Champions League Tuesday: Surprise Results and High-Scoring Drama

The 2025-2026 season league stage of the UEFA Champions League started with matches played on Tuesday, 16.09.

These six games, which provided us with plenty of excitement and a feast of goals from the first day, witnessed events that will be talked about and remembered for a long time to come.

The opening week of the new UEFA Champions League season kicked off with two matches played at 18:45 CEST. English giants Arsenal defeated Athletic Bilbao in Spain, while Union Saint-Gilloise defeated PSV in the Netherlands.

Athletic Bilbao and Arsenal met in their first match at San Mames. The first half ended 0-0, with Trossard and Martinelli dominating the second half. The London side found their way to the net in the 73rd minute through Gabriel Martinelli.

In the 87th minute, Trossard provided the final score thanks to Martinelli's assist. The Brazilian football player, who joined the match in the 65th minute, brought three points to his team with a performance of one goal and one assist.

Player of the Match: Gabriel Martinelli (Arsenal)

In another match at 18:45 CEST, PSV Eindhoven hosted Union Saint-Gilloise at home. In the game played in the Netherlands, the Belgian team pulled off a surprise victory, winning 3-1.

The goals that gave the Belgian team the victory were scored by Promise David from a penalty in the ninth minute, Anouar El Hadji in the 12th minute, and Kevin Mac Allister in the 81st minute. PSV's only goal came from Ruben van Bommel in the 90th minute.

Player of the Match: Anouar Ait El Hadj (Union Saint-Gilloise)

Italian giants Juventus and German team Borussia Dortmund faced off. The first half of the match, played at the Allianz Stadium, ended goalless. Just when everyone thought the game was going to be boring, they were unaware of what was going to happen in the second half.

Borussia Dortmund took the lead in the 52nd minute through Karim Adeyemi, while Juventus equalized in the 63rd minute through Kenan Yıldız. And suddenly, this was game on! The German team made the score 2-1 with Felix Nmecha in the 65th minute, but Juventus equalized again with Dušan Vlahović in the 67th minute.

Borussia Dortmund took the lead again in the 74th minute through Yan Couto, and in the 86th minute, Ramy Bensebaini scored a penalty to make the score 4-2. Falling behind, the Italian team intensified their attacks, converting the scoreboard through Vlahović in the 90+4 minute and Lloyd Kelly in the 90+6 minute to equalize at 4-4. The match ended in a 4-4 draw after eight goals were scored in the second half.

Player of the Match: Dušan Vlahović (Juventus)

Real Madrid hosted the French team Marseille in front of their fans in the first week of the UEFA Champions League.

The visitors took a 1-0 lead in the 22nd minute of the match at the Santiago Bernabeu through a Timothy Weah goal. Los Blancos responded quickly. Xabi Alonso's students, who won a penalty in the 27th minute when Rodrygo went down, went to the dressing room with a 1-1 draw thanks to a goal from Kylian Mbappé.

Carvajal, who came on as a substitute for the injured Trent in the fifth minute of the match, shocked his fans with a red card in the 72nd minute. With only ten men on the pitch, Real Madrid were given another penalty in the 80th minute. With his second penalty, Mbappe helped his team earn their first three points.

Player of the Match: Kylian Mbappé (Real Madrid)

Competing in the UEFA Champions League for the second time in their history, Qarabağ were hosted by Benfica in the first week of the Champions League. The match, played in Portugal, ended with a historic result. Qarabağ, trailing 2-0, emerged victorious 3-2.

In the Lisbon match, Benfica's goals were scored by Enzo Barrenechea in the 6th minute and Vangelis Pavlidis in the 16th. Although Qarabağ fans, shaken by the early goals, had lost hope, they were still waiting for a miracle.

From 2-0 down, the Azerbaijani team secured a historic three points with a 3-2 victory. Qarabağ's winning goals were scored by Leandro Andrade in the 30th minute, Camilo Andres Duran Marquez in the 48th minute, and Oleksiy Kaschuck in the 86th minute.

Player of the Match: Pedro Bicalho (Qarabağ)

In their first week of the UEFA Champions League, Tottenham hosted Spanish side Villarreal in London. In a breathtaking match, Tottenham defeated Villarreal 1-0.

The only goal that gave Tottenham the victory came from Luiz Júnior, an own goal in the fourth minute. Following this result, Tottenham started the UEFA Champions League with 3 points.

Player of the Match: Lucas Bergvall (Tottenham Hotspur)