Juanpe said it was "a dream come true" after his goal helped Girona to an historic first Champions League victory in their history.

Michel's side, who are embarking on their maiden campaign in Europe's premier competition, got their first win on the board after seeing off Slovan Bratislava 2-0 on Tuesday.

After opening with successive defeats against Paris Saint-Germain and Feyenoord, Girona took a first-half lead through Miguel Gutierrez, before Juanpe's deflected free-kick sealed the victory 17 minutes from time.

And the 33-year-old defender, who is in his ninth season with Blanquivermells, was proud to play his part of a momentous day for the club.

"It's a dream come true. We watched this competition on TV, and this is the pure elite," he said. "I'm very happy. When I scored, I looked at the scoreboard to make sure it was true, my entire football career was going through my mind.

"It's an important triumph and one of the most important moments of my career, scoring in the Champions League with Girona."

"I am very happy for Juanpe," head coach Michel added. "He has been here for many years, and now he has scored in the Champions League.

"We must be happy and proud of these players. Most of their performances were incredible."

Nuri Sahin cited his substitutions as a "mistake" in Borussia Dortmund's 5-2 defeat to Real Madrid in the Champions League on Tuesday. 

Donyell Malen and Jamie Gittens had given the Bundesliga side a two-goal advantage heading into half-time, but they were unable to hold on to their lead.

Madrid came out firing after the interval, with a hat-trick from Vinicius Junior along with goals from Antonio Rudiger and Lucas Vazquez sealing the triumph. 

But Sahin's decision to replace both Malen and Gittens for defender Waldemar Anton and holding midfielder Pascal Gross proved to be Dortmund's undoing.

Five minutes after Gittens' substitution, Madrid halved the deficit through Rudiger, and were level 105 seconds later when Vinicius struck beyond Gregor Kobel. 

"It's not easy to explain, of course. We, who I thought played well with the ball, really had a lot of solutions," Sahin said. 

"The boys did well, scored two goals and then went into half-time and we knew it would be very long. The second half very, very long. 

"We noticed in the second half that we were being pushed back, we had defensive problems and I thought we should go to the three-man defence, and that didn't work out for us.

"It's my mistake and I have to live with it. There will be criticism, but that's something I have to face.

"We defended very, very badly. But also we have to factor the individual class of Real, a complete team."

However, Sahin insisted his side can take positives from the way they played in the first 45 minutes at the Bernabeu. 

Dortmund registered six shots, with five of those on target, entering the interval with an expected goals (xG) total of 1.49 compared to Los Blancos' 1.14. 

The visitors also boasted 52% possession, while also playing 158 passes in the opposition half to Madrid's 133 in the first half.

"It's an extremely bitter loss today, it hurts because we go out with the feeling that it was possible to go out with a better result," Sahin said.

"But tomorrow we also have to take the positives from this game with us.

"If we can play football like this against Real Madrid, then we have to do it against everyone and that has to be our benchmark. We're doing well up front."

Thiago Motta shouldered the blame for Juventus' first defeat of his tenure after they lost 1-0 to Stuttgart in the Champions League on Tuesday. 

Motta, who took charge of Juventus in June, had won six of his first 10 games in charge, but watched on as his side were outplayed by the Bundesliga outfit on home soil. 

The contest was decided by El Bilal Toure, who notched the winning goal in second-half stoppage time, though the outcome should have been sealed much sooner.

Ermedin Demirovic struck the post while Enzo Millot saw his penalty saved by Mattia Perin, who was comfortably Juventus' standout player at the Allianz Stadium. 

Perin made nine saves, with no Juventus goalkeeper making more in a single Champions League match on record, equalling Christian Abbiati's nine stops against Bayern Munich back in 2005.

Motta lamented his side's attacking display, not helped by the absences of Nico Gonzalez, Teun Koopmeiners, Gleison Bremer, Arek Milik and Douglas Luiz through injury.

"I agree we need to do more in attack to compete with a team like Stuttgart, but in order to play well we need to be much better in defending than tonight," Motta said.

"We struggled to build anything and were not in a condition to do well. A team has to defend well so it can recover the ball and then use it well.

