Brest continued their exceptional start in the Champions League with a 2-1 victory over Sparta Prague on Wednesday.

Edimilson Fernandes fired Brest, the surprise package of the new-look league phase, ahead in the 37th minute from a half-cleared corner, his shot zipping across the rain-soaked surface and in.

Ten minutes before full-time, Brest had daylight thanks to an own goal from Sparta's Kaan Kairinen, who got the final touch following a scramble on the goal line.

Victor Olatunji reduced the deficit deep into stoppage time, but Sparta were unable to find a leveller and sit just outside the play-off spots with four points from as many matches. 

Brest, meanwhile, are now in a fine position as they target the knockout stages, sitting fourth with 10 points, level with Sporting CP, Monaco and Inter.

Data Debrief: Brest join exclusive club

Brest are the fourth French side to go unbeaten through their first four matches in the Champions League, taking to Europe's premier club competition like a duck to water.

Marseille, Paris Saint-Germain and Bordeaux previously achieved that feat, while only Liverpool (12) have won more points than Brest in the competition this term.

Mikel Arteta felt Arsenal were "very harshly done by" in a 1-0 Champions League defeat to Inter that was decided by Hakan Calhanoglu's penalty.

Inter scored the only goal of the game after Mikel Merino was punished for handling inside his own area on the stroke of half-time.

But boss Arteta felt that decision was harsh, and particularly so when Merino had earlier not been awarded a spot-kick of his own.

The Spain midfielder appeared to beat Yann Sommer to a high ball in the Inter box and took a punch to the head in the process.

That incident was cleared following a VAR check, while the decision to penalise Merino at the other end of the pitch was quickly approved.

"I am very proud of my players, the level of domination we had," Arteta told TNT Sports. "We were very harshly done by in the sense that is obvious. Both penalties.

"If you are going to give a penalty, the other one has to be because he punches him in the head.

"There is no deflection, nothing you can do in the box, so can he get away from it? If he is going to give that, the other has to be 100% a penalty."

Arteta, who reintroduced Martin Odegaard as a late substitute following injury, also sought to focus on the positives, however.

Although Inter made a number of changes to their first XI, Arteta was enthused by the manner in which Arsenal dominated their opponents, having disappointed in another 1-0 defeat at Newcastle United on Saturday.

"We should have scored a couple at least, but the way the team played, that was us at least," he added. "Every decision in the box makes a difference.

"The way we played tonight, the team can go to Chelsea and win."

Leeds United suffered a first away defeat since April at Millwall as they lost ground at the top of the Championship, although leaders Sunderland could only draw again.

Daniel Farke's Whites required a response to move back into the automatic promotion places after a win for Sheffield United on Tuesday, but instead they were beaten 1-0 by surprise package Millwall.

A fourth straight 1-0 win for the Lions was secured with a first-half Japhet Tanganga goal and moved them up to fifth, now just four points behind Leeds in third.

Leeds are themselves four points behind front-runners Sunderland, but that gap could have been wider had the Black Cats beaten Preston North End.

Just as at Queens Park Rangers on Saturday, though, Sunderland were held to a goalless draw away from home.

Jobe Bellingham was sent off against QPR and so missed out through suspension, and further bold changes from coach Regis Le Bris could have opened the door for Preston to snatch an unlikely win.

Instead, Preston remain among a clutch of teams just above the relegation zone, also including Luton Town and Cardiff City.

Luton beat Cardiff 1-0 with a Jacob Brown goal, while Coventry City lost 2-1 at home to Derby County. Stoke City were 2-0 winners at Blackburn Rovers.

Karim Konate scored twice as Salzburg picked up their first points in the Champions League this season by upsetting Feyenoord with a 3-1 away win.

Feyenoord had won their last two games away at Girona and Benfica and were fancied to continue their momentum, only to be stunned on their return to De Kuip by the youthful Austrian outfit.

Twenty-year-old Konate, who helped Ivory Coast win the Africa Cup of Nations at the start of the year, put Salzburg ahead two minutes into first-half stoppage time.

An errant roll out by home goalkeeper Timon Wellenreuther led to Oscar Gloukh crossing for Konate to head home.

Feyenoord were then caught napping in the 58th minute when Kamil Piatkowski looped a header up in the air from a corner and Konate reacted quickly to volley home a second.

The hosts' position turned worse when substitute Chris-Kevin Nadje was sent off for a studs-up tackle in the 79th minute, though they pulled a goal back just two minutes later through Anis Hadj Moussa.

