The UEFA Champions League’s first matchday is over after 26 goals from Wednesday’s eight games. Liverpool were demolished at Napoli, while Barcelona, Bayern Munich and Tottenham were all victorious in the late slate. Early on, Ajax beat Rangers 4-0 while Sporting Lisbon went to Eintracht Frankfurt and got a lopsided victory. There was plenty of drama, but we’ll need to wait to see if any of the managers on this day meet the fate of some of the coaches from Tuesday. Both Chelsea’s Thomas Tuchel and RB Leipzig’s Domenic were fired, with Sevilla’s Julen Lopetegui likely on thin ice after his team’s start.
Here’s a look at the scores and what to know from Wednesday’s games:
Wednesday’s scores
All times Eastern
Ajax 4, Rangers 0
Sporting Lisbon 3, Eintracht Frankfurt 0
Napoli 4, Liverpool 1
Tottenham 2, Marseille 0
Bayern Munich 2, Inter 0
Barcelona 5, Viktoria Plzen 1
Club Brugge 1, Leverkusen 0
Atletico Madrid 2, Porto 1
Crisis at Liverpool?
Liverpool’s run of dominance has come to what feels like a screeching halt with manager Jurgen Klopp looking for answers. A team that once looked unstoppable now looks mediocre with atrocious defending seeing them concede the first goal in five of their seven games played this season.
It was another shocking performance from the Reds, the most concerning of the season, losing 4-1 at Napoli on Wednesday. They were thoroughly thrashed by an inspired Italian side that stayed hot.
The Liverpool defense was out of sync, Trent Alexander-Arnold continues to be exposed as a below-average defender, and they had no answers at the Estadio Diego Armando Maradona.
But, Napoli do deserve major credit. They have had to rebuild, in a sense, but they’ve really reloaded. With club legends Lorenzo Insigne, Dries Mertens, Kalidou Koulibaly and Fabian Ruiz all leaving in the summer transfer window, they have looked incredible with Georgian Khvicha Kvaratskhelia turning into an absolute superstar.
New signing Gio Simeone also found the back of the net as Napoli announce that they are here to stay. What a night to remember for the hosts, while Liverpool hope to soon forget what they just went through.
Lewandowski gives Barca instant credibility
It feels too early to say Barcelona are a contender. With all the new signings, it’s going to take some time to fully gel. But Robert Lewandowski is a great enough player to carry Barca are in this competition. He scored three times against Viktoria Plzen on Wednesday, recording his sixth career UCL hat trick. Only Lionel Mesi and Cristiano Ronaldo have more. and Lewandowski is the first player to record a Champions League hat trick for three different clubs after doing it with Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund previously.
With the Polish striker dominating in attack and Jules Kounde looking like an absolute stud, Barca appear to have something special brewing, and Wednesday looked like a small sample of that. But we will know truly what they are made of next week when they go to Bayern Munich with Lewandowski facing his former team.
Tottenham stick with it and get rewarded
That’s quite a way to show up in your Champions League debut, Richarlison. The Brazilian star scored two headers in the second half as Tottenham took advantage of going a man up after Chance Mangula’s red card 47 minutes in.
The former Everton man has been a sharp signing for Antonio Conte and has helped with the team’s creativity in attack, but getting on the scoresheet will be a relief. Here’s his winning goal:
His fantastic form comes as Heung-min Son has yet to score this season. Assuming Son regains his form, this could be the year the trophy drought ends.
Bonkers game of the day
Atletico Madrid vs. Porto left plenty to be desired for the first 90 minutes. There were some decent chances, but it wasn’t the game you were going to be glued to unless you are a supporter of either team. But if you decided to flip to it for added time, you were treated to some spectacular moments. Three goals came in added time with Antoine Griezmann scoring the winner with his back-post header. Take a look:
Golazo of the day
This award goes to Mohammed Kudus of Ajax for his delightful turn and rocket of a shot in the 4-0 win over Rangers.
When is Matchday 2?
Buckle up, as Matchday 2 is next Tuesday and Wednesday. Here’s the complete schedule:
Tuesday, Sept. 13
Sporting Lisbon vs. Tottenham, 12:45 p.m. (Paramount+)
Viktoria Plzen vs. Inter Milan, 12:45 p.m. (Paramount+)
Liverpool vs. Ajax,, 3 p.m. (Paramount+)
Rangers vs. Napoli, 3 p.m. (Paramount+)
Bayer Leverkusen vs. Atletico Madrid, 3 p.m. (Paramount+)
Marseille vs. Eintracht Frankfurt, 3 p.m. (Paramount+)
Bayern Munich vs. Barcelona, 3 p.m. (Paramount+)
Porto vs. Club Brugge, 3 p.m. (Paramount+)
Wednesday, Sept. 14
AC Milan vs. Dinamo Zagreb, 12:45 p.m. (Paramount+)
Shaktar Donestk vs. Celtic, 12:45 p.m. (Paramount+)
Chelsea vs. RB Salzburg, 3 p.m. (Paramount+)
Real Madrid vs. RB Leipzig, 3 p.m. (Paramount+)
Manchester City vs. Borussia Dortmund, 3 p.m. (Paramount+)
Juventus vs. Benfica, 3 p.m. (Paramount+)
FC Copehagen vs. Sevilla, 3 p.m. (Paramount+)
Maccabi Haifa vs. PSG, 3 p.m. (Paramount+)
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