A Perfect European Start for Barcelona and Manchester City Against Newcastle and Napoli

Both Barcelona of Spain and Manchester City of England kicked off their UEFA Champions League campaigns in perfect fashion, with the former returning from St. James’ Park with a 2-1 win over hosts Newcastle United, while the latter defeated Italian champions Napoli 2-0 at the Etihad Stadium.

In the first match, English star Marcus Rashford marked a triumphant return to his home by scoring both of Barcelona’s goals in the 58th and 67th minutes, while Anthony Gordon netted Newcastle’s goal in the final minute.

Rashford continued his fine form against Newcastle, taking his tally to seven goals in 16 matches against the Magpies, while also finding his first official goal for the Catalan side after four La Liga appearances without scoring.

With this victory, Barcelona underlined their strong start to the new season, having secured three league wins and one draw so far, while Newcastle’s poor run continued with just one win from their first five games.

Haaland’s 50th Goal

City, meanwhile, overcame Napoli with goals from Norwegian striker Erling Haaland (56’) and Belgian winger Jérémy Doku (65’).

The Norwegian star reached his 50th goal in just 49 Champions League matches across his spells with RB Salzburg, Borussia Dortmund, and Manchester City, becoming the fastest player in history to reach this milestone in the competition.

Napoli were reduced to ten men after captain Giovanni Di Lorenzo was sent off for bringing down Haaland, who was through on goal, in the 21st minute. This forced coach Antonio Conte to bring on Uruguayan defender Mathías Olivera for Belgian star Kevin De Bruyne, who left to a warm ovation from the home fans in a gesture of respect for their former hero (26’).

But the change, intended to stabilize Napoli’s defense, did not prevent City from asserting complete control as they pressed for the opener. It finally came through Haaland’s close-range header, capitalizing on a perfectly timed pass from Phil Foden (56’).

Doku sealed the result after a brilliant solo run, cutting through Napoli’s penalty area from the left flank and beating multiple defenders before slotting the ball into the far-right corner (65’).

In other key matches, Eintracht Frankfurt of Germany thrashed Turkish side Galatasaray 5-1 at home.

The visitors opened the scoring through Yunus Akgün (8’), but the hosts responded with goals from Colombian Davinson Sánchez (37’, own goal), Turkish youngster Can Yılmaz Uzun (45+2’), Jonathan Burkardt (45+4’, 66’), and Ansgar Knauff (75’).

Sporting Lisbon of Portugal also secured a 4-1 away win over Kazakhstan’s Kairat.

After Danish midfielder Morten Hjulmand missed a penalty for Sporting (21’), Trincão scored twice (44’, 65’), substitute Brazilian Alisson Santos added a third (67’), and Geny Catamo grabbed the fourth (68’), before Brazilian substitute Edmilson Santos scored a consolation goal for the hosts (86’).