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GOAL! Juventus 0-1 Dortmund (Adeyemi 52)
An explosive finish from Karim Adeyemi has put Dortmund ahead in Turin! He received a short pass from Guirassy on the edge of the D, veered away from a Juve played and belted a low drive past Michele Di Gregorio.
GOAL! Benfica 2-2 Qarabag FK (Duran 48)
Qarabag have come from 2-0 down to level in Lisbon! Camilo Duran has scored the equaliser just after half-time, and he took is superbly from a tight angle.
Half-time reading
Half time scores
Rulli denies Mastantuono, his tenth and final save of a frantic first half.
It’s half time in all four 8pm games. Benfica and Spurs lead against Qarabag FK and Villarreal respectively. Real Madrid, despite a gazillion shots, and Juventus are being held by Marseille and Dortmund.
Half time: Juventus 0-0 Dortmund
I’ve been focussing on the Madrid game so haven’t seen much of this. The old xG (0.74-0.04 according to one algorithm) suggests a relatively dull half.
39 min: Real Madrid 1-1 Marseille Real are almost cauhgt out by a long ball from the keeper Rulli. It bounces off Eder Militao to Aubayemang, who runs into the area and belts a shot just wide. He probably should have scored.
Fun game, this.
33 min: Real Madrid 1-1 Marseille
This is turning into a good game. Madrid continue to create chances at will – Rulli has just tipped over Tchouameni’s long-range sizzler over the bar – but Marseille, particularly Greenwood, are looking a real threat in transition.
That Tchouameni shot was Real’s ninth on target in the first 33 minutes.
GOAL! Benfica 2-1 Qarabag FK (Leandro Andrade 30)
Leandro Andrade’s goal has given Qarabag a bit of hope in Lisbon. Quite a lot of hope actually.
GOAL! Real Madrid 1-1 Marseille (Mbappe 29 pen)
Kylian Mbappe slaps an excellent penalty past the diving Rulli, who went the right way but had almost no chance.
27 min: Penalty to Real Madrid Kondogbia stretches to challenge Rodrygo in the area, misses the ball and concedes a clear penalty.
26 min: Real Madrid 0-1 Marseille
Greenwood breaks dangerously again and pushes the ball infield to Weah. He’s full of confidence now and rifles a low shot from 25 yards that is pushed away by the sprawling Courtois. Good save.
Latest scores
GOAL! Real Madrid 0-1 Marseille (Weah 22)
Told you a goal was coming. Mason Greenwood nicks the ball from the dithering Arda Guler, waits for support and plays in Timothy Weah. He wraps his foot round the ball and slams it past Courtois at the near post. It’s his first goal for Marseille.
21 min: Real Madrid 0-0 Marseille It’s still goalless at the Bernabeu, though it feels a matter of time before Madrid do the necessary.
14 min: Real Madrid 0-0 Marseille A rare Marseille break almost leads to the opening goal. Timothy Weah twists Carvajal inside out and thrashes a shot over the bar.
Actually, replays suggest it wasn’t as close as it first looked; still a decent break though.
GOAL! Benfica 2-0 Qarabag FK (Pavlidis 16)
Vangelis Pavlidis doubles Benfica’s lead with a cool finish on the turn.
Latest scores
11 min: Real Madrid 0-0 Marseille Rulli spreads himself to make a terrific save from Mbappe, who turned his defender smoothly in the area. The opening came, not for the first time, from Marseille losing the ball while trying to play out.
GOAL! Benfica 1-0 Qarabag FK (Barrenechea 6)
Enzo Barrenechea, on loan from Aston Villa, has given Benfica an early lead. It was a simple goal, a flicked header from a corner, although the defending on the line left a bit to be desired.
9 min: Real Madrid 0-0 Marseille Now Rodrygo has a shot from the angle that is saved by Rulli. Madrid are well on top.
Match report: Athletic Bilbao 0-2 Arsenal
6 min: Real Madrid 0-0 Marseille Real’s teenage forward Franco Mastantuono blocks an attempted clearance, resists Medina’s recovery challenge and forces an off-balance shot from a very tight angle. It beats the keeper Rulli and bounces off the near post!
Alexander-Arnold goes off injured
5 min: Real Madrid 0-0 Marseille Trent Alexander-Arnold has tweaked his left hamstring and needs to go off. The poor guy can’t catch a break. Dani Carvajal, who looked set for a quiet night, replaces him.
GOAL! Tottenham 1-0 Villarreal (Luiz Junior og 4)
A perfect start for Spurs thanks to a comedy own goal from the Villarreal keeper Luiz Junior. Scott Murray has all the details.
2 min: Real Madrid 0-0 Marseille
Kylian Mbappe almost scores inside 80 seconds, slapping an overhead kick just wide of the far post.
1 min: Real Madrid 0-0 Marseille
Real Madrid’s triumphant 2025-26 Champions League campaign is under way!
Tottenham v Villarreal A reminder that we have a dedicated liveblog for this game, written by the genius who invented football liveblogs as we know them.
Barry Glendenning on the return of the Champions League
Full time: Athletic Bilbao 0-2 Arsenal
A win, a clean sheet, an awkward job completed with the minimum of fuss. Lads, it’s Arsenal.