"We suffered out of possession, while the most we managed in attack was a few counters. I take responsibility for that, we must improve for the next games."

Juventus had just one shot on target against Stuttgart, their fewest in a Champions League game since a 1-0 win against Chelsea in September 2021 (also one).

When questioned about Juventus' physical condition, Motta denied there was any difference in the pace of Serie A compared to the other top five leagues in Europe. 

"I don't think we go slow in Italy. Certainly today in this match, we struggled with their rhythm and their game," Motta said.

"There are many things to analyse about Italian and international football ... teams that want to have the ball, high rhythm and low rhythm. This is the level."

Juventus now turn their attentions to league action, hoping to return to winning ways at the home of champions Inter, who are a point ahead of them in the table.

Paris Saint-Germain captain Marquinhos lamented his side's lack of efficiency after playing out a 1-1 draw with PSV Eindhoven in the Champions League on Tuesday. 

The Parisiens needed a stunner from Achraf Hakimi to salvage a point at the Parc des Princes after Noa Lang had given the Eredivisie outfit a 34th-minute lead. 

Luis Enrique's side have struggled in this year's competition, with Hakimi's leveller only their second goal in the Champions League this term, despite netting 25 goals in Ligue 1 this campaign. 

PSG dominated for large parts on Tuesday, registering 26 shots, the most against PSV in a Champions League match since November 2018 (30 from Tottenham).

Luis Enrique's side have also now had 25 or more shots in each of their last three Champions League home games (also 30 against Borussia Dortmund and 26 against Girona).

"Efficiency was our main problem because we had a lot of chances," Marquinhos said.

"We had so many opportunities in the beginning but did not convert, while they were more clinical, opened the scoring, and it changed the scenario of the match."

But for all of PSG's attempts, only eight were on target, with the Parisiens underperforming their expected goals (xG) total by 1.57. 

Ousmane Dembele struck the woodwork in the 18th minute, while Bradley Barcola and Lee Kang-In threatened, but they rarely threatened visiting goalkeeper Walter Benitez. 

"We are among the teams who create the most chances, the team are playing the way I want them to," said Luis Enrique.

"If you look at the statistics, we've been scoring a lot of goals," added Marquinhos, referring to their 25 in the opening eight Ligue 1 games this season.

PSG currently sit 17th in the new Champions League table ahead of Wednesday's fixtures, with games against Atletico Madrid and Bayern Munich to come.

"Our style of play has changed," Marquinhos said. "We need to be more calm in front of goal.

"These are things we need to work at in training and in our heads."

Carlo Ancelotti believes Vinicius Junior will scoop the Ballon d'Or this season after he netted a hat-trick in Real Madrid's 5-2 win over Borussia Dortmund on Tuesday.

In a repeat of their Champions League final in June, the Bundesliga outfit looked well on their way to exacting revenge at the Bernabeu when Donyell Malen and Jamie Gittens had them two goals up at the break. 

However, Antonio Rudiger's header on the hour-mark sparked the turnaround, with Vinicius levelling the contest two minutes later to set up an enthralling conclusion.

With Lucas Vazquez completing the comeback, the Brazilian turned on the style in the closing stages, scoring twice to notch his third Los Blancos treble. 

Vinicius is tipped to win the Ballon d'Or for his displays during Madrid's Champions League and LaLiga successes last year, with Ancelotti insisting it will be won by the 24-year-old.

"What I can say is that it's rare to see a player who plays a second half like Vinicius did," Ancelotti said.

"And not because of the three goals, but because of his character; he's extraordinary. 

"Vinicius is going to win (the Ballon d'Or), not for what he did tonight, but for what he did last year.

"These three goals are already going to count for next year's Ballon d'Or, that's for sure. He is a player who gets whistled at because he can make a difference."

Since the start of last season, Vinicius has 50 goal involvements (32 goals, 18 assists) in 53 games in all competitions for Madrid. 

But the result looked beyond doubt after a poor first half showing, with Ancelotti's men only managing one shot on target from the nine efforts they attempted.

