Football

Champions League Matchday 1 Round-Up As Bayern Top Table

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By
Kyle Curran
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Kyle Curran Sports Editor

Kyle Curran is a sports writer who specialises in football (soccer), horse racing and darts, but has the ability to write about a range of different sports. He can regularly be found providing live football (soccer) commentary on Flashscore. He was also formerly an editor and accredited journalist at Prost International covering Premier League and EFL fixtures. Kyle also holds a degree in Football Journalism (BA Hons) from the University of Derby.

Get to know Kyle Curran better
Sports Editor

Published19 Sep 2024

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It was a thrilling start to this season’s Champions League as we had a first glimpse of the new format. See the Matchday 1 round-up as Bayern Munich sit pretty at the top of the table. 

36 teams were in action from Tuesday-Thursday as fans saw the new look Champions League for the first time. Instead of the traditional eight groups of four teams, UEFA have introduced a new ‘Swiss-style’ 36-team league phase for the first time.

The top eight sides in the league qualify automatically for the last-16, while teams finishing 9th-24th will compete in a two-legged play-off against each other to build up the final 16. Unfortunately teams finishing 25th-36th will face elimination with no access to the Europa League.

Read our full Champions League Matchday 1 round-up below

Champions League Matchday 1 Round-Up: Bayern Sit Top

Tuesday 17th September – Kane breaks record and Villa win on UCL comeback

The action got underway on Tuesday night as Juventus comfortably dispatched of PSV and Aston Villa made a winning return to Europe’s elite with a 3-0 win over Young Boys in the early kick-offs.

Meanwhile it was Harry Kane and Bayern Munich who stole the headlines in the later games. The Bundesliga giants smashed Dinamo Zagreb 9-2 with Kane scoring four, becoming the all-time leading English goalscorer in the Champions League, overtaking Wayne Rooney.

Real Madrid survived a scare against Stuttgart, winning 3-1 in the end and Liverpool came from a goal down to defeat AC Milan by the same scoreline.

Wednesday 18th September – Celtic hit five, City held to 0-0 draw at home

Wednesday’s proceedings kicked off with a quiet 0-0 draw between Bologna and Shakhtar. The second early kick-off saw Sparta Praha produce a convincing 3-0 victory over RB Salzburg.

Later on the evening, PSG were fortunate to beat Girona 1-0 thanks to a 90th minute own-goal. Borussia Dortmund also won their game late on with three goals in the last 20 minutes in a 3-0 win against Club Brugge. Young English talent Jamie Bynoe-Gittens scored twice turning plenty of heads in the process.

Scottish Premiership champions Celtic enjoyed a special night in Glasgow as they hammered Slovan Bratislava 5-1 in a second-half masterclass. But it was a night to forget for Manchester City, who could not find the back of the net against a resilient Inter Milan side. It was 0-0 at the Etihad, despite the hosts having 22 shots on goal.

Thursday 19th September – Arsenal saved by Raya, Barca suffer shock defeat

The final night of European action on Matchday 1 saw Bayer Leverkusen open the night with a dominating 4-0 success over Feyenoord. Benfica also picked up maximum points with a 2-1 win against Crvena Zvezda, concluding the early games.

European newcomers Brest made the perfect start to their campaign with a hard-earned 2-1 triumph over Sturm Graz. Arsenal can thank David Raya for earning a point in a 0-0 stalemate away at Atalanta. The Spaniard made a terrific double save to deny Ederson from the spot, saving his rebound too.

Barcelona shot themselves in the foot during the first half when Eric Garcia was shown a straight red, eventually losing 2-1 to Monaco. On the other hand, fellow La Liga club Atletico Madrid netted a late winner through Jose Gimenez, beating RB Leipzig 2-1.

That concludes our Champions League Matchday 1 round-up. Matchday 2 takes place on Tuesday October 1st and Wednesday October 2nd.

Champions League Table After Matchday 1

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Author photo
Kyle Curran
Sports Editor

Kyle Curran is a sports writer who specialises in football (soccer), horse racing and darts, but has the ability to write about a range of different sports. He can regularly be found providing live football (soccer) commentary on Flashscore. He was also formerly an editor and accredited journalist at Prost International covering Premier League and EFL fixtures. Kyle also holds a degree in Football Journalism (BA Hons) from the University of Derby.

Get to know Kyle Curran better
Author photo
Kyle Curran Sports Editor

Kyle Curran is a sports writer who specialises in football (soccer), horse racing and darts, but has the ability to write about a range of different sports. He can regularly be found providing live football (soccer) commentary on Flashscore. He was also formerly an editor and accredited journalist at Prost International covering Premier League and EFL fixtures. Kyle also holds a degree in Football Journalism (BA Hons) from the University of Derby.

All posts by Kyle Curran