Paris Saint-Germain launched their latest quest for Champions League success with a statement win over Real Madrid Wednesday, while a late Atletico Madrid comeback foiled Juventus as Manchester City eased to victory in Ukraine.
French giant PSG have failed to make their mark in Europe, crashing out of the Champions League in the last 16 each of the past three years despite the huge sums of money spent by their Qatari owners.
With Neymar suspended and Kylian Mbappe and Edinson Cavani sidelined by injury, Angel di Maria stepped up in their absence by grabbing two first-half goals in a 3-0 triumph at Parc des Princes.
Thomas Meunier added the third late on as Real, who beat PSG on the way to lifting the trophy in 2016 and 2018, were soundly beaten in their Group A opener with Eden Hazard kept quiet on his full debut.
Real, the 13-time European champion, are still favorite to advance from a section that includes Club Brugge and Galatasaray, who drew 0-0 in Belgium, but the nature of the loss underscored the work that lies ahead for coach Zinedine Zidane.
7 - Kieran Trippier created seven chances for Atlético Madrid against Juventus, the most by any player on MD1 of this season's UEFA Champions League. Creative. pic.twitter.com/nGLMk4D7Ov
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) September 19, 2019
Diego Simeone's Atletico clawed their way back from two goals down in the final 20 minutes to rescue a 2-2 draw at home to Juventus in Group D.
The anticipated clash between Cristiano Ronaldo and Joao Felix, the teenager touted as the heir to Ronaldo's throne, took a backseat to a Atletico rousing comeback after second-half goals from Juan Cuadrado and Blaise Matuidi put Juve in control.
Stefan Savic nodded home from point-blank range to give Atletico hope and substitute Hector Herrera headed in a corner in the final minute to snatch a point.
Both sides trail Lokomotiv Moscow following the Russians' 2-1 win at Bayer Leverkusen.
Grzegorz Krychowiak and Dmitri Barinov scored for Lokomotiv either side of an own goal by former Germany defender Benedikt Hoewedes.
14 - Shakhtar Donetsk have conceded 14 goals in their five meetings with Manchester City in the Champions League; the most they've conceded against an opponent in the competition. Bundle. pic.twitter.com/PHrICJBunY
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) September 18, 2019
Premier League champion City bounced back from defeat by Norwich City at the weekend with a comfortable 3-0 victory against Shakhtar Donetsk in Kharkiv.
Riyad Mahrez slammed home a rebound after Ilkay Gundogan hit the post, and the German international smacked in a second before Gabriel Jesus sealed the points on 76 minutes.
City are second to Dinamo Zagreb in Group C after the Croatian champion made it a night to forget for competition debutant Atalanta with a 4-0 rout.
Dinamo failed to score a single goal as they lost all six matches on their last group stage appearance in 2016-17.
However, Marin Leovac gave them a 10th-minute lead and Mislav Orsic bagged a hat-trick as Dinamo got off to a dream start ahead of a trip to City on October 2.
2⃣0⃣0⃣ up! ?
— Soccer Laduma (@Soccer_Laduma) September 18, 2019
Robert Lewandowski has now scored 200 goals for Bayern Munich. He brings up the landmark in just 249 games for the German club. #BLonSL pic.twitter.com/b4UKpoRlvX
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Bayern Munich needed late goals from Robert Lewandowski and Thomas Mueller to make sure of victory against Red Star Belgrade in Group D.
Kingsley Coman's bullet header gave Bayern a first-half lead but the German champion were forced to wait until the 80th minute before Lewandowski ended Red Star's threat.
Substitute Mueller volleyed in a third in stoppage time.
Last year's finalist Tottenham Hotspur blew a two-goal lead to draw 2-2 at Olympiakos.
Harry Kane's penalty and a fine Lucas Moura strike put Spurs 2-0 up after 30 minutes in Greece, but Daniel Podence cut the deficit shortly before the break and Mathieu Valbuena levelled from the spot in the second half.
RESULTS
PSG 3 (Di Maria 14, 33, Meunier 90+1) Real Madrid 0
Brugge 0 Galatasaray 0
Bayern 3 (Coman 34, Lewandowski 80, Mueller 90+1) Red Star 0
Olympiakos 2 (Podence 44, Valbuena 54-P) Tottenham 2 (Kane 26-P, Moura 30)
Shakhtar 0 Man City 3 (Mahrez 25, Gundogan 38, Jesus 76)
Dinamo 4 (Leovac 10, Orsic 31, 42, 68) Atalanta 0
Atletico 2 (Savic 70, Herrera 90) Juventus 2 (Cuadrado 48, Matuidi 65)
Leverkusen 1 (Hoewedes 25-og) Lokomotiv 2 (Krychowiak 16, Barinov 37)
