Champions League Opening Night: Mourinho's Madrid Triumphs Over Inter

PARIS (FRANCE) – Jose Mourinho walked back into the Champions League and straight into a win, as Real Madrid edged Inter Milan 2-1 on a wild opening night of the new league phase.

Fifteen-time European champions Real have turned to Mourinho for a second spell, and fate handed him a familiar face first up – the Inter side he led to the 2010 crown. The reunion at the Bernabeu quickly turned chaotic.

Mourinho’s Madrid pounce on Inter errors

Real were two up before Inter had even settled, both goals gift‑wrapped by the Italian champions’ defence.

On his 99th appearance in the competition, Kylian Mbappe struck first. Yann Bisseck misjudged the danger, Mbappe punished him, and with it matched the Champions League tally of club icon Raul on 71 goals. Same number, very different era.

Inter then imploded again. Goalkeeper Josep Martinez tried to dance away from Fede Valverde inside his own six-yard box. He never made it. Valverde nicked the ball off him and rolled in the second, the Bernabeu roaring at the sheer audacity of the mistake and the finish.

Real looked ready to run away with it. Inter refused to fold.

Carlos Augusto dragged them back into the contest, setting up a frantic finale, but Madrid clung on. The scoreline stayed tight. The game did not.

“It was a crazy game,” Mourinho told Movistar. “A game that finished 2-1 could have finished 7-6 without any problems.” On this evidence, his second era in Madrid will not be dull.

Haaland bullies Porto as City keep rolling

In Portugal, Erling Haaland did what Erling Haaland does. Again.

Enzo Maresca’s Manchester City, still building under their new coach but already ominously efficient, claimed a 2-0 win away to Porto thanks to a second-half brace from their No 9.

Two minutes after the restart, Haaland attacked Enzo Fernandez’s cross and buried his header. From there, City managed the game, absorbed Porto’s surges, and waited for their moment to kill it.

It came in stoppage time. Haaland struck again to seal the points and push his numbers deeper into absurd territory: 59 goals in 59 Champions League appearances.

“Erling Haaland is an animal. He is a beast, so every time he is on the pitch, I'm going to look for him, and hopefully give him many more assists,” Fernandez told Amazon Prime.

For City, Champions League winners in 2023, it was a fourth straight victory in all competitions. Next up in Europe: a home date with title-holders Paris Saint-Germain. That one already feels heavyweight.

Villa finally ignite

Aston Villa, lugging a poor start to the new campaign into Europe, badly needed a spark. They found it in Belgium.

Unai Emery’s side, last season’s Europa League winners, beat Club Brugge 3-2 away in a breathless contest, their attacking play finally catching fire after three Premier League games without a goal.

John McGinn curled in a precise opener into the far corner, a finish that carried as much relief as celebration. Hugo Vetlesen levelled for Brugge, but Villa hit back immediately.

Emiliano Buendia restored the lead, then Nicolas Jackson struck two minutes before the break. A long ball, a misjudgement from Yann Sommer as he charged out of his box, and Jackson sprinted through to roll in his first Villa goal. At 3-1, the visitors looked safe.

They weren’t. Nicolo Tresoldi pulled one back just after the hour from the spot following an Aaron Wan-Bissaka handball, and then rattled the post soon after. Villa bent, didn’t break.

“We took one step forward today and it was very, very important for our confidence and stability,” Emery said. After their domestic stutter, the step felt significant.

Guirassy at both ends in Dortmund thriller

At Signal Iduna Park, Borussia Dortmund opened their campaign with a 3-2 win over Villarreal that somehow turned Serhou Guirassy into both hero and accidental villain.

Last season’s runners-up went ahead early in the second half when Renato Veiga turned into his own net. Villarreal answered through Santiago Mourino, whose header levelled the tie and briefly silenced the Yellow Wall.

The tension rose. So did Guirassy.

With 10 minutes left, he restored Dortmund’s lead, then kept his nerve from the penalty spot to make it 3-1 and seemingly settle the contest. The forward had dragged the game his way.

Then came the comic twist. A Gregor Kobel save ricocheted straight into Guirassy’s face and bounced into the net for an own goal. Dortmund still emerged with the win, but Guirassy walked off with one of the strangest personal hat-tricks the competition has seen: two at the right end, one very much at the wrong.

Parrott delivers again for Betis

Real Betis waited 21 years to return to the Champions League. They are making the most of it.

In Lille, they came from behind twice to win 3-2, with Troy Parrott again writing the decisive line. The Irish striker, who hit the winner against Real Madrid at the weekend, stepped up once more.

Japan forward Ayase Ueda and Brazilian defender Alexsandro both scored for Davide Ancelotti’s Lille, but each time Betis found an answer through Marc Bartra. The defender twice dragged his side level, keeping the Spanish club alive in a frantic, open game.

Then, on 53 minutes, Parrott struck the decisive blow, completing the comeback and securing a statement victory on Betis’ Champions League return. Late on, Lille’s night unravelled further as Ethan Mbappe, younger brother of Kylian, was sent off.

Marin magic for AEK

The night closed in Austria with a moment of pure technique.

Greek champions AEK Athens beat LASK 1-0, the difference a stunning free-kick from Razvan Marin. One swing of his right foot, one clean arc over the wall, and AEK had their first points on the board.

On a night that brought back Mourinho, underlined Haaland’s relentlessness, and welcomed old names like Betis and Villa back to the big stage, the Champions League’s new league phase wasted no time finding drama.

And this was only the first act.