Champions League: Inter Milan hold Man City as PSG defeat Girona

Manchester City made a sluggish start to their Champions League campaign as they drew 0-0 against Inter Milan at the Etihad Stadium on Wednesday.

Paris Saint-Germain (PSG), on the other hand, needed a last-minute goal to beat tournament newcomers Girona.

City have won all four of their Premier League games this season but failed to break down Italian champions Inter in a repeat of the 2023 final won by Pep Guardiola’s side.

City lost Kevin De Bruyne to injury at half-time and Phil Foden fired straight at Inter goalkeeper Yann Sommer with their best chance as Erling Haaland was kept quiet on a night he was chasing his 100th goal for the English club.

Henrikh Mkhitaryan could have won it for Inter when he blazed over 15 minutes from time, allowing City to extend their unbeaten run in the competition to 24 matches – one off the record set by Manchester United between 2007 and 2009.

It is just the second time in 42 home Champions League games under Guardiola that City have failed to score.

“It was a very intense game against a strong opponent. We knew what was coming, they are a top team as well and they are used to winning, so we were not going to have an easy job,” City defender Ruben Dias said after the game.

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“Our plan was to show that we’re not scared to play here,” said Inter midfielder Hakan Calhanoglu.

PSG looked as if they would also have to settle for a point against European debutants Girona, who are backed by the City Football Group and ran Real Madrid close for several months in Spain last season before coming third.

However, a goalkeeping blunder from Paulo Gazzaniga in the 90th minute resulted in Nuno Mendes’ cross squirming through his grasp and handed the French champions victory.

Last season’s runners-up Borussia Dortmund, beaten by Madrid in the final, had English winger Jamie Gittens to thank as the 20-year-old came off the bench and scored twice in a 3-0 win at Club Brugge.

Serhou Guirassy added a stoppage-time penalty for his first Dortmund goal since arriving in the summer from Stuttgart.

Celtic began in style by thrashing Slovan Bratislava 5-1 in Glasgow, winning their opening game in the Champions League for the first time in 13 attempts.

Bologna drew 0-0 at home to Shakhtar Donetsk in the Italian team’s first-ever Champions League match. Lukasz Skorupski saved an early penalty from Shakhtar’s Georgiy Sudakov.

Sparta Prague swept Red Bull Salzburg aside 3-0 with goals from Kaan Kairinen, Victor Olatunji, and Qazim Laci, as the Czech champions won for the first time in the competition proper since 2003.

The Star