Lazio goalkeeper Ivan Provedel scored an equaliser deep in injury time as his side claimed a dramatic 1-1 draw with Atletico Madrid at the Stadio Olimpico.
The hosts looked to be heading for a narrow defeat in their opening UEFA Champions League Group E clash after Pablo Barrios fired the visitors into a 29th-minute lead.
But under instructions to go up for a corner in the fifth minute of added time, Provedel continued to loiter in the box before leaping to glance a Luis Alberto cross past his opposite number Ivo Grbic.
Provedel’s goal was the sixth by a goalkeeper in the Champions League and only the second from open play, after Sinan Bolat scored for Standard Liege against AZ Alkmaar in 2009.
There was also drama in the other Group E encounter as goals from Calvin Stengs and Alireza Jahanbaksh saw Feyenoord claim a 2-0 win over Celtic, who finished the game with nine men.
Stengs’ free-kick snuck home to give the Dutch side the lead on the stroke of half-time and Brendan Rodgers’ men unravelled after the interval as both Gustaf Lagerbielke and Odin Thiago Holm saw red.
Julian Alvarez came to the rescue for holders Manchester City, who survived a major scare before seeing off Red Star Belgrade 3-1 at the Etihad Stadium.
Osman Bukari fired the visitors in front against the run of play just before half-time but it took Alvarez 72 seconds of the second half to slide his side back in front.
Alvarez had a say in City’s second as his free-kick was flapped into his own net by Red Star keeper Omri Glazer, and Pep Guardiola’s men wrapped up a deserved victory when Rodri produced a typically composed finish 17 minutes from time.
Also in Group G, substitute Benjamin Sesko scored in injury time to seal a 3-1 win for RB Leipzig at Young Boys.
Joao Felix shone with two goals and an assist as Barcelona proved far too strong for Royal Antwerp, cantering to a 5-0 home victory in Group H.
The Portugal international fired an 11th-minute opener before Robert Lewandowski added his side’s second on 19 minutes for Xavi’s in-form side.
The visitors, returning to the top level of European football for the first time in 65 years, fell further behind after 22 minutes when Jelle Bataille’s unfortunate deflection flew in off the post.
Barca were in cruise control with teenager Gavi adding his side’s fourth goal nine minutes into the second half before the outstanding Felix deservedly completed the rout with his second just past the hour mark.
Two goals from Galeno helped Porto begin their Group H campaign with a 3-1 win over Shakhtar Donetsk in Hamburg.
Kylian Mbappe opened the scoring from the penalty spot as Paris St Germain kicked off their Group F campaign with a 2-0 win over Borussia Dortmund.
The hosts had to wait until the 49th minute for their opener but made sure of the points in the 56th minute when Achraf Hakimi doubled their advantage with a quality finish.
Rafael Leao missed a golden chance to kick AC Milan’s Group F campaign off with a win against Newcastle at the San Siro.
The Portugal international had only keeper Nick Pope to beat after a surging 34th-minute run but attempted an audacious flick and only succeeded in tripping himself.
Pope made a series of fine first-half saves to earn a point for the Magpies in their first top-level European match for 20 years, but the frustration was clear among the fans of the seven-time winners.
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Stefano Pioli urges AC Milan to get Serie A title challenge back on track
AC Milan boss Stefano Pioli admitted his side must get their Serie A title challenge back on track with victory in Saturday’s home game against Frosinone.
Just one win in their previous five league matches has seen Milan slip six points behind leaders Inter and four behind second-placed Juventus.
A home Champions League defeat to Borussia Dortmund in midweek left Milan bottom of their group and while they can still qualify for the knockout stages with one game to play, the pressure is mounting on Pioli.
The 58-year-old former Lazio, Inter and Fiorentina head coach told a press conference: “Frosinone are doing very well and have confidence, (Eusebio) Di Francesco is doing a great job.
“They are aggressive, but we know how to cause them problems. We want to win, and we need to. We need points, the league campaign is long.
“As usual, we’ll need to show concentration, determination and quality. We need to show we are still competitive and put in a good performance.”
Milan beat Pioli’s former club Fiorentina 1-0 at the San Siro last week to halt a domestic league run of two draws and two defeats and a slump in form has coincided with a lengthy injury list.
