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Bayern fell victim to Colombia’s new young hero at Villa Park, while both Madrid clubs managed to experience upsets at Benfica and Lille. Read up on a thrilling Juventus comeback at Leipzig, and more, in this special Champions League match report.
Jhon Duran is running in the ’80s, while both Madrid clubs rue their luck in a topsy-turvy Champions League matchday
New Delhi: What’s better than frantically switching between four matches at once? That’s right, seven matches! Tonight, some calendars in England (namely the cities of Liverpool and Birmingham) cycled back to the early 1980s, the hovering force ghost of Max Allegri persisted in Juventus’ thrilling comeback in Leipzig, while both Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid showed signs of an odd hangover from their no-limits derby clash just a few days ago. All that and more, on today’s Champions League wrap.
Aston Villa 1 – 0 Bayern Munich
BIRMINGHAM, ENGLAND – OCTOBER 02: Jhon Duran of Aston Villa celebrates scoring his team’s first goal during the UEFA Champions League 2024/25 League Phase MD2 match between Aston Villa FC and FC Bayern München at Villa Park. (Photo by Alex Pantling/Getty Images)
Despite emotions running high, Villa were forced in their own box from the outset by the visitors, quickly settling into possession. The six-time winners in the sixth minute were all up Villa keeper Emiliano Martinez’s twelve, when Joshua Kimmich’s whipped cross set up Harry Kane, his close-range header denied by the Argentine. Shortly after Villa fullback Lucas Digne saw a weighted pass sail over to Bayern winger Serge Gnabry, with his square pass to Michael Olise cleared at the goalmouth. Against the run of play, a free kick for Villa was converted by Pau Torres only to be agonisingly ruled offside. Bayern should’ve scored when Gnabry wasted a opportunity by not squaring it to Kane in the box, while Olise’s long-range effort was wonderfully denied by Martinez.
Bayern rose from the dressing room with their hunting gloves on, with Davies and Gnabry combining in the 51st minute and forcing Villa defender Ezri Konsa to make a last-gasp block. A VAR check and Gnabry’s persistent efforts from the left had the hosts under critical pressure around the 60-minute mark. Time for substitutions, and then came another reminder that Jhon Duran is a name destined for greatness. He latched onto a weighted pass, before instantly pinging it over Manuel Neuer to send Villa Park into raptures. All hands to deck, Kompany and his team’s cool aura broke down into desperate attempts at goal. Some of them did induce gasps, with Musiala’s slicing throughball releasing Gnabry to shoot straight at Martinez, before the keeper denied Harry Kane from close-range in the last minute.
Lille 1 – 0 Real Madrid
LILLE, FRANCE – OCTOBER 02: Jonathan David of LOSC Lille celebrates scoring his team’s first goal from the penalty spot during the UEFA Champions League 2024/25 League Phase MD2 match between LOSC Lille and Real Madrid C.F.. (Photo by Michael Regan – UEFA/UEFA via Getty Images)
Just his second European night in Madrid colours, and star signing Kylian Mbappe was already on his way to France again, albeit on the bench. Lille were only afforded some five minutes of partial control, before the visitors picked up the initiative. Jude Bellingham found Vinicius Jr. in the 6th minute, with the winger decided to shoot from the edge of the box and put his marker down. Young forward Endrick then thought to repeat his Stuttgart heroics, breaking through on goal after being released by Eduardo Camavinga, but sending his effort straight into Lille keeper Lucas Chevalier. In the 27th minute, a lot was asked from Madrid keeper Andriy Lunin, first saving a point-blank header from forward Jonathan David, before clattering the rebound on the post by himself.
But that’s what Madrid do, suffer first and hit later, right? Lille forward Edon Zhegrova’s long range effort collided with Camavinga, leading to a great eruption of protestation from Lille. A quick VAR check later, it was David from 12 yards, who managed to send Lunin the wrong way and score an unforgettable goal. In the 54th minute, Lille fullback Tiago Santos found Zhegrova, who cut inside and could’ve deepened Madrid’s crisis if his curler was a couple of inches closer to the left post. This was now a matter of pride, and off on the pitch went Luka Modric, Arda Guler and Mbappe, who lost the ball and allowed Lille to counter, with David ending the sequence by putting the ball inches wide of the left post. Then came the mother of all goalmouth scrambles; Guler’s header was saved, then centerback Antonio Rudiger’s effort was cleared off the line. The German wasn’t done, but so wasn’t Chevalier, who thwarted one more close-range header to secure a famous win.