However, after the interval, Los Blancos took control. They registered a mammoth expected goals (xG) total of 2.41 to Dortmund's 0.09 in the second half. 

The victory saw Madrid win a match in the Champions League in which they trailed by two goals at the break for the first time, with Ancelotti revealing there was no panic among his players in the dressing room at half-time.

"We lived it calmly, calmly (over the break). We changed the system and came back playing more intensely," Ancelotti said.

"Talking about scoring three goals might have seemed utopian, so we talked about small details like passing well, winning duels. 

We had to win the dynamic of the game and from there you start to win the game.

"We were timid in the first half, we weren't intense on the ball and in the second half we did better with more quality, more pressure.

It was the best second half of the season.

"We have to learn from what we did in the second half. The aim is to start the game and not wait for them to put two past us.

"I don't think we can play 90 minutes with the intensity of the second half but we can be more balanced."

Mikel Arteta has been dealt another injury blow ahead of their blockbuster clash with Liverpool after Riccardo Calafiori limped off against Shakhtar Donetsk. 

The Gunners scraped to a 1-0 victory over the Ukrainian side in the Champions League thanks to a Dmytro Riznyk own goal, after the rebound of Gabriel Martinelli's shot off the post went in off his back. 

Arsenal were again without Bukayo Saka, who has missed the last two games with a hamstring injury, while they will be without the suspended William Saliba on Sunday after he was sent off against Bournemouth.

This victory came with a cost as Calafiori was forced to leave the field in the 72nd minute, leaving Arteta unsure if the defender will be available this weekend.

"Riccy, I don't know, he felt something and could not continue playing so [it's a] bit of a worry," he told TNT Sports. While talking in his post-match press conference, Arteta added: "He had to come off because he felt something. I don't know the extent of that. So, in that sense, not great news."

"I don't know, sorry, [Saka] wasn't able to train yet, so that's unlikely," he added.

Arsenal were far from their best, with Leandro Trossard seeing a spot-kick saved 13 minutes from time, while David Raya was called into action to preserve their win with a big save.

It was a third consecutive clean sheet in the Champions League, which is their first such run since keeping four under Arsene Wenger in November 2007.

They generated just 1.8 expected goals (xG) on Tuesday, having 13 shots, with five of those on target, but Arteta was happy with the reaction he saw from his team.

"Very pleased with the result," he said. "Always difficult in Champions League.

"We should've scored more in the first half and the second half, I felt a bit of fatigue. Playing 60 minutes with 10 men a few days ago is difficult. We left the game a bit open but we dug in for three points.

"I don't know if [the penalty miss] was related to fatigue. Credit to Shakhtar, they are brave.

"When you give them time on the ball, and you lose the ball, you will suffer. I don't know [why Kai Havertz didn't take the penalty]. He is one of the takers, but Leo took it."

Milan had substitutes Noah Okafor and Samuel Chukwueze to thank for beating Club Brugge in the Champions League on Tuesday, according to head coach Paulo Fonseca.

The 3-1 home victory ensured Milan earned their first points of their European campaign, with Dutch midfielder Tijjani Reijnders scoring a brace in the second half.

Okafor came on for Ruben Loftus-Cheek after an hour with the game at 1-1, while Chukwueze was swapped in for Rafael Leao, and both players provided assists for Reijnders to win the game.

"The credit goes to the players and mainly to those who came on," Fonseca told a press conference.

"They changed the match, changing our game, the intensity."

At the time Fonseca made the changes, Milan were labouring against a Club Brugge side who were playing with 10 men after midfielder Raphael Onyedika had been sent off in the first half.

"Obviously, in the first half, we didn't do things well," Fonseca said.

"We were up against a team with 11 players that was very deep, then with numerical inferiority, they became even deeper.

"We had difficulties in this type of game, in creating and provoking space.

"Then, when we don't find the right solution, the game starts to be too slow. When we don't find space, we need to have a different intensity in our actions. We didn't do well... I think it was a problem of understanding the game."

Fonseca brought on 16-year-old Francesco Camarda with Milan leading 3-1, with the teenager playing the final 15 minutes and having a goal ruled out for offside.

