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09/08 16:17 CDT Real Madrid and Man City kick off with wins as Champions League
returns
Real Madrid and Man City kick off with wins as Champions League returns
By JAMES ROBSON
AP Soccer Writer
Kylian Mbappe and Erling Haaland are off the mark in the Champions League as
Real Madrid and Manchester City kicked off their campaigns with wins Tuesday.
Mbappe gave record 15-time champion Madrid an early lead en route to 2-1
victory over Inter Milan at the Santiago Bernabeu.
Haaland scored both goals as 2023 winner City beat Porto 2-0.
Madrid and City are expected to be among the main challengers to back-to-back
defending champion Paris Saint-Germain this season and both will be relying on
their star strikers.
Mbappe's goal after 14 minutes was his 71st in European club soccer's top
competition, and Haaland took his tally to 59 in 59 appearances in the
Champions League.
Borussia Dortmund beat Villarreal 3-2, and Real Betis won by the same score at
Lille.
Aston Villa also won 3-2 over Club Brugge and AEK Athens sealed a 1-0 win over
LASK.
PSG begins its campaign on Wednesday against Slovan Bratislava.
Villa kicks off with a win Aston Villa put its domestic problems behind it with a win over Club Brugge. Victory in Belgium ended Villa's winless and goalless start to its 2026-27 season, after early struggles in the Premier League. John McGinn recorded the first goal of the Champions League campaign with a sweeping low shot from an angle in the 11th minute. Hugo Vetlesen equalized for Brugge, but Emiliano Buendia and Nicolas Jackson put Villa 3-1 up by the break. Nicolo Tresoldi scored for the home team with a 61st-minute penalty, but Villa held on for the win. Villa coach Unai Emery will hope victory kickstarts his team's season after the summer departures of star players Morgan Rogers, Ollie Watkins, Ezri Konsa and Emi Martinez. His much-changed team lost to Brighton and Arsenal in the Premier League and picked up its first point of the season with a goalless draw against newly promoted Hull on Saturday. It had recorded only one shot on target in those three games. AEK Athens beat LASK 1-0 thanks to Razvan Marin's first-half free kick. ___ James Robson is at https://x.com/jamesalanrobson ___ See AP's full soccer coverage here
Villa kicks off with a win Aston Villa put its domestic problems behind it with a win over Club Brugge. Victory in Belgium ended Villa's winless and goalless start to its 2026-27 season, after early struggles in the Premier League. John McGinn recorded the first goal of the Champions League campaign with a sweeping low shot from an angle in the 11th minute. Hugo Vetlesen equalized for Brugge, but Emiliano Buendia and Nicolas Jackson put Villa 3-1 up by the break. Nicolo Tresoldi scored for the home team with a 61st-minute penalty, but Villa held on for the win. Villa coach Unai Emery will hope victory kickstarts his team's season after the summer departures of star players Morgan Rogers, Ollie Watkins, Ezri Konsa and Emi Martinez. His much-changed team lost to Brighton and Arsenal in the Premier League and picked up its first point of the season with a goalless draw against newly promoted Hull on Saturday. It had recorded only one shot on target in those three games. AEK Athens beat LASK 1-0 thanks to Razvan Marin's first-half free kick. ___ James Robson is at https://x.com/jamesalanrobson ___ See AP's full soccer coverage here
