English underdog champions Leicester City started their very first Champions League campaign well, winning 0-3 in Brugge with goals from Marc Albrighton and a brace from Riyad Mahrez. It was a confident performance by the Foxes and they needed such a result after suffering from a false start to the Premier League season.
Leicester lined up in a 4-4-2 formation: Schmeichel – Hernandez, Morgan, Huth, Fuchs – Mahrez, Drinkwater, Amartey, Albrighton – Slimani, Vardy. Goals: Albrighton 5′, Mahrez 29′ 61′
The Foxes are hosting Burnley in the Premiership on Saturday. Leicester are 16th with 4 points, which is already 9 points behind league leaders Manchester City.
Manchester City took care of Borussia Monchengladbach with a hat-trick from Sergio Aguero, the man banned from Premier League football until gameweek 6. Ilkay Gundogan made his debut for City, while David Silva was rested as a precaution. Nolito didn’t see any playing time either, and Leroy Sane was given another chance as a sub and did well. The match was initially scheduled for Tuesday but was postponed due to a thunderstorm in Manchester.
Manchester City lined up in a 4-1-4-1 formation: Bravo – Zabaleta, Otamendi, Stones, Kolarov – Fernandinho – Navas, De Bruyne, Gundogan, Sterling – Aguero. Goals: Aguero 9′ 28′ 77′, Iheanacho 90′
Manchester City are hosting AFC Bournemouth in the Premiership on Saturday. Without Kun Aguero, of course, as he has two more matches in his ban, one in the league and the other in the FA Cup.
Tottenham, meanwhile, have failed to take any points on Wembley against Monaco and have disappointed the majority of record-breaking 85.011 spectators in London. Monaco were 0-2 up after half an hour of play, and Toby Alderweireld only managed to reduce the lead at the stroke of half time. In the second half Tottenham failed to do anything worthwhile and lost the Champions League opener 1-2. Tottenham have an extra day of rest compared to the other three teams as they’re hosting Sunderland on Sunday.
On Tuesday, Alexis Sanchez rescued Arsenal with a goal for 1-1 in the 78th minute as the Gunners visited Paris Saint-Germain. Giroud got a red card in the 90th minute. Arsenal are visiting Hull City in the domestic league on Saturday.
In the next Champions League round Leicester host Porto on Tuesday, 27 September, and Tottenham are visiting CSKA Moscow. On Wednesday, Arsenal are hosting Basel and Manchester City are visiting Celtic.
Bayern and Barcelona destroyed Celtic and Rostov on Tuesday as they won 5-0 and 7-0 respectively. On Wednesday we saw the first major upset of the 2016-17 Champions League as Sporting Lisabon won their visit to Real Madrid 0-1.
Champions League Week 1 Results:
Bayern v Rostov 5-0
Barcelona v Celtic 7-0
Paris SG v Arsenal 1-1
Dynamo Kyiv v Napoli 1-2
Benfica v Beskitas 1-1
Basel v Ludogorets 1-1
Man City v Borussia M 3-0
Porto v Kopenhagen 1-1
Tottenham v Monaco 1-2
Club Brugge v Leicester 0-3
Legia v Dortmund 0-6
Lyon v Dinamo Zagreb 3-0
Real Madrid v Sporting 2-1
Juventus v Sevilla 0-0
Leverkusen v CSKA Moscow 2-2