Pioli was without half a dozen key players for Tuesday night’s loss to Dortmund and saw defender Malick Thiaw forced off early in the second half.
Thiaw will not feature against Frosinone and Olivier Giroud is still suspended, while Rafael Leao, Noah Okafor, Pierre Kalulu, Simon Kjaer, Marco Pellegrino and Mattia Caldara are unlikely to feature.
Pioli added: “There are still 25 league games to play. I told the players not to come in on Thursday to Milanello if they didn’t believe we could reach Inter and Juventus.”
Frosinone boss Di Francesco has injury concerns of his own as his 10th-placed side bid to halt their poor away form, with Luca Mazzitelli, Riccardo Marchizza, Pol Lirola, Francesco Gelli and Marco Brescianini all doubtful.
Frosinone’s impressive start to the season after promotion has been built on five wins and a draw in seven home league matches, but they are winless on the road.
Di Francesco told a press conference: “We need to get this obstacle out of our heads. We made the last point (on the road) in Salerno (in September).
“We need to try to approach the away match with the right attitude. Here at home, however, we feel stronger when going to face our opponents. This way of thinking certainly needs to be changed.”
Aston Villa complain to UEFA over ‘shocking behaviour’ of Legia Warsaw fans
Aston Villa have lodged an official complaint with UEFA over the behaviour of Legia Warsaw fans ahead of the Europa Conference League clash at Villa Park.
Almost 50 people were arrested following violence involving the visiting fans prior to kick-off on Thursday night.
Missiles were thrown at police as the Polish supporters were held in a coach park near the ground before they were due to enter the stadium.
West Midlands Police said four officers were injured and, although the game started on time, no Legia fans were allowed in ahead of kick-off.
Villa also accused Legia officials of a “complete lack of cooperation” with themselves, the police and UEFA.
Villa said in a statement: “Aston Villa can confirm it has lodged an official complaint with UEFA over the conduct of Legia Warsaw Football Club and the behaviour of their supporters prior to last night’s UEFA Europa Conference League match at Villa Park.
“Four police officers were injured and 46 Legia supporters arrested after unprecedented violence by the Polish fans outside the stadium.
“This shocking behaviour followed Legia club officials’ complete lack of cooperation with West Midlands Police, Aston Villa and UEFA throughout the day.
“It started during the standard pre-match operational meeting that commenced at 10.30am on Thursday morning and was attended by UEFA representatives, including UEFA’s security team, as well as West Midlands Police including representatives from both clubs.
“Legia Warsaw refused to confirm if they would accept their allocation of tickets for the match at that point. This is in stark contrast to normal UEFA operational procedures.
“They advised the meeting that they would meet with their supporters at 2.30pm and communicate the decision at 3pm, but advised there was a possibility that they would not accept the tickets.
“Despite repeated requests before and after the 3pm deadline for a decision, there was no communication until 4pm when Legia informed Aston Villa that they wished to receive their ticket allocation.
“These tickets were handed to Legia officials immediately upon their arrival at the stadium at 6.16pm. To reiterate, Legia officials were advised on a call that included a number of UEFA representatives on November 2 that they would receive an allocation of 1,002 – exactly four weeks prior to last night’s fixture.”
Chris Heck, president of business operations at Villa, said: “The lack of cooperation and prevarication from Legia Warsaw officials prior to the match was entirely unacceptable and deeply disappointing.
“This behaviour increased the danger that West Midlands Police officers and our own fans were subjected to before the game and the scenes of disorder from the Legia fans have no place in modern football or civilised society.
“Aston Villa will be making further representations to UEFA in order to ensure that other clubs and police forces across Europe are not exposed to similar serious safety risks at the hands of Legia Warsaw.
“We are immensely grateful to West Midlands Police for keeping our supporters and our local community safe last night and are pleased that they will also be making their own representations via the UK police authorities to UEFA.”
West Midlands Police chief inspector Tim Robinson said on Thursday evening: “This should have been a great evening of football which was enjoyed by fans from both clubs.
“Unfortunately, there were appalling scenes which saw away fans dangerously throw flares and other missiles at our officers.”
He said the “extreme violence” left police with no other choice but to prevent away fans entering the stadium, adding: “The safety of everyone is our priority, and clearly we had no other option.”
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