The first matchday of Champions League 2025/26 delivered exactly what all fans had been waiting: lots of goals, controversies, comebacks, and even some upsets. The first six games of the league phase were played on Tuesday (with the rest coming on Wednesday and Thursday), including the debuts for Real Madrid, Juventus, Borussia Dortmund, and Arsenal.
First, in the afternoon, two home defeats: PSV Eindhoven, second in the Eredivisie, suffered a hard defeat against Belgian leader Union Saint-Gilloise, while Athletic Club from Bilbao couldn't hold Arsenal back.
The most surprising result, by far, was the defeat of Benfica against Qarabag FK from Azerbaijan, in only their second proper appearance at Champions League beyond qualifiers. The two times winners of the European Cup, and one of Portugal's best, lost a crucial game: at home against one of the worst ranked teams of the competition. The match ended 2-3, but they were 2-0 in the first 15 minutes!
Juventus and Borussia Dortmund had a feat of goals, 4-4, but Juventus will sleep better as they managed to draw against the Germans with two goals in injury time (94th and 96th minutes).
2021 Europa League winners Villarreal lost 1-0 against 2025 Europa League winners Tottenham with a shameful mistake by the goalkeeper Luiz Junior in the third minute.
Finally, Real Madrid managed to survive 20 minutes without Dani Carvajal against Olympique Marseille thanks to two penalty goals by Mbappé: second game in a row for los Blancos that ends 2-1 with Madrid playing with 10.
Champions League results from Tuesday, September 16:
PSV 1 - 3 Union Saint-Gilloise
Athletic Club 0 - 2 Arsenal
Juventus 4 - 4 Borussia Dortmund
Benfica 2 - 3 Qarabag FK
Tottenham 1 - 0 Villarreal
Real Madrid 2 - 1 Marseille