💫 Man City held by Inter; Celtic smash Bratislava; Dortmund and PSG win

The second night of the opening round of the Champions League took place tonight, with six games across the continent.if(typeof(jQuery)=="function"){(function($){$.fn.fitVids=function(){}})(jQuery)};jwplayer('jwplayer_4MjM84eD_5oNpOZgB_div').setup({"playlist":"https://content.jwplatform.com/feeds/4MjM84eD.json","ph":2});Manchester City 0-0 InterManchester City and Inter drew 0-0 at the Etihad Stadium in a game that was far better than the scoreline suggested.Pep Guardiola’s side unsurprisingly dominated the ball in the opening period, as Inter looked to contain and settle into the game.Inter grew into things, and almost took the lead through Matteo Darmian. Ederson gifted the ball to the former Manchester United defender, but was bailed out by Joško Gvardiol, who did well to block the shot.Erling Haaland had his first sight of goal just after the half hour mark, profiting from some slack Inter defending to fire just wide from the edge of the box. Less than a minute later, Bernardo Silva fluffed his lines, air kicking Kevin De Bruyne’s cutback.Marcus Thuram missed two good chances for Inter, his second being perhaps the easier. The French forward shot wide after Piotr Zieliński cut the ball back to him.In the second half, Darmian had another good chance before City began to dictate play again, even with De Bruyne going off with a knock.Henrikh Mkhitaryan missed a gilt-edged chance with 15 minutes left, firing high over the bar from inside the box.In the end, a draw was a fair result in this 2023 final repeat.PSG 1-0 GironaScorers: Mendes 90′PSG left it late to defeat Girona 1-0 at the Parc des Princes to start their latest quest to win the Champions League with three points.In their first Champions League game, Girona were hanging on in the opening periods, as the hosts dictated play and looked for the early goal.Their best chance of the first half fell to Marco Asensio, who shot just wide after a brilliant back-heel from Warren Zaïre-Emery.Ousmane Dembélé had the French champion’s best effort after the break, cutting inside and only being denied the opener by a great stop from Paulo Gazzaniga.They finally got their goal in the final minute of normal time, Gazzaniga making an absolute mess of Nuno Mendes’ low-left footed cross, and letting it into his net.Celtic 5-1 Slovan BratislavaGoals: Scales 17′, Furuhashi 47′, Engels (pen) 57′, Maeda 70′, Idah 87′; Wimmer 60′Celtic enjoyed a dream start to their Champions League campaign, hammering Slovak Bratislava 5-1 at Celtic Park.Brendan Rodgers’ side got off a strong start, and might have taken the lead through Daizen Maeda inside five minutes. The winger was picked out in the box but fired over from the left-hand side.The Hoops took the lead in the 17th minute, Liam Scales powering home a header from a dangerous Arne Engels cross to send Celtic Park into a frenzy.Brendan Rodgers’ side doubled their lead two minutes into the second half through Kyogo Furuhashi. The Japanese striker tapped home from close range after a great ball across the box from Nicolas-Gerrit Kuhn.It was 3-0 10 minutes later. Engels added a goal to his assist, scoring from the penalty spot with maximum composure. The club’s record signing, the Belgian started paying off his £11m fee in the best fashion possible.Bratislava pulled one back shortly after, former Tottenham defender Kevin Wimmer hitting a brilliant left-footed finish for the Slovak champions. It was their first goal in the competition.Celtic restored their three goal lead with 20 minutes left, this time Maeda getting in on the act with a smart finish.Adam Idah rounded off a perfect night for his side with the fifth just before full-time, finishing coolly after being played in by James Forrest.Club Brugge 0-3 Borussia DortmundScorers: Gittens 76′, 86′, Guirassy (pen) 90+5′A late flurry from Borussia Dortmund saw them run out 3-0 winners away to Club Brugge.Donyell Malen had Dortmund’s first opening but sidefooted wide when found in the box at the back post.Hugo Vetlesen almost gave Brugge the lead after 15 minutes, hitting the bar from close range after a crazy goalmouth scramble.Dortmund dominated possession either side of the half, but struggled to truly threaten Simon Mignolet in the Brugge goal.That was until the 76th minute when substitute Gittens found a way past for the former Liverpool keeper with a heavily deflected effort.The English winger then sealed the points with another four minutes from time, and this time it was all his own work, cutting inside and finishing expertly to cap off a great night’s work for him.In the final minute of added time, Serhou Guirassy, another sub, got off the mark for his new club with a penalty.EarlierBologna 0-0 Shakhtar DonetskBologna’s first Champions League game ever got off to a drab start, with a 0-0 draw at home with Shakhtar Donetsk.Just four minutes into their first Champions League season, Bologna had a moment to forget, and then one to remember, conceding and saving a penalty.Goalkeeper Łukasz Skorupski was the hero, denying Shakhtar midfielder Georgiy Sudakov from 12 yards.After such a lively start, the game really struggled to get going, with chances for both sides at a premium. Bologna perhaps shaded it, but a draw felt a fair result.Sparta Prague 3-0 RB SalzburgScorers: Kairinen 2′, Olatunji 42′, Laçi 58′Sparta Prague got their Champions League campaign off to a brilliant start with a dominant 3-0 victory against RB Salzburg at The Letná Stadium.Sparta took the lead after just two minutes, Kaan Kairinen being first to a loose ball to strike from inside the box.Salzburg thought they had equalised in the 17th minute, but Moussa Kounfolo Yeo was adjudged to be offside by VAR before he fired home.The Czech champions doubled their lead three minutes before the break with a great goal from Victor Olatunji. Filip Panak launched the ball forward, and Nigerian striker finished brilliantly, turning and striking low and hard into the net from the left-hand side of the box.Sparta sealed the win after the break, Qazim Laçi taking his time and moving past a few defenders inside the box to tap home at the end of a counter-attack.