Salzburg should have settled the outcome when a VAR intervention handed them an 85th-minute penalty, but Konate fluffed the chance for a hat-trick as he rattled the crossbar.

However, Daouda Guindo came off the bench and with his first contribution slammed home a long-range effort to ensure the points would return to Austria.

Data Debrief: Worth the wait for Salzburg

Salzburg have now ended their eight-match run without a win in the Champions League (one draw, seven losses), while scoring for the first time in four games. 

They have now won each of their last three games against Dutch opponents in European competitions after failing to win any of their first four (two draws, two defeats).

Stuttgart suffered a first home defeat in more than a year as second-half goals from Ademola Lookman and Nicolo Zaniolo gave Atalanta a 2-0 win in Germany.

Not since a 3-2 Bundesliga reverse against Hoffenheim in late October 2023 had Stuttgart been beaten at Neckarstadion, but that run was ended in the Champions League on Wednesday.

Atalanta arrived in Stuttgart undefeated in eight and having stunned Serie A leaders Napoli away from home at the weekend, yet this latest upset only became possible with the half-time introduction of Charles De Ketelaere.

He quickly created the breakthrough goal for Lookman after beating two defenders, and the German side faced an uphill struggle thereafter.

They could not come up with an equaliser and instead conceded a clinching second goal when Zaniolo pounced on a defensive error and slipped the ball past Alexander Nubel.

As victory took Atalanta up to ninth on eight points, Stuttgart fell out of the play-off places with four points at the halfway stage of the league phase.

Data Debrief: Home form not reflected in Europe

Despite Stuttgart's previous dominance at home, their European record at Neckarstadion continues to leave a lot to be desired.

Having drawn with Sparta Prague earlier in this campaign, Stuttgart are winless in eight home matches in major European competition. In fact, they are without a home Champions League goal since 2007.

The joy of an away win against Juventus will count for little if Sebastian Hoeness' side cannot turn their fortunes around at home, where in domestic competition they have been so strong.

Meanwhile, seven of Atalanta's 10 Champions League wins have now come on the road.

Jamal Musiala scored a header in the second half to give Bayern Munich a crucial 1-0 home victory over Benfica in the Champions League on Wednesday.

Germany international Musiala scored with a bullet header from close range in the 67th minute with Bayern dominating and missing several chances before eventually breaking the deadlock.

Musiala’s chance was set up when Harry Kane headed Leroy Sane’s cross back across the face of goal.

The result was much needed to get Bayern’s campaign back on track, with the win seeing them bounce back from suffering two consecutive defeats in the competition – against Aston Villa and Barcelona – for the first time since 2017.

A win lifted the Germans to six points from four matches and into 17th place with Benfica, who were toothless in attack, also on six points in 19th place.

Europe's top club competition has switched from a group stage to a league phase this season, where 36 teams play eight matches each. The top eight in the table progress directly to the next round, while the next 16 teams enter a two-legged playoff.

Bayern have a crunch clash against Paris Saint-Germain next in the competition on November 26.
 

Data Debrief: Unlucky 13 for Benfica

Benfica have now played 13 major European matches against Bayern and have never tasted victory, collecting only three draws and suffering 10 defeats.

That trend rarely showed signs of ending in this match, with Benfica not threatening. The visitors failed to register a shot on target for the first time in 45 Champions League matches. The last time they did not trouble the goalkeeper in this competition was in October 2017 against Manchester United. Bayern, by comparison, racked up 10 attempts on target.

Benfica also only had four touches in the opposition box, their lowest tally on record since Opta started recording that data in the Champions League in 2007-08, with Bayern tallying 51.

As for Kane, the assist means he has now been directly involved in 80 goals across all competitions (61 goals, 19 assists) since the start of last season. That is 16 more than any other player across Europe’s biggest five leagues in this period.

Paris Saint-Germain's disappointing Champions League campaign stumbled to a new low on Wednesday as a last-gasp 2-1 home loss to Atletico Madrid left them in the elimination zone.

After defeat to Arsenal and a draw with PSV, PSG were hoping to get back on track in Europe and scored first through Warren Zaire Emery on 14 minutes.

But Nahuel Molina had Atleti level just four minutes later, and a largely disappointing encounter looked set for a draw until Angel Correa's dramatic winner three minutes into second-half stoppage time.

On as a substitute, Correa stabbed past Gianluigi Donnarumma following a rapid counter-attack, prompting an angry reaction from the home crowd.

PSG are left on just four points from four matches, down in 25th and facing an early exit from the competition.

