FOOTBALL – Kylian Mbappe converted two penalties to secure Real Madrid a 2-1 victory over Olympique de Marseille in their Champions League group stage opener despite playing the final stages with 10 men after captain Dani Carvajal was sent off.
Timothy Weah capitalised on a schoolboy mistake by Arda Guller to put the French visitors ahead in the 22nd minute before Mbappe levelled after Rodrygo was clumsily tripped by Geoffrey Kondogbia.
The drama reached fever pitch in the 72nd minute when Carvajal lost his temper and was sent off for head-butting rival goalkeeper Geronimo Rulli, leaving the record 15-times European champions facing an uphill battle.
Mbappe had the final say, however, converting his second penalty after a controversial handball by Facundo Medina to complete Madrid’s comeback.
Arsenal began their campaign with a 2-0 win away to Athletic Bilbao, with Gabriel Martinelli making an immediate impact from the bench to open the scoring and another substitute, Leandro Trossard, netting the second.
Martinelli replaced Eberechi Eze in the 71st minute, with Arsenal struggling to find a breakthrough despite creating plenty of chances, and the substitute netted an impressive solo goal after less than a minute on the pitch.
The Brazilian forward was sent racing through on goal after a flicked pass from Trossard, and the two combined again three minutes from time, with Martinelli’s pullback from the byline finished off by Trossard.
Tottenham Hotspur celebrated their return to the Champions League with a 1-0 home victory over Spanish club Villarreal courtesy of an own goal by keeper Luiz Junior.
The London club’s first game in the competition for close to 1,000 days was only four minutes old when Villarreal’s Brazilian keeper fumbled a cross by Lucas Bergvall across his own line.
Dusan Vlahovic and Lloyd Kelly scored in stoppage time to inspire a dramatic Juventus escape, as they secured a 4-4 draw at home to Borussia Dortmund in a Champions League opener where all eight goals came after the break.
The hosts trailed 4-2 when Vlahovic struck his second of the night in the fourth minute of stoppage time and Kelly completed the comeback two minutes later to earn a share of the points.
Benfica let slip an early two-goal lead to lose 3-2 at home to Qarabag, with Oleksiy Kashchuk netting the Azerbaijani side’s winner four minutes from time.
The hosts looked in control when Enzo Barrenechea put them ahead in the sixth minute with a glancing header from a corner and Vangelis Pavlidis shot on the turn to double the lead 10 minutes later.
Qarabag were level three minutes after the interval when Camilo Duran ran on to a defence-splitting pass from Marko Jankovic and smacked a first-time shot into the far corner but the visitors were not done yet.
A long punt forward from the Qarabag keeper found Kashchuk just outside the area and he played a one-two with Abdellah Zoubir before stroking a shot past Trubin to stun the Estadio da Luz.
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