For 60 minutes, a second consecutive defeat for Real Madrid in the Champions League, an unusual feat in Madrid fans’ history, seemed almost inevitable, but in the rematch of the 2023/24 Champions League final, the title holders once again defeated o Borussia Dortmund. In the Spanish capital, Borussia Dortmund were winning until the 60th minute, but left the Spanish capital with a 5-2 defeat. In France, Paris Saint-Germain weakened again: the Parisians were unable to beat PSV at the Parc des Princes.
Two consecutive defeats for Carlo Ancelotti’s Real Madrid is something that was only seen for the last time in 2021/22 – defeats against Chelsea and Manchester City -, but it did not prevent the “meringues” that season won another European title at the Stade de France, in Paris. However, two defeats in a row in the early stages of the Champions League is a stain that Madrid fans are not used to, but which seemed inevitable.
Four months after Real Madrid and Borussia Dortmund fought at Wembley for the most important European club title, the Germans managed to win 2-0 at the Santiago Bernabéu, but with goals from Rudiger (60′), Vinicius (62′, 86 ‘ and 90’+3′) and Vasquez (83’), the madridistas added their sixth point in the Champions League.
In Paris, the best entry on the field by the outsiders did not prevent one of the candidates to win the competition from stumbling again. With João Neves and Nuno Mendes as starters – Vitinha came on at 59′ -, PSG found themselves at a disadvantage at 34′ – goal from Lang -, but avoided defeat to PSV with a goal from Hakimi, at 55′.
The victory of the night came very close to French soil and had the protagonist, in a negative way, Red Star, Benfica’s first rival this season in the Champions League. At Stade Louis-II, the Serbs still offered a response in the first half, but after losing 4-0 in Milan to Inter, they defeated Monaco again (5-1).
At San Siro, Paulo Fonseca won a new oxygen balloon when he achieved his first victory. With Rafael Leão on the field in the first hour of the game, Milan defeated Club Brugge, 3-1, with Tijjani Reijnders in the spotlight: the Dutch international scored the two goals that guaranteed the victory for the Milanese. The game was marked by Francesco Camarda’s entry onto the field in the 75th minute. The striker, aged 16 years 226 days, became the youngest Italian to play in the Champions League.
Still in Italy, one of the surprises of the night came from Turin where Juventus – Francisco Conceição was a starter and was substituted in the 55th minute – lost to Stuttgart (1-0).
