Red Star Belgrade claimed the first win of their Champions League campaign, coming from behind to thrash Stuttgart 5-1 at the Stadion Rajko Mitic on Wednesday.
This was only the Serbian SuperLiga leaders' third ever win in the competition, and they had to come from behind to move up to 31st in the standings after five games.
Ermedin Demirovic opened the scoring for the visitors in the fifth minute, capitalising on some slack defending to net his seventh goal of the season in all competitions.
However, Stuttgart loanee Silas Katompa Mvumpa restored parity six minutes later, driving from midfield before sending a curled effort beyond Alexander Nubel.
The hosts were ahead just past the half-hour mark through Rade Krunic, who netted his first club goal for over two years, his last coming for AC Milan in the 2022-23 campaign.
Red Star continued to threaten after the interval and were rewarded in the 65th minute when Mirko Ivanic ghosted in at the far post to head in his side's third.
Krunic turned provider four minutes later, teeing up Nemanja Radonjic before the Serbian striker notched his second a minute from time with a low left-footed finish.
Data Debrief: Fifth time lucky
After going four games without a win in the competition, Red Star did not look like a side lacking confidence as they confidently dispatched their Bundesliga opponents.
Their victory was their biggest across both the Champions League and European Cup when conceding first, while they also inflicted Stuttgart’s joint-heaviest defeat in the competition.
Red Star also scored five goals in a game in the Champions League or European Cup for the first time since a 5-0 win at Dundalk in September 1988, while it was their biggest triumph in the competition since beating Portadown 4-0 in October 1991.
Motta lauds 'compact' Juventus in Aston Villa stalemate
Thiago Motta left Villa Park satisfied after earning a point in a goalless draw with Aston Villa on Wednesday.
An injury-hit Juventus, with only 14 outfield players available, held on for much of the contest, but were aided by the intervention of VAR late on.
Morgan Rogers thought he had handed Unai Emery's side another victory in the competition in second-half stoppage time.
However, his smart finish was disallowed when the video assistant referee deemed Diego Carlos to have fouled goalkeeper Michele di Gregorio in the air.
Juventus were perhaps fortunate to leave the West Midlands with a point, having mustered an expected goals (xG) total of just 0.44 compared to Villa's 1.23.
Despite the Serie A side keeping a clean sheet for the first time in the Champions League since December 2021, Motta conceded his side did not create enough chances.
"A point secured, the team continues to play compact and with balance," Motta told Amazon Prime Video.
"Aston Villa started very fast, and they looked for their striker, but we conceded little. It is clear that we have also created little, so as not to give Aston Villa what they were looking for.
The result left Juventus 19th in the new 36-team standings after drawing back-to-back games in the competition for the first time since November 2017.
They find themselves on eight points from their opening five games, with the possibility of competing in the play-offs to seal their qualification to the last 16.
"We have great games to play between the league, Coppa Italia and Champions League," Motta said.
"Another good performance, a point, and we will continue to look for qualification. We will go out on the pitch always with our ideas and trying to win."
The Bianconeri will be looking to move up the Serie A table this Sunday when they travel to the Stadio Ettore Giardiniero to face Lecce.
Bellingham confident Mbappe will bounce back after Liverpool penalty miss
Jude Bellingham is confident Kylian Mbappe will bounce back and produce "many huge moments" for Real Madrid, after the forward's penalty was saved in the 2-0 defeat to Liverpool.
The reigning Champions League holders were beaten for the third time in their opening five matches of this season's competition, becoming the first defending champions to lose three games in the group stage after winning the title.
Second-half goals from Alexis Mac Allister and Cody Gakpo maintained Liverpool's perfect start to the campaign under Arne Slot, who oversaw a fifth win in as many games as his side returned to the top of the table.
Mbappe saw a chance to cancel out Mac Allister's opener go begging, when Caoimhin Kelleher saved his 61st-minute penalty.
It was the France skipper's latest setback in his difficult start to life with Madrid, but Bellingham empathised with his team-mate.
"It can happen," the England midfielder told TNT Sports. "He is a wonderful player, but the pressure he holds is huge because of how good he is.
"The penalty is not why we lost the game. They performed better than us. I know that he will produce many more moments that will be huge for this club."
On the game, he added: "To be fair, from the first minute, they took control of the game. We never really maximised the spells we had in possession. We turned it over so much that they kept control.
"They were more up for it than us, which is very disappointing to say. It is a bad result against the best-performing team in Europe.
"We are disappointed at how we have performed, and it is important that we win the next three games, and give ourselves a chance to go through."
Liverpool 2-0 Real Madrid: Mac Allister and Gakpo send Reds through
Alexis Mac Allister and substitute Cody Gakpo were on target as Liverpool qualified for the Champions League knockout stages with a 2-0 win over Real Madrid.
The result saw Liverpool earn their first win against Madrid at the ninth attempt, and Arne Slot's side became the first side to go through in the 36-team group stage after a memorable outing at Anfield.
Slot's hosts started strongly and almost found themselves ahead in the fifth minute when Darwin Nunez’s strike was saved by Thibaut Courtois, with Raul on hand to clear the ball off the line.
Nunez continued to be Liverpool’s main threat in the first half, seeing a close-range effort repelled by Courtois before sending a header narrowly wide of the far-left post with a deft header after being picked out by Mac Allister’s delicately floated pickout.
The Reds would, however, take a deserved lead seven minutes after the restart when neat interplay between Conor Bradley and Mac Allister resulted in the latter picking out the bottom-left corner to send Anfield into raptures.
Liverpool’s good work looked to have been undone when Andrew Robertson’s clumsy challenge on Lucas Vazquez inside the box offered Kylian Mbappe the opportunity to level the contest from 12 yards, but the Frenchman saw his effort brilliantly saved by Caoimhin Kelleher.
Mohamed Salah was then tripped at the other end by Ferland Mendy nine minutes later, offering the chance for the Reds to close out the contest, but he scuffed his spot-kick against the post.
However, a quick short-corner routine saw Robertson play a short one-two with Curtis Jones before the full-back delivered onto the head of Gakpo to finish and earn their fifth win in as many European games.
Data Debrief: Ruthless Reds march on
After suffering heartache against Madrid in their recent Champions League encounters, Liverpool produced arguably their most accomplished display against Los Blancos.
The Reds were deserving of their victory on Wednesday, ending the contest with an expected goals (xG) total of 2.53 to Madrid's 1.24.
Liverpool have now scored in their last five games in the Champions League, their longest run of games with a goal in the competition since a run of seven between September 2022 and February 2023.
They are just the fifth side to win their opening five games of a Champions League campaign and concede no more than one goal in the process, after AC Milan (1992-93), Juventus (2004-05), Atletico Madrid (2016-17) and Paris Saint-Germain (2017-18).
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