The second night of the opening round of the Champions League took place tonight, with six games across the continent. Manchester and drew 0-0 at the Etihad Stadium in a game that was far better than the scoreline suggested. Pep Guardiola’s side unsurprisingly dominated the ball in the opening period, as looked to contain and settle into the game.

Inter grew into things, and almost took the lead through Matteo Darmian. Ederson gifted the ball to the former Manchester United defender, but was bailed out by Joško Gvardiol, who did well to block the shot. Erling Haaland had his first sight of goal just after the half hour mark, profiting from some slack defending to fire just wide from the edge of the box.

Less than a minute later, Bernardo Silva fluffed his lines, air kicking Kevin De Bruyne’s cutback. Marcus Thuram missed two good chances for , his second being perhaps the easier. The French forward shot wide after Piotr Zieliński cut the ball back to him.

In the second half, Darmian had another good chance before began to dictate play again, even with De Bruyne going off with a knock. Henrikh Mkhitaryan missed a gilt-edged chance with 15 minutes left, firing high over the bar from inside the box. In the end, a draw was a fair result in this 2023 final repeat.

Mendes 90′ PSG left it late to defeat 1-0 at the Parc des Princes to start their latest quest to win the Champions League with three points. In their first Champions League game, were hanging on in the opening periods, as the hosts dictated play and looked for the early goal. Their best chance of the first half fell to Marco Asensio, who shot just wide after a brilliant back-heel from Warren Zaïre-Emery.

Ousmane Dembélé had the French champion’s best effort after the break, cutting inside and only being denied the opener by a great stop from Paulo Gazzaniga. They finally got their goal in the final minute of normal time, Gazzaniga making an absolute mess of Nuno Mendes’ low-left footed cross, and letting it into his net. Scales 17′, Furuhashi 47′, Engels (pen) 57′, Maeda 70′, Idah 87′; Wimmer 60′ Celtic enjoyed a dream start to their Champions League campaign, hammering Slovak Bratislava 5-1 at Park.

Brendan Rodgers’ side got off a strong start, and might have taken the lead through Daizen Maeda inside five minutes. The winger was picked out in the box but fired over from the left-hand side. The took the lead in the 17th minute, Liam Scales powering home a header from a dangerous Arne Engels cross to send Park into a frenzy.

Brendan Rodgers’ side doubled their lead two minutes into the second half through Kyogo Furuhashi. The Japanese striker tapped home from close range after a great ball across the box from Nicolas-Gerrit Kuhn. It was 3-0 10 minutes later.

Engels added a goal to his assist, scoring from the penalty spot with maximum composure. The club’s record signing, the Belgian started paying off his £11m fee in the best fashion possible. Bratislava pulled one back shortly after, former Tottenham defender Kevin Wimmer hitting a brilliant left-footed finish for the Slovak champions.

It was their first goal in the competition. Celtic restored their three goal lead with 20 minutes left, this time Maeda getting in on the act with a smart finish. Adam Idah rounded off a perfect night for his side with the fifth just before full-time, finishing coolly after being played in by James Forrest.

Gittens 76′, 86′, Guirassy (pen) 90+5′ A late flurry from saw them run out 3-0 winners away to . Donyell Malen had Dortmund’s first opening but sidefooted wide when found in the box at the back post. Hugo Vetlesen almost gave Brugge the lead after 15 minutes, hitting the bar from close range after a crazy goalmouth scramble.

Dortmund dominated possession either side of the half, but struggled to truly threaten Simon Mignolet in the Brugge goal. That was until the 76th minute when substitute Gittens found a way past for the former Liverpool keeper with a heavily deflected effort. The English winger then sealed the points with another four minutes from time, and this time it was all his own work, cutting inside and finishing expertly to cap off a great night’s work for him.

In the final minute of added time, Serhou Guirassy, another sub, got off the mark for his new club with a penalty. Bologna’s first Champions League game ever got off to a drab start, with a 0-0 draw at home with . Just four minutes into their first Champions League season, had a moment to forget, and then one to remember, conceding and saving a penalty.

Goalkeeper Łukasz Skorupski was the hero, denying Shakhtar midfielder Georgiy Sudakov from 12 yards. After such a lively start, the game really struggled to get going, with chances for both sides at a premium. perhaps shaded it, but a draw felt a fair result.

Kairinen 2′, Olatunji 42′, Laçi 58′ Sparta Prague got their Champions League campaign off to a brilliant start with a dominant 3-0 victory against at The Letná Stadium. Sparta took the lead after just two minutes, Kaan Kairinen being first to a loose ball to strike from inside the box. Salzburg thought they had equalised in the 17th minute, but Moussa Kounfolo Yeo was adjudged to be offside by VAR before he fired home.

The Czech champions doubled their lead three minutes before the break with a great goal from Victor Olatunji. Filip Panak launched the ball forward, and Nigerian striker finished brilliantly, turning and striking low and hard into the net from the left-hand side of the box. Sparta sealed the win after the break, Qazim Laçi taking his time and moving past a few defenders inside the box to tap home at the end of a counter-attack.

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