Milan and Liverpool faced each other with memories of the 2005 Istanbul final
begin real madrid The Spanish club continued their title defence with a late 3-1 win over visiting Stuttgart, while Liverpool won the San Siro match against Milan with the same scoreline and Bayern Munich crushed visiting Dinamo Zagreb 9-2 in the opening round of the group stage. UEFA Champions League In its new look.
Back with a bang 💥#UCL pic.twitter.com/2uemv5HloR
— UEFA Champions League (@ChampionsLeague) September 17, 2024
The new season of the continental competition will witness a radical change, as participation has expanded from 32 teams to 36, with a single group system in which each team plays eight matches against eight different teams, four at home and four away.
Before the draw, which was conducted electronically, the clubs were divided into four levels, each containing nine teams.
The best eight teams in the final standings qualify for the round of 16, while the next 16 teams will advance to a play-off round and the remaining teams will be eliminated without moving on to the Europa League, unlike what used to happen previously.
No team will play another team from the same league, and no team will face more than two opponents from the same league.
Hard win for Real
Real Madrid achieved a late victory over Stuttgart with three goals scored by Frenchman Kylian Mbappe (46), German Antonio Rudiger (83) and Brazilian Endrick (90+6). Dennis Undav scored Stuttgart’s goal (68).
✨ The Team ✨ #UCL pic.twitter.com/zKpKVaAzSk
— Real Madrid (@realmadridarab) September 17, 2024
Real Madrid’s starting lineup saw the return of English midfielder Jude Bellingham after recovering from a calf injury he sustained a month ago.
Real Madrid aspire to remain the tough number after the competition became completely different from before, as it holds the record for the number of titles in the competition in its old form (15), especially after strengthening its ranks with the captain of the French national team, Mbappe, who seemed to be struggling to adapt to the royal club, but he quickly entered the atmosphere by scoring three goals in the last two matches of the Spanish League.
“I think they did us a lot of damage in the first 25 minutes. After that we improved and we were able to score,” Real Madrid goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois told Movistar.
Kylian Mbappe scores his first Champions League goal for Real Madrid#Champions_League #Real_Madrid_Stuttgart pic.twitter.com/k6kDSxMtMA
— beIN SPORTS (@beINSPORTS) September 17, 2024
“There were big spaces behind them and that led to the first goal… (but) we didn’t know how to exploit it to the fullest,” the 32-year-old continued.
Liverpool come back from behind
At the San Siro stadium, Milan took the lead with a goal by American Christian Pulisic (3), and Liverpool responded with three goals scored alternately by Frenchman Ibrahima Konate (23), his Dutch captain Virgil van Dijk (41) and Hungarian Dominik Szoboszlai (67).
Van Dijk scores Liverpool’s second goal 🔥🔥🔥#Champions_League #Milan_Liverpool pic.twitter.com/J1W9O2Jtxm
— beIN SPORTS (@beINSPORTS) September 17, 2024
Milan’s clash with Liverpool brings back memories of the 2005 Istanbul final, when the Italian side led 3-0 in the first half before the Reds came back in the second half to win the title on penalties.
The two teams met again in the 2007 final, and Milan emerged victorious 2-1, winning its seventh and final title.
Victory in Milan ✨ pic.twitter.com/r7abXd1UpB
— Liverpool FC (@LFC) September 17, 2024
Both teams are entering this season with new coaches, as Portuguese Paulo Fonseca replaced Stefano Pioli in Milan, while Liverpool brought in Dutchman Arne Slot to try to replace German Jurgen Klopp, who decided to leave Anfield after leading the team to the final of the continental competition three times in five seasons between 2018 and 2022 and giving it its sixth title among several titles.
Bayern bares its fangs
At the Allianz Arena in Munich, England international striker Harry Kane established himself as the star of the match by scoring a “super hat-trick” in the crushing victory of the Bavarian giants.
✍️✨ ✍️✨
First team to score 9️⃣ goals in a #UCL match.
⚽️⚽️⚽️⚽️⚽️⚽️⚽️⚽️⚽️ #MiaSanMia #FCBDIN #UCL pic.twitter.com/FkZT87ZesL
— FC Bayern (@FCBayernEN) September 17, 2024
Kane successfully converted three penalty kicks (19, 73 and 78) and added the fourth goal for his team and his second in the 57th minute, becoming the top English scorer in the continental competition with 33 goals, surpassing Wayne Rooney (30).
“It was an amazing game, a bit of a crazy game,” Kane told streaming platform DAZN after the match. “This is the first time I’ve scored three (penalties) in a game. It never happens.”
“I practice penalty kicks and I have a good routine but to be honest I didn’t know what to do during the third kick, but luckily I managed to score it,” he continued.
Harry Kane adds seventh goal for Bayern Munich#Champions_League #Bayern_Munich pic.twitter.com/FRW0zvvzlP
— beIN SPORTS (@beINSPORTS) September 17, 2024
Raphael Guerreiro (33), Frenchman Michael Oliseh (38 and 61), Leroy Sane (85) and Leon Goretzka (90+2) added goals for the Bavarian giant, while Bruno Petkovic (49) and Japanese Takuya Ogiwara (51) scored for Dinamo Zagreb.
Bayern maintained their perfect start after achieving three wins from three matches in the local league to top the standings, as they hope to regain the title they lost to Bayer Leverkusen last season.
Bayern, the six-time champions, will face tough matches ahead after being drawn against Barcelona, Paris Saint-Germain, Aston Villa, Benfica, Shakhtar Donetsk, Feyenoord and Slovan Bratislava.
