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.
Monaco 2-3 Benfica: Amdouni snatches victory as Di Maria inspires turnaround
Benfica twice came from behind to end Monaco's four-game unbeaten run in the Champions League, scoring two late headers to grab a thrilling 3-2 win on Wednesday.
Monaco's Eliesse Ben Seghir got his side off to a great start, breaking the deadlock in the 13th minute by ghosting into the box to rifle home Aleksandr Golovin's cutback pass after a superb counter-attack.
Benfica took control and should have equalised in the 37th minute when Angel Di Maria was denied by Radoslaw Majecki, and Nicolas Otamendi's header from the resulting corner flew just wide.
Breel Embolo smacked a shot off a post in the second half, and that miss proved costly when Vangelis Pavlidis made the most of Monaco defender Caio Henrique's weak header to steal the ball and equalise.
The chaos continued as both sides had goals ruled out for offside by the VAR before Monaco centre-back Wilfried Singo was dismissed just before the hour mark for two yellow cards.
Soungoutou Magassa picked the perfect time to score his first goal for the club, charging on to Christian Mawissa's angled pass and drilling it low into the corner to restore Monaco's lead in the 67th minute.
However, Di Maria produced a superb cross for Arthur Cabral to level in the 84th minute, and four minutes later the Argentina forward crossed for Zeki Amdouni to head home the winner.
Data Debrief: Diamond Di Maria
Di Maria's late creative heroics moved him onto 38 assists in the Champions League, taking him clear of Manchester United and England great David Beckham (36).
Only Ryan Giggs (41), Cristiano Ronaldo (40) and Lionel Messi (39) have provided more assists in the competition than him, with all of them either retired or no longer playing in Europe.
It capped a memorable outing for Di Maria, who made his 112th appearance in UEFA's top competition – Messi (163) and Roberto Carlos (120) are the only South American players to have featured more.
Pavlidis also scored his first for Benfica, and the Greek forward now has 13 goals in 26 matches in major European competition – an average of a goal every other game.
Liverpool 2-0 Real Madrid: Mac Allister and Gakpo keep Reds perfect
Alexis Mac Allister and substitute Cody Gakpo were on target as Liverpool continued their perfect start to the Champions League with a 2-0 win over holders Real Madrid.
The result saw Liverpool earn their first win against Madrid at the ninth attempt, and there was no stopping Arne Slot's side on an enthralling night at Anfield.
The hosts started strongly to the encounter 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.
Slot’s side 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.
However, 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 too could not convert from the spot, scuffing his spot-kick that struck the post on its way behind, but Liverpool were able to seal the win shortly after.
A quick corner routine saw Robertson play a short one-two with Curtis Jones, with the Scotland captain delivering onto the head of Gakpo to finish, putting them top of the Champions League table with five wins from five.
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 games between September 2022 and February 2023.
Bologna 1-2 Lille: Mukau heroics keep away side in touch of top eight
Ngal'ayel Mukau proved the hero for Lille as they battled to a hard-fought 2-1 away win over Bologna in the Champions League on Wednesday.
Mukau opened the scoring for Lille a minute before the break from a rebound after his initial shot was blocked, before Bologna struck through Jhon Lucumi in the 63rd minute.
That marked the Serie A side's first goal in the competition this campaign, though the home celebrations were cut short soon after.
Mukau scored his second just three minutes later before Bologna were unable to find another goal as their goalkeeper Lukasz Skorupski pulled off several fine saves to keep them in the game.
Lille's win moved them on to 10 points in the standings, while Bologna remain on one point after slumping to their third successive defeat.
Data Debrief: Lovely Lille flying
Outside of the knockout stages, Lille have lost just one of their last nine matches in the Champions League (W6 D2), losing 2-0 against Sporting CP on MD1 this season.
Bologna, meanwhile, have lost their last four in this competition and are the first Italian side to suffer as many defeats in a row in a single campaign.
The Serie A club, at least, avoided becoming just the second side to fail to score in their first five games in Champions League history, with Galatasaray the only to do so during the 1993-94 season.
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