Diego Simeone's Atleti themselves badly needed this victory but are now two points and two places above their opponents at the halfway stage of the league phase.

Data Debrief: Classic Atleti punish profligate PSG

This was Simeone's Atletico in a nutshell. They had just 29% of the ball and attempted only four shots, yet two of those found the back of the net to stun PSG.

The Ligue 1 giants entered this matchweek as the Champions League's biggest under-performers in terms of expected goals since the start of last season, and again they were too wasteful in the final third after creating 1.9 xG.

Atleti, who have consistently proven far more clinical, had chances worth just 0.7 xG but ruthlessly stole victory.

Barcelona striker Robert Lewandowski scored a goal in each half to help them secure a comprehensive 5-2 win at Red Star Belgrade in the Champions League.

Defender Inigo Martinez opened the scoring with a close-range header from a Raphinha free-kick in the 13th minute, nodding across goal to find the bottom-left corner.

However, Barca were pegged back when Silas beat their aggressive offside trap to equalise with a tidy finish from a quick counterattack 14 minutes later.

Lewandowski then tucked home on the rebound after Raphinha struck the post in the 43rd minute, before extending Barca's lead eight minutes into the second half with a first-time strike from a Jules Kounde cross.

The France full-back also set up Raphinha for Barca's fourth then recorded his third assist in the 76th minute, putting the ball on a plate for Fermin Lopez to fire home Barca's fifth from inside the box.

Substitute Milson reduced the deficit for the home side six minutes from time, but Red Star remain without a point in 35th place, while Barca are sixth in the 36-team table with nine.

Data Debrief: Lewandowski out on his own 

Lewandowski has now scored 19 goals in 16 appearances for Barcelona this season; the most of any player for a team in Europe's big five leagues across all competitions. 

Eleven of those 19 goals have come in away matches, which is also the most of any player this term.

As a team, Barca have netted 55 goals in 16 games across all competitions in 2024-25, the most of any team from the big five European leagues. 

Hakan Calhanoglu maintained his perfect penalty record for Inter to secure a 1-0 victory over Arsenal in the Champions League on Wednesday.

Neither side had conceded a goal in their opening three games in the competition this season, but Arsenal's defence was finally breached after Mikel Merino was punished for a handball inside his own box shortly before half-time.

Calhanoglu calmly beat David Raya from the spot for his 19th successful conversion from 19 penalties in all competitions since joining Inter.

The much-changed Nerazzurri were good value for their lead at that stage, having earlier hit the post through Denzel Dumfries, yet Arsenal then laid siege to the home goal.

While Kai Havertz was denied by Yann Sommer and saw another effort deflected wide, Inter defended superbly and held on for another win that takes them to 10 points from four matches.

Arsenal are three points back, outside the top eight, but at least welcomed captain Martin Odegaard back from injury as a late substitute.

Data Debrief: Stubborn Inter frustrate Arsenal again

For Arsenal, this felt like a familiar, frustrating story. Just as against Newcastle United in the Premier League on Saturday, the Gunners dominated the possession (63%), attempted more shots (21) and created more expected goals (2.2) than their opponents but could find no way through in a 1-0 defeat.

Yet this also followed a trend for Inter, who came into this match without having conceded a goal in the Champions League this season despite facing 53 shots. They have now kept four consecutive clean sheets in the European Cup for the first time in their history.

Odegaard might have been the man to break down that dominant Nerazzurri defence, but he appeared only as a 93rd-minute substitute and touched the ball just once.

Cleveland Browns general manager Andrew Berry has refused to confirm whether Deshaun Watson will remain the franchise's starting quarterback when he returns from his Achilles injury.

Watson endured a dismal start to the 2024 season as the Browns went 1-5 before he suffered the season-ending injury against the Cincinnati Bengals in Week 7.

They failed to score 20 points in any of their seven games with Watson starting but did so at the first time of asking without him, beating the Baltimore Ravens 29-24 with Jameis Winston standing in at quarterback two weeks ago.

Watson's relationship with the Browns' fanbase had already become strained after more than two dozen women accused him of sexual assault and inappropriate behaviour in massage sessions. 

He served an 11-game suspension to start the 2022 season – his first campaign with the team after being handed a five-year, $230million contract following his trade from the Houston Texans.

"Really our focus with Deshaun, I would say for any player with a season-ending injury and a major injury, is first and foremost and to make sure that he gets healthy," Berry said on Wednesday.

"Everything else, we'll deal with at a later moment."

Berry added, however, that the team's issues were not all of Watson's making.