Liverpool 2 – 0 Bologna
LIVERPOOL, ENGLAND – OCTOBER 02: Mohamed Salah of Liverpool celebrating after scoring the second goal during the UEFA Champions League 2024/25 League Phase MD2 match between Liverpool FC and Bologna FC 1909. (Photo by Andrew Powell/Liverpool FC via Getty Images)
Anfield had been deprived of Champions League for what seemed like an eternity, with the rust and cobwebs rattled off within the opening minutes alone. Reds midfielder Ryan Gravenberch’s low cross into the six-yard box was teasing but cleared, before Bologna forward Thijs Dallinga had a dream goal ruled offside in the 9th minute. A couple of minutes later, when Mohamed Salah’s whipped cross found midfielder Alexis Mac Allister, he only had to tap the ball into the back of the net. Bologna could’ve and should’ve been swept away, with forward Darwin Nunez getting a goal ruled offside and Dominik Szoboszlai dragging his low effort wide. This allowed the hosts to creep back in, with forward Dan Ndoye hitting the woodwork twice.
The second half started different from the first, with the hosts dousing the contest with cool possession. However a free kick in the 56th minute saw a cross drop at the far post for winger Riccardo Orsolini, with Reds keeper Alisson having to dig deep to deny the venomous volley. Set-piece shenanigans continued when Bologna skipper Remo Freuler almost headed the ball in his own net from a Liverpool corner. Then came the decider. Having already seen his curling effort go tantalisingly wide, Salah would attempt the same in the 75th minute, cutting inside menancingly from the right, before directing a rocket of a shot into the top-right corner and announce a triumphant return of “those European nights” that grace the hosts’ long history in the competition.
RB Leipzig 2 – 3 Juventus
LEIPZIG, GERMANY – OCTOBER 02: Francisco Conceição Of Juventus celebrates after scoring the 2-3 goal during the UEFA Champions League 2024/25 League Phase MD2 match between RB Leipzig and Juventus. (Photo by Diego Puletto/Juventus/Juventus FC via Getty Images)
An interesting matchup, which saw the Old Lady, away from the competition for a year, travel to RB Leipzig, the brutish revolutionaries who knocked the unbeatable monicker from Bayer Leverkusen. They were quick to remind everyone of their credentials, when forward Lois Openda powered down the right flank, with his square pass to centerforward Benjamin Sesko cleared by Juventus fullback Pierre Kalulu. Around the 30 minute-mark, Leipzig countered through Openda, who then found Sesko with a chipped ball, gloriously smashed home on the volley. Juventus almost replied instantly, with forward Dusan Vlahovic turning around his man in the Leipzig box but failing to test the keeper with an off-target shot.
The second-half whistle was a cue for an eruption of events. In the 48th minute, Juve midfielder Teun Koopmeiners ended a fluid team move by curling his effort into the right post. Vlahovic then caught a low cross and squeezed the ball into the far post whilst under pressure. Minutes later, Juve keeper Michele Di Gregorio was sent off for handling the ball, before the resultant freekick hit Juve midfielder Weston McKinnie’s arm for a handballl. Sesko converted a penalty in the 65th minute, only for Vlahovic to restore parity almost immediately from outside the box. Openda and winger Antonio Nusa could’ve sealed the victory for the hosts, but it was the returning Francisco Conceicao who converted from an awkward angle to complete the comeback.
Benfica 4 – 0 Atletico Madrid
LISBON, PORTUGAL – OCTOBER 02: Angel Di Maria of S.L Benfica celebrates scoring his team’s second goal during the UEFA Champions League 2024/25 League Phase MD2 match between SL Benfica and Atletico de Madrid. (Photo by Gualter Fatia/Getty Images)
The visitors would’ve been buoyed on the back of a valiant point earned against Real Madrid, but faced a brutal reality check in Lisbon. In the sixth minute, Benfica forward Vangelis Pavlidis knocked on the door, with his dangerous header already putting testing Atletico keeper Jan Oblak. Flash forward a few minutes later, and Atletico were caught while building from the back. The hosts capitalized on that defensive blunder through Kerem Akturkoglu, who directed his finish past the panicking Oblak. However, the visitors would gradually crawl back and respond. Within the last 15 minutes, the woodwork was struck twice, first by Atletico’s Samuel Lino, with Pavlidis trying to convert from Angel di Maria’s deflected effort.
