Thanks to two penalty goals from French star Kylian Mbapp\u00e9, Real Madrid edged past French visitors Marseille 2-1 in the opening round of the UEFA Champions League\u2019s new unified group stage.<\/p>
Despite Real\u2019s early pressure, the visitors struck first when Englishman Mason Greenwood capitalized on a misplaced pass from Turkish youngster Arda G\u00fcler in midfield. Greenwood drove forward and slipped the ball to American Timothy Weah, who powered a shot past Belgian keeper Thibaut Courtois into the bottom-left corner (22\u2019). <\/p>
Real earned a penalty through Brazilian Rodrygo, and Mbapp\u00e9 converted it with a precise strike to the right of Ger\u00f3nimo Rulli (29\u2019), who went on to make several key saves \u2014 including one before the crossbar denied Mbapp\u00e9 a second goal (50\u2019). <\/p>
Courtois made a crucial save of his own, stopping a fierce long-range effort from Gabonese striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (57\u2019), before Dani Carvajal \u2014 who had come on early for the injured Trent Alexander-Arnold \u2014 was sent off for headbutting Rulli off the ball (72\u2019).<\/p>
Real were awarded a controversial second penalty when the referee ruled a handball on Argentine defender Facundo Medina as he tried to block Vin\u00edcius J\u00fanior\u2019s cross. Mbapp\u00e9 stepped up again and calmly buried the winner (81\u2019).<\/p>
Juventus avoided their first home defeat to Borussia Dortmund in 30 years by salvaging a dramatic 4-4 draw in stoppage time.<\/p>
After a goalless first half, the match exploded into life in the second. The visitors struck first through Karim Adeyemi, who collected the ball on the edge of the box and drilled a low shot past Michele Di Gregorio (53\u2019). <\/p>
Turkish youngster Kenan Y\u0131ld\u0131z equalized for Juve with a stunning strike from distance (64\u2019), but Dortmund restored their lead less than a minute later via Felix Nmecha (65\u2019). <\/p>
The introduction of Serbian striker Du\u0161an Vlahovi\u0107 proved decisive, as he drew Juve level from a superb Y\u0131ld\u0131z pass (68\u2019). <\/p>
Dortmund went ahead again through Brazilian Yan Couto, who capitalized on a mistake by Frenchman Kh\u00e9phren Thuram to fire home from a tight angle (74\u2019), before Algerian Ramy Bensebaini converted a penalty to make it 4-2 (86\u2019). <\/p>
Vlahovi\u0107 quickly pulled one back with a towering header from Pierre Kalulu\u2019s cross (90+4\u2019), then turned provider with a late assist for Englishman Lloyd Kelly, who nodded in the dramatic equalizer (90+6\u2019).<\/p>
With second-half substitutes Gabriel Martinelli and Leandro Trossard stepping up, Arsenal came away from San Mam\u00e9s with a valuable 2-0 victory over Athletic Bilbao.<\/p>
Despite fielding their new-look attacking trio of Swedish striker Viktor Gy\u00f6keres, Eberechi Eze, and Noni Madueke, Arsenal couldn\u2019t break the deadlock until manager Mikel Arteta introduced Martinelli and Trossard. <\/p>
The Brazilian struck with his first touch (72\u2019) from a Trossard assist, before returning the favor to set up the Belgian for the second goal (87\u2019).<\/p>
Elsewhere, Union Saint-Gilloise stunned PSV Eindhoven 3-2 in their first-ever Champions League appearance, while Tottenham edged Villarreal 1-0 after Swedish youngster Lucas Bergvall\u2019s cross deflected off Brazilian keeper Luiz J\u00fanior and into the net (4\u2019).<\/p>","continue_text":"Continue Reading","main_heading":"Blog"},"yoast_head":"\n