"We haven't played well as a team and we haven't played well as a unit on offense," Berry said. 

"I think oftentimes when you don't play well on offense, obviously your starting quarterback and your play caller will get the most criticism. 

"But the reality of it is, offenses, it comes down to organization and synchronization. There's a lot of shared ownership across the different groups in terms of why we didn't perform."

Aston Villa bemoaned the controversial penalty decision that condemned them to a first Champions League defeat at Club Brugge on Wednesday.

On their return to Europe's elite club competition, Villa won their first three matches without conceding, but that run was ended in a 1-0 reverse in Belgium.

The decisive goal was highly contentious, however. Tyrone Mings was penalised for picking up a pass from Emiliano Martinez, apparently believing the Villa goalkeeper had not yet taken a goal-kick.

That error was punished as Hans Vanaken converted the consequent penalty, and Villa could not recover from a moment that boss Unai Emery felt altered the shape of the game.

"In the second half, the mistake changed everything," Emery said. "A team like [Brugge], they are playing at home, defensively strong, they then focus 100% to stop us. They were better than us."

Mings' defensive colleague Ezri Konsa described his frustration at the incident, suggesting Mings would have been sent off had there been a genuine infringement.

"It killed the game," Konsa said. "If it is a handball, deliberate, then he should get a second yellow.

"He's on a yellow already, so why not send him off for that then? It killed the game.

"But look, it happened, there's nothing we can do, we've just got to move on from it."

Villa have now lost three consecutive games in all competitions, matching their worst such run under Emery. They face Premier League and Champions League leaders Liverpool next at Anfield.

Tyrell Malacia is closing in on a return from injury while fellow Manchester United defenders Harry Maguire and Luke Shaw are making progress in their recoveries, Ruud van Nistelrooy has revealed. 

Malacia has not featured for United since the final day of the 2022-23 season, missing the entirety of last campaign after undergoing knee surgery.

The Netherlands international has recently returned to training, however, and interim head coach Ruud van Nistelrooy says he is almost ready to receive competitive minutes.

"[All the injured players are] different cases, all of them," Van Nistelrooy said ahead of Thursday's Europa League clash with Greek giants PAOK.

"Tyrell is the furthest along the road to recovery at the moment – he's been part of team training for a couple of weeks now, full in team training, no restrictions.

"So it's good for him to plan game minutes, maybe in the Under-21s. We have to see."

United have been forced to field Noussair Mazraoui or Diogo Dalot as makeshift left-backs this season, with Luke Shaw also yet to feature in 2024-25 due to a calf issue.

Fellow England international Maguire, meanwhile, has been absent since limping out of a goalless draw at Aston Villa last month.

Van Nistelrooy said of the duo: "Harry is still inside, working on his rehab."

"Luke also does pitch work like he did today, and he's progressing there to also do partial team training, hopefully soon."

After welcoming PAOK to Old Trafford on Thursday, United host Leicester City in the Premier League on Sunday, their last match before Sporting CP boss Ruben Amorim takes the reins. 

Tottenham believe Cristian Romero has avoided serious injury, but Richarlison is set for a period on the sidelines after the pair limped out of Sunday's win against Aston Villa.

Both Romero and Richarlison were substituted in the second half of a 4-1 victory at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

Argentina World Cup winner Romero appeared to hurt his foot in a blow to a Spurs team already missing Micky van de Ven, while Richarlison was injured in creating the third goal for Dominic Solanke.

Neither will feature for Tottenham at Galatasaray in the Europa League on Thursday, but the outlook beyond that is rather more positive for Romero.

"From the weekend, obviously Richy unfortunately injured his hamstring," Ange Postecoglou said. "I'm still getting the final information, but I think he'll be out for a while.

"Romero, I think, is nothing too serious, hopefully. Hopefully, he still has a chance for the weekend [against Ipswich Town]."

Providing a further update on his squad for the Galatasaray match, Postecoglou said: "Timo Werner has been carrying a bit of a groin complaint, which is still there, so he didn't travel, and Mikey Moore picked up a bit of a virus yesterday, so we've left him at home as well.

"I think everyone else who's fit and eligible is here."

Given their injuries, a trip to a talented Galatasaray side might be considered daunting, but Postecoglou is relishing it.

"We're looking forward to it," he said. "It's a fantastic stadium, the supporters create an unbelievable atmosphere here, they love the big European nights.

"They're a very, very good team. It's exactly the kind of games you want to be involved in in Europe. Whether you're young, you're old, irrespective of the role you have, you look forward to it."