"I'm very sorry for the disallowed goal," said Fonseca. "But it was a beautiful moment for the team, all on the pitch celebrating a child who works so hard.

"Camarda will have many opportunities to score more goals during his career."

Camarda is the youngest player to have made their debut for Milan in the Champions League at just 16 years and 226 days.

He is also the youngest Italian player to feature in the competition, having beaten the record previously held by former Juventus forward, Moise Kean (16 years, 268 days).

Nuno Santos and Viktor Gyokeres were on target as a dominant Sporting eased to a 2-0 away victory over Sturm Graz in the Champions League.

Sporting maintained their unbeaten start to the league phase, with seven points from their opening three games, but for the Austrians, it was a third successive defeat with a trip to Borussia Dortmund next up on November 5.

The visitors opened the scoring midway through the first half when Geny Catamo embarked on an excellent run on the right wing. His low cross was missed by Gyokeres but turned in by Santos.

Home goalkeeper Kjell Scherpen will feel he should have kept the ball out with a poor attempt at a stop, but there was little he could do about the second goal for the visitors.

The powerful Gyokeres was released down the left flank, and he brushed aside his defender before showing great composure to place the ball past Scherpen.

Sporting have won 11 of their last 12 games in all competitions, with the only blemish a 1-1 draw at PSV Eindhoven. They host Manchester City in their next Champions League fixture.

Data Debrief: Smooth sailing

Sporting have now gone unbeaten across their first three matches of a Champions League campaign for the first time in their history (W2 D1) thanks to their routine victory on Tuesday.

In fact, their win was the 175th win by a Portuguese club in the competition, becoming the sixth nation to reach this milestone after Spain, England, Germany, Italy and France.

And Gyokeres was their standout performer, as he became the first Sporting player to both score and assist in a Champions League game since Paulinho in September 2022.

Miguel Gutierrez and Juanpe scored in either half to earn Girona a 2-0 victory over Slovan Bratislava, and a first-ever win in the Champions League. 

Gutierrez and Arnaut Danjuma combined brilliantly throughout on the left wing, and it was the latter's run to the byline and pull-back that set up the wing-back to break the deadlock for the Spaniards with a first-time finish three minutes before half-time.

Playing in their first European season, Girona continued to outclass their Slovakian visitors after the break, and Dominik Takac saved brilliantly from Bojan Miovski in the 54th minute to prevent the home side from increasing their lead. 

It took a moment of brilliance from Juanpe in the 73rd minute to make it 2-0, with his direct free-kick glancing off one of the players in the wall before flying into the net.

Cristhian Stuani's late penalty was saved well by Dominic Takac, while Paulo Gazzaniga was called into late action to preserve his clean sheet by keeping out Tigran Barseghyan's curling effort.

Girona now sit 20th in the 36-team table, while Slovan remain bottom after three straight defeats, with a goal difference of -10. 

Data Debrief: History is made

Girona have largely mastered their own downfall in the Champions League this season, scoring three own goals across their last two defeats.

But, they put that behind them on Tuesday to record three points in the competition for the first time in their history.

Guttierez's opener was his first goal in all competitions since May, while Juanpe became the second-oldest Spanish player (at 33 years, 175 days) to score on his Champions League debut, after Vicente Engonga Mate for Real Mallorca in September 2001 (35y 326d).

Aston Villa extended their 100% record in the Champions League this season by beating Bologna 2-0 at home on Tuesday.

The result leaves Villa top of the 36-team league table, with three victories, six goals scored and zero conceded.

Unai Emery's side claimed the victory thanks to second-half goals from John McGinn and Jhon Duran, who was starting just his second match of the season in all competitions.

Villa controlled the match for large periods and had multiple chances to open the scoring before McGinn's free-kick went all the way through a sea of bodies and into the top corner. The Scot's goal was checked by VAR for a possible handball but later confirmed. 

Duran then doubled their lead in the 64th minute - Morgan Rogers swung a cross into the box, which the Colombian flicked into the goal after holding off a defender.

Next up for Villa in the Champions League is a trip to Club Brugge, while Bologna - who are 28th with one point - host Monaco.

