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Real Madrid began their 2026/27 UEFA Champions League campaign with a hard-fought 2-1 win over Inter Milan on Tuesday, while Manchester City secured a narrow 1-0 away win over Porto as the new league phase began with a night of goals, comebacks and dramatic finishes across Europe.
The opening night also saw victories for Borussia Dortmund, Real Betis, Aston Villa and AEK Athens, with Villa’s 3-2 triumph at Club Brugge and Betis’ comeback win over Lille among the most entertaining games of the evening. Project reports
Real punishes Inter’s costly mistakes
At the Santiago Bernabéu, Real Madrid took advantage of two costly mistakes by Inter to take a two-goal lead before the Italians fought back in the second half.
Kylian Mbappé opened the scoring in the 14th minute after Inter defender Yann Bisseck failed to properly handle a dangerous ball. Brahim Díaz pounced on the defensive error and fed Mbappé, who finished clinically to give the hosts the lead.
Madrid doubled the lead nine minutes later in another moment of defensive generosity. Inter goalkeeper Josep Martínez attempted to tackle Fede Valverde inside the area but lost possession, allowing the Uruguayan midfielder to finish with an empty net.
Inter, despite enjoying moments of ball possession, paid heavily for their errors and went into halftime two goals down.
The visitors reacted in the second half and reduced the deficit with Carlos Augusto, who converted an action by Lautaro Martínez to give Inter hope again.
The Italian team pushed for an equaliser, but Real Madrid survived the sustained pressure, with Thibaut Courtois making an important double save late in the game. Madrid held on to give new manager José Mourinho a winning start to the competition against his former club.
Haaland’s header resolves Porto’s tense clash
Manchester City also started their campaign with a victory, but unlike Real Madrid, the English champions endured a tense and hard-fought match before beating Porto 1-0 in Portugal.
The first half ended goalless despite City creating chances, with Erling Haaland and Phil Foden among those who came close. Porto also threatened but struggled to seriously breach City’s defense which ultimately held the hosts goalless.
The turning point came shortly after the restart.
Rayan Cherki took the decisive shot on the baseline before finding Enzo Fernández. The Argentine midfielder served a precise cross into the dangerous area, where Haaland headed home off the post in the 46th minute.
The goal, Haaland’s 58th in the Champions League, proved enough for City to take all three points. Porto pushed forward in search of an equalizer and made several changes in attack, but City’s defense held firm.
Dortmund comeback against Villarreal
Borussia Dortmund also produced a strong response in the second half by beating Villarreal 3-1 at home.
The opening goal was particularly unfortunate for the Spanish guests. Renato Veiga deflected the ball into his own net in the 53rd minute after Dortmund’s Ryerson broke down the left and sent a dangerous cross into the area. The delivery clipped the keeper before hitting Veiga and eventually finding the net.
Villarreal responded with a powerful near post header from Mouriño in the 66th minute to tie the game.
Dortmund then took control late on. Serhou Guirassy restored the hosts’ lead in the 80th minute after Fabio Silva slid the ball across the face of goal, allowing the attacker to finish from close range.
Guirassy completed the victory from the penalty spot with five minutes remaining, hammering the ball to the opposite side after the referee awarded Dortmund a penalty following an incident in the area checked by VAR.
Betis overwhelms Lille in a five-goal thriller
Real Betis come back to beat Lille 3-2 in France in another dramatic match.
Lille took the lead in the 12th minute when Ayase Ueda finished from close range with a clever move down the right. The Japanese forward was picked out at the far post after Ethan Mbappé created the opening with a dangerous run and cross.
Betis equalized through Marc Bartra in the 33rd minute, the defender timing his run into the area before slotting a header into the net following a pass from Pablo Fornals.
Lille regained the lead three minutes before half-time when Alexsandro Ribeiro rose highest from a corner and guided his header past the goalkeeper.
Betis, however, came out strong after the break. Bartra scored his second goal in the 49th minute, scoring a free kick with an excellent header at the near post to make it 2-2.
Troy Parrott then completed the turnaround four minutes later. Isco took the ball through midfield before sliding Parrott into space, with the striker beating his marker and drilling a low finish across goal and into the far corner.
Lille’s task became even more difficult when Ethan Mbappé was sent off for an elbow while Betis held on to claim an impressive away win.
Villa survives Bruges’ reaction
Aston Villa also featured in a five-goal thriller, beating Club Brugge 3-2 away from home.
Villa moved into a commanding position with three first-half goals. John McGinn opened the scoring in the 11th minute after Pau Torres provided the assist.
Club Brugge responded through Hugo Vetlesen, but Villa quickly took the lead through Emi Buendía before Nicolas Jackson struck again just before half-time to give the visitors a 3-1 lead.
The Belgian side refused to surrender. Nicolo Tresoldi converted a penalty in the 61st minute after Villa conceded a goal from the spot, setting up a tense final period.
Brugge applied sustained pressure and pushed for an equaliser, but Villa survived the final onslaught, including a crucial pass off the line, to secure a valuable away win.
AEK claim a narrow victory
Previously, AEK Athens opened the season with a 1-0 win over LASK.
The only goal came in the 21st minute, when Romanian midfielder Razvan Marin created a splendid curling free kick that found the net behind the Austrian goalkeeper.
LASK failed to find an answer as AEK protected their lead to start the league stage with maximum points.
The opening night then saw six 18-goal games, with Real Madrid, Manchester City, Dortmund, Betis, Aston Villa and AEK starting their Champions League campaign with victories.
The league stage continues on Wednesday with another series of heavyweight matches, including Paris Saint-Germain against Slovan Bratislava, Barcelona against Feyenoord, Liverpool against Atletico Madrid, Sporting CP against Galatasaray and Napoli against Arsenal.