Full time: PSV 1-3 Union SG
One of the greatest nights in Union Saint-Gilloise’s history. They’ve done an emphatic number on the Dutch champions PSV Eindhoven, with Anouar Ait El Hadj’s exhilarating solo goal the highlight.
UNION SG ARE TOP OF THE CHAMPIONS LEAGUE.
GOAL! PSV 1-3 Union SG (Van Bommel 90)
Glory for Union SG but no clean sheet – Ruben van Bommel has poked in a consolation goal for PSV.
GOAL! Athletic Bilbao 0-2 Arsenal (Trossard 87) Leandro Trossard set up his fellow substitute Gabriel Martinelli for the opening goal. Now Martinelli has returned the favour for Trossard, whose goal should secure a good victory for Arsenal.
GOAL! PSV 0-3 Union SG (Mac Allister 81)
A famous night for Union SG, woh are routing the 1988 winner on their Champions League debut. A corner was flicked on at the near post and bundled in from close range by Kevin Mac Allister, brother of Alexis but unrelated to Macaulay Culkin most iconic character. Yikes.
GOAL! Athletic Bilbao 0-1 Arsenal (Martinelli 72) Won’tcha look at that depth. Arsenal substitute Gabriel Martinelli, on the field for less than a minute, has given them the lead in Bilbao.
Barry Glendenning is watching that game.
60 min: PSV 0-2 Union SG The first goal of this year’s Champions League proper was a penalty from Union Saint-Gilloise’s Promise David. Anouar Ait El Hadj scored a fine second shortly before half-time, leaving PSV Eindhoven with it all to do.
Benfica v Qarabag FK team news
Benfica Trubin, Dedic, Antonio Silva, Otamendi, Dahl, Rios, Barrenechea, Aursnes, Sudakov, Schjelderup, Pavlidis.
Subs: Soares, Obrador, Ivanovic, Barreiro, Prestianni, Henrique Araujo, Tomas Araujo, Oliveira, Veloso, Prioste, Rego, Santos.
Qarabag FK Kochalski, Matheus Silva, Mustafazade, Medina, Cafarquliyev, Pedro Bicalho, Jankovic, Andrade, Borges, Zoubir, Duran.
Subs: Badavi Huseynov, Abbas Huseynov, Bayramov, Qurbanly, Kashchuk, Daniel, Addai, Kouakou, Mmaee, Buntic, Mahammadaliyev.
Referee Erik Lambrechts (Belgium)
Juventus v Borussia Dortmund team news
Juventus Di Gregorio, McKennie, Bremer, Kelly, Kalulu Kyatengwa, Koopmeiners, Thuram, Cambiaso, Yildiz, David, Openda.
Subs: Cabal, Joao Mario, Rugani, Kostic, Adzic, Zhegrova, Vlahovic, Francisco Conceicao, Locatelli, Gatti, Pinsoglio, Perin.
Borussia Dortmund Kobel, Ryerson, Anton, Bensebaini, Yan Couto, Sabitzer, Nmecha, Svensson, Adeyemi, Beier, Guirassy.
Subs: Ostrzinski, Meyer, Bellingham, Brandt, Gross, Chukwuemeka, Campbell, Mane, Kabar.
Referee Francois Letexier (France)
Real Madrid v Marseille team news
Trent Alexander-Arnold, who has been left out for two of Real Madrid’s last three games, returns to the starting XI. Franco Mastantuono, the teenager signed from River Plate, makes his Champions League debut.
Real Madrid Courtois, Alexander-Arnold, Eder Militao, Huijsen, Carreras, Valverde, Tchouameni, Mastantuono, Guler, Rodrygo, Mbappe.
Subs: Lunin, Gonzalez, Carvajal, Alaba, Bellingham, Camavinga, Vinicius Junior, Gonzalo Garcia, Asencio, Ceballos, Francisco Garcia, Diaz.
Marseille Rulli, Medina, Balerdi, Pavard, Emerson Palmieri, Kondogbia, Hojbjerg, Greenwood, O’Riley, Weah, Aubameyang.
Subs: de Lange, Van Neck, Egan-Riley, Gomes, Gouiri, Igor Paixao, Vermeeren, Nadir, Vaz, Bakola, Murillo.
Referee Irfan Peljto (Bosnia-Herzegovina)
Preamble
The Champions League is back, baby! The road to glory is arduous, taking almost nine months, but the journey will be worth it for whoever gets to lift the trophy in Budapest on 30 May 2026.
The club who part-own that trophy, Real Madrid, are one of 12 teams in action of opening night. We have separate liveblogs for Athletic Bilbao v Arsenal (5.45pm) and Lads, We Really Need to Put This To Bed and Just Call Them Tottenham v Villarreal (8pm), so it’s the job of clockwatch to flirt with nystagmus and follow the other games:
Madrid take the headlines, they just do, but Juventus v Dortmund looks the best game of the night. It’s also a repeat of the memorable 1997 final, in which Zinedine Zidane was kept quiet by Mike Yarwood.
The team news will arrive shortly. In the meantime, erm, pour yourself something nice?
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