Real and City start campaign with wins in Champions League

Jose Mourinho got off to a winning start on his return to the Champions League with Real Madrid on Tuesday as the Spanish giants beat Inter Milan 2-1, while Erling Haaland scored twice in Manchester City’s victory at Porto.

There were also wins for Aston Villa and Borussia Dortmund on the first night of action in this season’s league phase, as the opening matchday spreads across three nights.

Record 15-time European champions Real have brought back Mourinho for a second spell in charge, and his first game back in the competition came against the side he led to Champions League glory in 2010.

Madrid were two goals ahead midway through the first half at the Bernabeu thanks to two gifts from the Inter defence, with Yann Bisseck at fault as Kylian Mbappe opened the scoring on his 99th appearance in the competition.

Mbappe has now scored 71 Champions League goals, equalling the tally of Real legend Raul.

The home side doubled their lead when Inter goalkeeper Josep Martinez tried to turn away from Fede Valverde inside his own six-yard box only for the Uruguayan to tackle him and score.

Carlos Augusto pulled one back for Inter, but Real held on for the victory.

“It was a crazy game,” Mourinho told broadcaster Movistar. “A game that finished 2-1 could have finished 7-6 without any problems.”

Enzo Maresca’s City won 2-0 away to Portuguese champions Porto thanks to a second-half brace by Haaland, the first coming two minutes after the restart when he headed in Enzo Fernandez’s cross.

Haaland sealed the points in stoppage time and has now scored an astonishing 59 goals in 59 appearances in the Champions League.

“Erling Haaland is an animal. He is a beast, so every time he is on the pitch, I’m going to look for him, and hopefully give him many more assists,” Fernandez told Amazon Prime.

It was a fourth straight victory in all competitions for City, Champions League winners in 2023, whose next European game will be at home to title-holders Paris Saint-Germain.

Villa, last season’s Europa League winners, put their poor start to this campaign behind them to beat Belgian champions Club Brugge 3-2 away.

John McGinn curled into the far corner to open the scoring for Unai Emery’s side, who have not yet scored a goal three games into the Premier League season.

Hugo Vetlesen equalised for the hosts, but Emiliano Buendia quickly restored Villa’s lead and then Nicolas Jackson made it 3-1 two minutes before the break.

The summer signing ran through to score his first Villa goal after home goalkeeper Yann Sommer came flying out of his box and failed to get to the ball.

Nicolo Tresoldi pulled another one back just after the hour mark following a handball by Aaron Wan-Bissaka. The same player hit the post soon after, but Villa claimed a welcome victory.

“We took one step forward today and it was very, very important for our confidence and stability,” said Emery.

Serhou Guirassy was the chief protagonist as Dortmund, runners-up in 2024, started their campaign with a 3-2 home win against Villarreal.

Renato Veiga’s own goal gave Dortmund the lead early in the second half, but Santiago Mourino headed in the equaliser for the Spanish side.

However, Guirassy put the Germans back in front with 10 minutes left, then converted a penalty for his second and his team’s third. He rounded things off with an own goal when a Gregor Kobel save ricocheted back off Guirassy’s face and went in.

Troy Parrott was the hero for Real Betis for the second time in five days as the Spaniards came from behind twice to win 3-2 against Lille in France.

Marc Bartra equalised twice for Betis, cancelling out goals by Japan’s Ayase Ueda and Brazil defender Alexsandro for Davide Ancelotti’s Lille.

Irish striker Parrott, who scored his new club’s winner against Madrid at the weekend, then struck the decisive goal on 53 minutes as Betis claimed a victory on their return to the Champions League after a 21-year absence.

Lille finished with 10 men as Ethan Mbappe, younger brother of Kylian, was sent off.

In the night’s other game, Greek champions AEK Athens beat Austrian title winners LASK 1-0 thanks to a stunning Razvan Marin free-kick.

Agencies