Vinícius Júnior had a hat trick and Real Madrid stunned Borussia Dortmund with a 5–2 victory in a rematch of last season’s UEFA Champions League final.
The Germans took the lead in the first half on two goals, four minutes apart. First, Donyell Malen took a short, nifty pass from Serhou Guirassy in the center of the penalty area and fired the ball past Real Madrid goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois in the 30th minute. Then, Malen set up the second goal when he slotted a pass across the penalty area to Jamie Gittens, who scored from close range.
Real Madrid came close to scoring in the 37th minute, but Jude Bellingham’s right-footed shot caromed off the crossbar.
The Spaniards finally broke through with two goals in two minutes. Antonio Rüdiger scored on a header off a cross from Kylian Mbappé in the 60th minute. Júnior scored the equalizer on a left-footed shot from close range after a VAR review.
Real Madrid then put the game away with a goal by Lucas Vázquez in the 83rd minute and another by Sturm Graz three minutes later. The game turned into a rout with Júnior’s third goal in the 90th minute.
Real Madrid beat Dortmund 2–0 in last year’s final.
U.S. international Christian Pulisic scored again, and AC Milan edged Club Brugge 3–1. Pulisic curled a corner kick into the far corner of the goal to give the Italians a 1–0 lead in the 30th minute. Pulisic has now scored twice this season in the Champions League competition
Brugge was playing short-handed after Raphael Onyedika was shown a red card late in the first half but managed to tie the game on a goal by Kyriani Sabbe in the 51st minute. However, AC Milan continued to attack, and Tijjani Reijnders scored a pair of goals 10 minutes apart to seal the win.
Other Games
Stuttgart 1, Juventus 0The German side shocked the Italians with a goal by El Bilal Toure two minutes into extra time in the second half. Danilo was shown a late red card for Juventus, which helped lead to the winning goal. Stuttgart improved to 1-1-1, and Juventus fell to 2-0-1.
The French power got all it could handle from PSV Eindhoven. Noa Lang gave the Dutch side the lead on a header from a cross by Johan Bakayoko in the 34th. Achraf Hakimi tied the game for PSG in the 55th minute. Paris Saint-Germain (1–1–1) outshot PSV Eindhoven (0–2–1) by a 26–8 margin.
The English Premier League side escaped with the victory on an own goal by Dmytro Riznyk in the 29th minute. Shakhtar Donetsk (0–1–2) was able to absorb the Gunners’ aggressive attack, which had five shots on frame. Arsenal is still unbeaten at 2–1–0 in the competition.
John McGinn scored in the 55th minute, and Jhon Durán scored nine minutes later to keep the English Premier side rolling. Aston Villa has won three straight games in the Champions League and stunned German power Bayern Munich in the competition on Oct. 2. It was the first time Bayern Munich lost a group-stage game since 2017. Bologna fell to 0–1–2.
Miguel Gutiérrez scored late in the first half for the Italian squad. Juanpe added an insurance goal in the 73rd minute for Girona, which picked up its first win. Slovan Bratislava, which plays in the Slovak Super Liga, remained winless.
Nuno Santos gave Lisbon the early lead with a goal in the 23rd minute. The Portuguese side continued to attack and Viktor Gyökeres added an insurance goal in the 53rd minute. Sporting Lison improved to 2–1–0 and Sturm Graz lost its third straight match.
Takumi Minamino scored twice in the 20th minute and 70th minute to lead the French Ligue 1 squad to its second victory in three matches. Breel Embolo added a goal in extra time in the first half, Wilfried Singo scored in the 54th minute, and Maghnes Akliouche scored in the closing seconds of the game. Cherif Ndiaye scored on a 27th-minute penalty for Red Star Belgrade, which has lost all three of its matches in the competition.
