Two Kylian Mbappe penalties gave Real Madrid a narrow win over Marseille as the league phase of this season’s Champions League kicked off on Tuesday, Juventus and Borussia Dortmund drew an eight-goal thriller.
Tottenham Hotspur also won on the tournament’s opening night which saw outsiders Union Saint-Gilloise and Qarabag claim first ever victories in the Champions League proper.
Arsenal also defeated Athletic Bilbao 2-0 as the Gunners got off to an ideal start in the Basque Country, with Gabriel Martinelli and Leandro Trossard scoring late goals to settle the game.
Real Madrid came from behind to beat Marseille 2-1 at the Santiago Bernabeu, despite playing the closing stages of the game down to 10 men.
Thomas Frank’s Spurs, who qualified for the Champions League after winning last season’s Europa League, edged Villarreal 1-0 in North London.
Juventus against Dortmund in Turin was a repeat of the 1997 final won by the Germans, and the fixture more than lived up to its billing, finishing in a spectacular 4-4 draw.
Arsenal whip Athletic Bilbao in Champions League opener
Remarkably the first half ended goalless, with the breakthrough coming seven minutes after half-time when Karim Adeyemi put the visitors ahead from a fine low strike.
Kenan Yildiz equalised with a stunning effort high into the top corner just after the hour mark, only for Felix Nmecha to put Dortmund back in front in style.
Dusan Vlahovic made it 2-2, but Yan Couto restored the Bundesliga side’s advantage and they appeared to have sewn up the points when Ramy Bensebaini converted a penalty in the 86th minute.
However, Vlahovic pulled one back in the 94th minute and then crossed for Lloyd Kelly to head home in the sixth minute of stoppage time, rounding off an extraordinary evening.
There was similar drama in Lisbon, where Benfica seemed to be cruising at home to Qarabag after Enzo Barrenechea and Vangelis Pavlidis scored early goals.
However, Leandro Andrade pulled one back for the club from Azerbaijan before Camilo Duran equalised and Oleksiy Kashchuk turned and fired in from inside the area four minutes from time to make it 3-2.
It is the first time Qarabag have ever won a match in the Champions League proper.
Union Saint-Gilloise qualified after winning a first Belgian title in 90 years and they recorded a 3-1 victory away to PSV Eindhoven on Tuesday.
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