The first leg of the UEFA Champions League playoff knockout phase featured four games on Tuesday night.
Borussia Dortmund and PSG dominated away against their opponents, while Manchester City was defeated on their home turf by a resilient Real Madrid, who staged a dramatic comeback.
Brest 0-3 PSG
It took the French champions just 21 minutes to take the lead through Portuguese midfielder Vitinha’s spot-kick. Moments before halftime, Achraf Hakimi assisted Ousmane Dembélé with a brilliant strike, giving PSG a 2-0 advantage at the break. PSG controlled most of the possession in the first half. In the 66th minute, Dembélé completed his brace, extending his UCL goal tally this season to seven. He was voted Man of the Match as PSG secured a comfortable 3-0 victory.
Sporting CP 0-3 Borussia Dortmund
Sporting CP continued to struggle in European competitions following the departure of coach Rúben Amorim to Manchester United at the start of the summer. After a goalless first half, Dortmund sealed a convincing 3-0 win. Guinean talisman Serhou Guirassy, Pascal Groß, and Karim Adeyemi were all on the scoresheet for the Black and Yellows.
Juventus 2-1 PSV
It was a solid victory for Juventus at the Allianz Stadium as they defeated PSV 2-1. Weston McKennie scored in the first half, followed by a second goal from Ivan Perišić after the break. Although PSV managed to pull one back late in the game, it wasn’t enough to salvage a result for the visitors.
Manchester City 2-3 Real Madrid
The biggest clash of the night saw Real Madrid face the English Premier League champions at the Etihad Stadium. This marked their fourth consecutive meeting in the UCL knockout stages, with the title shared between the two sides over the past three campaigns.
Real Madrid snatched a dramatic victory in the dying moments of the game after a fiercely contested battle. Erling Haaland scored a brace for City, but both goals were canceled out by Kylian Mbappé and Brahim Díaz. In the second minute of stoppage time, Jude Bellingham netted the decisive goal for Madrid, securing all three points spectacularly.
The second set of four matches will take place on Wednesday night, with the return legs scheduled for next week. The eight winners will join the already-qualified teams in the knockout round.
