Bologna in Birmingham on Tuesday because of John McGinn Jhon Durán’s second-half targets, the 1982 European champions are off to an ideal 3-0 begin of their continental matches.
Sitting alone on the high of the Champions League desk is a dream situation for a membership that spent 2016-19 within the second tier of the English Championship. But it’s also what they’ve gained underneath Spanish coach Unai Emery, who has been a revelation for a membership lengthy thought-about a sleeping large domestically.
Obviously there’s nonetheless quite a lot of season left. Emery’s facet had been fortunate sufficient to play two of their three matches at Villa Park, together with the away match in opposition to lowly Swiss facet Young Boys. Next month’s journey to Bruges and the opposite residence match, in opposition to Juventus, is not going to be simple. But after following up the well-known October 2nd overcome the mighty Bayern Munich with one other three factors, the long-suffering claret and blue followers will certainly admire their Unai Emery,
The U.S. males’s nationwide crew star’s otherworldly kind continued Tuesday with an otherworldly aim.
Pulisico, the Rossoneri’Milan’s high scorer in each Serie A and all competitions this season, he scored his tenth profession Champions League aim instantly from a nook in Milan’s 3-0 win over Club Brugge.
The guests’ protection in the course of the motion was removed from distinctive. Simon Mignolet, the extremely skilled former Liverpool goalkeeper, most likely believes he ought to have saved him. But while you’re scorching you are scorching, and Pulisic will gladly settle for it, not least as a result of he gave the seven-time Champions League winners their first three factors after opening the 2024-25 season with a pair of defeats.
Before Tuesday’s match in London in opposition to Shakhtar Donetsk, the Gunners gamers and supervisor Mikel Arteta had been going through uncommon strain. Arsenal, Premier League runners-up in every of the final two seasons, had been surprised by Prem Minnow Bournemouth final weekend and had been anticipated to bounce again in type.
The 1-0 win on a first-half personal aim might not have eased the diehards’ worries, nevertheless it stored the Gunners unbeaten within the Champions League even because it shattered their excellent report.
Juventus followers didn’t have a silver lining in Turin, as Italy’s most profitable crew suffered a surprising injury-time defeat to Stuttgart. Substitute El Bilal Touré scored the winner some eight minutes after Juve had been diminished to 10 males by defender Danio’s second yellow card of the evening.
Finally, in France, Paris Saint-Germain and Dutch champions PSV Eindhoven took a share of the spoils on the Parc des Princes in a 1-1 draw, a draw that definitely felt like a defeat for the hosts. USMNT midfielder Malik Tillman began the match for PSV, whereas fullback Richie Ledezma got here off the bench.
Doug McIntyre is a soccer reporter for FOX Sports. A former editor at ESPN and Yahoo Sports, he lined the United States males’s and girls’s nationwide groups on the FIFA World Cup on 5 continents. Follow him @By Doug McIntyre.
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