Data debrief: Villa make history

Villa's victory on Tuesday helped them become only the third team to ever win their first three Champions League matches without conceding.

Unai Emery, meanwhile, became only the fifth Spanish manager to have won 25 matches in the competition, alongside Pep Guardiola, Vicente Del Bosque, Rafa Benitez and Luis Enrique.

For Bologna, it is one victory in 11 matches in all competitions so far this season.

El Bilal Toure's stoppage-time strike helped Stuttgart claim an impressive 1-0 win at Juventus in the Champions League, handing the hosts their first loss of the season.

The German side, who won their first game in the competition so far, finally got their reward in the 92nd minute through the substitute, having had a goal chalked off and a penalty saved.

Stuttgart had been more aggressive, with Ermedin Demirovic hitting the post in the first half, while an in-form Mattia Perin, who was by far the Italian side's best player, kept Juventus in it.

The visitors saw Deniz Undav's effort disallowed early in the second half for handball by the Germany striker before late drama unfolded. 

Anthony Rouault was fouled by Danilo, who picked up a second yellow card for the challenge in the 84th minute when a VAR check resulted in a penalty. Stuttgart wasted that golden chance though, with Perin saving Enzo Millot's spot-kick.

Ultimately, Toure's intervention ended a four-match winless run in all competitions for Stuttgart. Juve stay on six points and Stuttgart have four.

Data Debrief: Motta's unbeaten run halted

Juventus were unbeaten across all competitions this season under Thiago Motta, and it seemed luck was on their side before Toure snatched the three points. 

It looked like Perin had saved a point, as he became just the third Juventus goalkeeper to save a penalty in a Champions League match since 2003-04, after Wojciech Szczesny (v Valencia in September 2018) and Gianluigi Buffon (v Lyon in October 2016).

Motta was looking to become just the third Juve manager to win his first three matches in the competition, but instead will be left disappointed by a lacklustre performance from his side.

Meanwhile, it was just a fourth win in their last 20 Champions League matches for Stuttgart and a first in this campaign for Sebastian Hoeness' men. 

Achraf Hakimi's second-half stunner was not enough to mask Paris Saint Germain's Champions League struggles after they were held to a 1-1 draw at home by PSV.

The Ligue 1 champions salvaged a point when Hakimi rifled home from range to cancel out Noa Lang's 34th-minute opener, leaving Luis Enrique's side on four points after three games.

PSG were denied a late penalty, however, when the referee waved away spot-kick claims after Olivier Boscagli challenged Marco Asensio as the substitute was preparing to shoot.

Marquinhos also went close in the dying minutes, though Walter Benitez did just enough to palm away and earn his side a memorable draw.

Eredivisie leaders PSV, who made the most of PSG's mediocre midfield, are still winless with two points in the new format of Europe's premier club competition.

Data Debrief: Warning signs for PSG

Luis Enrique has only won 40% of his matches in the Champions League as PSG boss, winning six of 15 with three draws and six defeats, the lowest winning ratio from a head coach in the Qatari Sports Investment era.

That was not for a lack of dominance here, though, as PSG accumulated 2.43 expected goals (xG) to PSV's meagre 0.25.

Ousmane Dembele managed 0.93 of that xG total but found the target just once from six attempts, with five of those in the PSV area, as PSG failed to fire.

Vinicius Junior delivered a jaw-dropping treble in the second half as Real Madrid fought back from two goals down to smash Borussia Dortmund 5-2 in the Champions League.

Donyell Malen opened the scoring midway through the first half before Jamie Gittens doubled Dortmund's lead just four minutes later to stun the home crowd.

However, Kylian Mbappe teed up Antonio Rudger on the hour before Vinicius restored parity just two minutes after, with the goal initially ruled out for offside before prior to being overturned by a VAR review.

Lucas Vazquez completed a memorable turnaround with seven minutes remaining, though the Brazil winger stole the show in the closing stages.

Vinicius powered down the left flank before curling past Gregor Kobel with a fine individual goal, before securing his remarkable hat-trick with another impressive strike in the 93rd minute.

