Chelsea - RB Salzburg 1-1
Potter’s first game as Chelsea head coach ended in a disappointing 1-1 home draw against Red Bull Salzburg, leaving the Blues bottom of Group E after two rounds of matches.
Only eight days may have passed since the 1-0 defeat in Zagreb, but matchday one seems like a lifetime ago for a Chelsea side who are under new management following Thomas Tuchel’s sacking.
The German was quickly replaced by Potter, who may have been underwhelmed by Chelsea’s first-half display in his UCL managerial debut, despite Raheem Sterling offering a constant threat.
Chelsea’s performance before the interval may have been lacklustre, but the home faithful only had to wait three second-half minutes to see a glimpse of the football they could enjoy under Potter’s tutelage.
Reece James and Mount combined superbly down the right flank before a driven cross allowed Sterling to find the corner with a clinical finish.
Salzburg responded to Sterling’s fourth goal of the season by attempting to offer greater attacking intent, which forced Potter to make a double change in a bid to wrestle back control.
As the contest entered the final 20 minutes, Noah Okafor spurned a glorious opportunity, guiding a tame header into the grateful clutches of Kepa.
However, the 22-year-old made amends with immediate effect, latching onto Junior Adamu’s neat cutback to guide the ball beyond the Chelsea goalkeeper.
Okafor’s equaliser set up a grandstand finish, which nearly yielded a dramatic winner when Hakim Ziyech arrived to meet Armando Broja’s accurate cross, but Phillipp Kohn denied the Moroccan with a fine reaction stop.
With a late winner failing to materialise, Potter had to make do with a point that extends Chelsea's unbeaten home record in the group stage to nine games.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Raheem Sterling (Chelsea)
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FC Copenhagen - Sevilla 0-0
FC Copenhagen extended their unbeaten home run in the Champions League group stages to four matches as the Danish side and Sevilla earned their first Group G point with a goalless draw.
Sevilla, who scored in the first minute in their 3-2 win over Espanyol on Saturday, came out looking for a repeat start in Denmark as Ivan Rakitic lashed over from six yards in the opening minutes.
Spurred on by the early chance, the visitors continued to dominate possession but struggled to create clear-cut chances and Copenhagen soon grew into the contest as they went in search of a third consecutive home victory.
Isak Bergmann Johannesson first connected with a deep cross into the area and forced Marko Dmitrovic into a reaction save, before a rapid counter-attack finished with an unmarked Victor Kristiansen in the area but the defender perhaps had too much time and fired over the bar.
Copenhagen carried their positive approach into the second period as Jess Thorup’s side aimed to get on the scoresheet for their fifth consecutive home match. Mohamed Daramy led the charge by taking on three players in the Sevilla penalty area only for his vital pass to be cleared by a troop of retreating defenders.
Copenhagen had the better chances and Thorup will be encouraged that his team can compete at this level after stepping up from the UEFA Europa Conference League last season.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Isak Bergmann Johannesson (FC Copenhagen)
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Juventus - Benfica 1-2
Benfica came from behind to stun Juventus 2-1 in the UEFA Champions League to go top of Group H.
Aiming to immediately put Sunday’s disappointing 2-2 draw against Salernitana behind them, the hosts got off to a dream start against the unbeaten Benfica, when Arkadiusz Milik guided a header into the Primeira Liga leaders’ net via Leandro Paredes’ fourth-minute free-kick.
Benfica had to regroup, and they nearly equalised just before the half-hour mark, but Gonçalo Ramos’ close range header was directed straight at Mattia Perin.
With Juventus likely aware that Benfica were winless against Serie A clubs on Italian soil since March 1997, they may have felt confident of shutting out the visitors with ease.
But the Bianconeri’s plans to keep their lead intact were unexpectedly torn asunder just prior to the interval, when the visitors were awarded a penalty following a VAR review. Joao Mario confidently stepped up and hammered the ball high into the net to pull his team level.
Looking to restore their lead after the break, Milik’s left-footed strike towards goal from the edge of the box was kept out by Odysseas Vlachodimos with a fine save.
Down at the other end, Benfica were looking to get themselves ahead for the first time in the game, and did so in the 55th minute when David Neres fired in a rebounded effort to stun the home side.
As the second half went on, Juve pushed for a leveller, and they even managed to get the ball in the net late on thanks to Dusan Vlahovic, but the linesman agonisingly had his flag raised for offside, with the decision later confirmed by VAR. In the end, Benfica came away with a famous three points, extending their winning run in all competitions to 13 games.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Rafa Silva (Benfica)
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Maccabi Haifa - PSG 1-3
Paris Saint-Germain came from behind to beat Maccabi Haifa 3-1 to continue their 100% continental record this term.
The Greens were backed by a vocal crowd at Sammy Ofer Stadium and valiantly took the game to Christophe Galtier’s star-studded PSG side, keeping Gianluigi Donnarumma busy.
Kylian Mbappe still had two good opportunities early on, but he was unable to take either of them and having shown they could hold their own, Maccabi Haifa astonished PSG by taking a 24th-minute lead.
Tjarron Chery applied a clinical finish to Dolev Haziza’s pinpoint cross, in turn scoring the club’s first group stage goal since 2002.
Shortly after Neymar had a penalty call turned down, Frantzdy Pierrot thought he’d doubled Maccabi’s lead but the celebrations were quickly halted by the offside flag.
Within five minutes, Les Parisiens drew level when Mbappe’s driven cross bounced off Dylan Batubinsika to Lionel Messi, who controlled and slotted the ball home.