Surely, it couldn’t go worse? Conor Gallagher came on for Atletico in the second half, and almost instantly gave a penalty away by clipping into Pavilidis’ ankles, which was deftly converted by Di Maria. He could’ve added one more to his tally if Oblak failed to deny his chipped effort, or if the now retired Argentina international passed it to Pavilidis or Akturkoglu. But for every valiant intervention, there was a terrible mistake, one which allowed Benfica fullback Alexander Bah to head a corner delivery from close-range, despite having Gallagher for close company. The hosts could’ve completed the rout by themselves, but were gifted another penalty when defender Reinildo chopped down Benfica forward Zeki Amdouni, which was duly converted by Orkun Köckü.
Zagreb 2 – 2 Monaco
ZAGREB, CROATIA – OCTOBER 2: Denis Zakaria of AS Monaco celebrates 2-2 with Folarin Balogun of AS Monaco during the UEFA Champions League match between Dinamo Zagreb v AS Monaco. (Photo by Damjan Zibert/Soccrates/Getty Images)
After Monaco spoiled the party at Hansi Flick’s revolution in Catalonia, and Zagreb were torn apart 9-2 by Bayern Munich, a lot was at stake at the Stadion Maksimir in Croatia. The pitch was left treacherous with rain pelting in, but not denying Zagreb’s Martin Baturina to fire a low free-kick on target, before crossing the ball to forward Bruno Petkovic whose bicycle kick was off-target. Monaco’s Takumi Minamino timed his run to perfection in the 12th minute, with the Zagreb keeper smothering the resultant shot. Petkovic mirrored him in the 44th minute, timing his run past the Monaco backline and through on goal. Monaco keeper Phillip Kohn also mirrored his counterpart by saving the shot, only for Petkovic to be ruled offside. Kohn was however, left redfaced when Petar Sucic’s lovely dink gave the hosts the lead.
Come the second half, and Baturina would serve the world with another glimpse of his technique. Leading a counter, he first created space with a Cruyff turn, before lashing a piercing piledriver into the top-left corner of the goal from 18 yards out. Seems unbelievable? The comeback certainly didn’t for Monaco, when Mohammed Salisu sent his header crashing into the bottom left corner in the 74th minute. Monaco then had their second snatched from the goalline, with Minamino’s header cleared by defender Raul Torrente. It was in vain, when fellow defender Maxime Bernauer fouled Monaco substitute Folarin Balogun in the box, with skipper Denis Zakaria smashing it into the top-left corner.
Sturm Graz 0 – 1 Club Brugge
KLAGENFURT, AUSTRIA – OCTOBER 02 : Tzolis Christos forward of Club Brugge celebrates scoring a goal during the UEFA Champions League phase matchday 2 match between Sturm Graz and Club Brugge. ( Photo by Jan De Meuleneir / Photo News via Getty Images)
What do they say about off-pitch and on-pitch realities colliding? It had been a slow start for the two minnows; Sturm Graz were naively spun around by tournament debutants Brest in their opener, while Club Brugge would’ve felt frustrated to lose a single point against a vulnerable Borussia Dortmund. Zoom your scope towards the Merkur Arena in Austria, and proceedings began slow. By the 20th minute, the visitors carried slightly more momentum, capitalizing on it through winger Christos Tzolis, his wonderful curling effort hitting the woodwork before the back of the net. Sturm Graz almost pulled one back immediately, when midfielder Malick Yalcouye’s effort hit a defender first, then the top of the crossbar.
Brugge continued their assault on the Sturm Graz goal, with Tzolis on the prowl for goal and seeing an effort saved in the 56th minute. Blink your eye and you could’ve missed when Brugge forward Ferran Jutgla received the ball in the box and shot deceptively low, with Sturm Graz keeper Kjell Scherpen’s instincts keeping the tie alive. The hosts attempted a response in the 77th minute, with midfielder Tochi Chukwuani’s front post header bouncing a yard off the far post. Both enjoyed two chances apiece in the final minutes; Brugge substitute Michal Skoras saw an low shot skim past the far post, before Niklas Geyrhofer failed to score an ambitious equalizer in the 88th minute.
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