Victory leaves Madrid ninth in the Champions League table, while Nuri Sahin's Dortmund are fifth after their first defeat of the 2024-25 campaign.

Data Debrief: Gittens overshadowed by Vinicius

Gittens became the youngest Englishman ever to score against Madrid in the competition, aged just 20 years and 75 days, surpassing Alan Smith (20y 129d for Leeds United in March 2001).

Yet his record-worthy exploits were overshadowed by the heroics of Ballon d'Or favourite Vinicius, who single-handedly powered his side to their second-half turnaround in the Spanish capital.

It was just Vinicius' third hat-trick for Madrid in all competitions and first in the Champions League, but his second in 2024 after his treble against Barcelona in the Supercopa.

Victory was deserved for the hosts as well, with Madrid accumulating a massive 3.4 expected goals (xG) to Dortmund's 1.48.

Benfica midfielder Renato Sanches is due to return from injury in Wednesday's Champions League tie against Feyenoord, head coach Bruno Lage said on Tuesday.

Sanches suffered a hamstring injury in training last month and missed Benfica's last six matches, including their wins over Red Star Belgrade and Atletico Madrid in their opening two Champions League matches.

"Let's be very clear about this, because we have nothing to hide. Renato has been doing a lot of work. We had predicted that he could return a little earlier, then a little later, but I can confirm that Renato will be involved for the game against Feyenoord," Lage said.

Sanches, who was a teenage prodigy at Benfica, has struggled for consistency since his record transfer to Bayern Munich aged 18 in 2016.

He has since played for Swansea City, Lille, Paris Saint-Germain and Roma before the French giants loaned him back to Benfica this campaign.

Lage said only defensive midfielder Leandro Barreiro would be missing from the Benfica lineup for the match due to a thigh injury.

Benfica are on a run of six successive victories, with their 4-0 home win over Atletico earlier this month one of the surprise results of the early stages of the new-look Champions League competition.

"It is important to highlight that the work we did ahead of the Atletico match happens for every game," Lage said.

"First, we understand what we did well in our previous game, and we study the opponent in detail. We define the strategy, practise it and look to instil confidence in the players. That's what we do for every game, be it in the championship, in the Champions League or in the cup.

"We are confident, we've prepared very well and our confidence comes from the fact that when we transmit our ideas to the players, they feel confident that they can play a good game," added Lage, who returned to coach Benfica last month after Roger Schmidt was fired.

Lage was Wolves manager in the Premier League in the 2021-22 season and briefly into the next campaign, before losing his job after a run of poor results.

"My time in the Premier League gave me experience that I didn't have before, but that's part of any coach's experience," he told reporters.

"The more experience we have, the more we will learn. The way I work, we learn a lot from the assessments we make of our opponents, but above all from our own team."

Liverpool's injury list continues to grow with Diogo Jota not fit enough to travel in their Champions League squad to face RB Leipzig on Wednesday.

Jota was substituted after just half an hour in Liverpool's 2-1 victory over Chelsea on Sunday, and the upcoming European trip will prove too soon for the Portugal international.

Arne Slot was already without Alisson, Federico Chiesa and Harvey Elliott through injury and will now have to contend with the absence of both Jota and Conor Bradley, who missed the Chelsea game entirely.

"Conor Bradley, Harvey Elliott, Federico Chiesa, and Alisson didn't make the trip, so we have a few issues at the moment," Slot told reporters.

"Diogo got a knock when he was trying to go to goal. He was brought down but the other player fell onto him, that hurt him and he couldn't continue to play and come with us.

"It is difficult to judge at this moment of time to see how long it's going to take."

Liverpool come into their match against Leipzig with a 100% record after two games in the Champions League, while their hosts have lost both of their matches.

But with each team playing eight times as opposed to six in the previous group-stage format of the tournament, Slot believes it is too early to judge how teams were doing.

"The concept of the Champions League [as far as] I got my head around it, I don't think you can have a fair opinion yet because we are only two games into the Champions League now," he said.

"We've to wait and see what the result of this format is. You can only judge that after the group stages are done."

© 2024 SportsMaxTV All Rights Reserved.