Chery hit an audacious strike moments before half-time that forced Donnarumma into a good save.
There was no denying the visitors in the 69th minute though, as Messi slipped the ball through for Mbappe, who rediscovered his finishing touch to net a tenth goal in just eight games across all competitions this season.
After latching onto Marco Verratti’s searching pass, Neymar struck clinically in the 88th minute, as PSG ended their five-match winless run in Champions League away games, while extending their undefeated streak in all competitions to 19 matches.
Meanwhile, Maccabi Haifa have already done better than 2009, when they lost each of their group games without scoring, but that will be scant consolation on a night when they all-too-briefly dared to dream.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Lionel Messi (Paris Saint-Germain)
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Manchester City - Borussia Dortmund 2-1
Late goals from John Stones and Haaland in the space of four minutes rescued Manchester City from the jaws of defeat against Borussia Dortmund, with a 2-1 victory extending their unbeaten run at home in the Champions League to 21 matches.
City were limited to half chances by a well-drilled Dortmund side throughout the first half, with only four attempts on goal, all off target.
This was largely down to the stellar work of Niklas Sule and Mats Hummels, who used their experience to ensure that former teammate Haaland took the least touches of any player on the pitch before the break.
Pep Guardiola, taking charge of his 150th UCL match, becoming only the fifth manager to reach that milestone - cut a frustrated figure on the touchline.
He left it up to those on the field to try and get the job done after the restart. However, this had the opposite impact he had hoped for, as his players switched off in the 56th minute to allow Jude Bellingham to open the scoring, just as he did when the clubs last met in April 2021.
Reworking a cleared corner, Marco Reus fired the ball back into the area where the Englishman reacted quickest, sneaking in between Manuel Akanji and Haaland, to head beyond Ederson.
This was a wake-up call for the hosts, though as the final 10 minutes approached, still they had not managed a shot on target.
However, as they have done twice already this season, Guardiola’s men showed their resilience to come from behind and snatch the three points.
With shades of Vincent Kompany against Leicester in 2019, up stepped Stones to fire in a 79th-minute equaliser from outside the box into the top right corner, and four minutes later Haaland had completed the turnaround, bagging an acrobatic volley from Joao Cancelo’s audacious outside-of-the-boot cross.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Erling Haaland (Manchester City)
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Rangers - Napoli 0-3
Napoli secured their first ever Champions League win on British soil with a comfortable 3-0 victory over 10-man Rangers at Ibrox, extending the Italian side’s unbeaten run to 12 matches.
Coming into the contest after back to back 4-0 losses, firstly to fierce rivals Celtic and then to Ajax in matchday one, Rangers knew the importance of a fast start in front of a raucous Ibrox crowd.
The hosts very nearly found a breakthrough inside the opening minute but Alfredo Morelos directed a header from inside the six-yard box wastefully wide of the target.
Napoli responded well to the early scare in an electric opening to the match, as Piotr Zieliński rattled the outside of the post with a powerful long-range strike.
Both sides looked a constant threat during the opening half-hour, with Scott Arfield, James Tavernier, and Morelos all denied by Alex Meret, while Allan McGregor did well to thwart Giovanni Simeone at the other end.
The second half began at breakneck speed, with Rangers on the front foot, in search of an opener. However, the match was soon turned on its head in the 55th minute when James Sands brought down Simeone, receiving a second yellow card in the process.
Zielinski stepped up to the spot and saw his penalty saved by McGregor, but was allowed a second chance after Matteo Politano tucked away the rebound following encroachment into the box. McGregor dusted himself off, and dived to his right to remarkably deny Zielinski again.
Armed with the numerical advantage, Napoli looked to stamp their authority on the final half-hour and were gifted a golden opportunity again, when a shot from Kvaratskhelia struck the outstretched arm of Borna Barisic inside the box.
Politano assumed the responsibility this time, and drilled the ball into the bottom-right corner to open the scoring.
The remaining 20 minutes were comfortably managed by the visitors, who added late gloss to the scoreline when substitutes Giacomo Raspadori and Tanguy Ndombele both found the net with a pair of clinical finishes.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Khvicha Kvaratskhelia (Napoli)
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Real Madrid - RB Leipzig 2-0
Real Madrid continued their flawless start to the season in all competitions, defeating RB Leipzig 2-0 at the Estadio Santiago Bernabeu.
With no recognised striker in the line-up, Los Blancos were largely toothless in an incredibly low-key first half in the Spanish capital. A relatively tame effort from the edge of the box by Luka Modric which drifted wide was as close as Carlo Ancelotti’s men came in a turgid display.
Contrastingly, Leipzig appeared solid at the back and relatively threatening on the break. Christopher Nkunku had the best opening of the half, firing towards the near post only to be denied by Thibaut Courtois.
After the break, the frustrated home crowd were left waiting until the 72nd minute for a first shot on target from either side. Rodrygo’s square ball found Federico Valverde, who poked through to Vinícius Júnior at full stretch, but Peter Gulacsi was out quickly to smother his attempt.
The enterprising Uruguayan would be the one to finally produce a moment of quality in the final third, firing the Spaniards into the lead.
Picked out by Vinicius Jr, Valverde cut inside onto his left before firing into the corner, relieving the anxiety of the Madrid faithful.
Marco Asensio put the result beyond doubt in stoppage time, scoring his 50th Real goal in spectacular fashion, as he thundered home from the edge of the area.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Federico Valverde (Real Madrid)
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