Paris: Paris Saint-Germain launched their latest quest for Champions League success with a statement win over Real Madrid on Wednesday, while a late Atletico Madrid comeback foiled Juventus as Manchester City eased to victory in Ukraine.
French giants PSG have failed to make their mark in Europe, crashing out of the Champions League in the last 16 each of the past three years despite the huge sums of money spent by their Qatari owners.
With Neymar suspended and Kylian Mbappe and Edinson Cavani sidelined by injury, Angel Di Maria stepped up in their absence by grabbing two first-half goals in a 3-0 triumph at the Parc des Princes.
Thomas Meunier added the third late on as Madrid, who beat PSG on the way to lifting the trophy in 2016 and 2018, were soundly beaten in their Group A opener with Eden Hazard kept quiet on his full debut.
“There’s no message sent, but we dominated this game very well,” PSG captain Thiago Silva told RMC Sport.
“We have to play like this all the time, in the league as well, with character and hunger.”
Diego Simeone’s Atletico clawed their way back from two goals down in the final 20 minutes to rescue a 2-2 draw at home to Juventus in Group D.
The anticipated clash between Cristiano Ronaldo and Joao Felix, the teenager touted as the heir to Ronaldo’s throne, took a backseat to a Atletico rousing comeback after second-half goals from Juan Cuadrado and Blaise Matuidi put Juve in control. Stefan Savic nodded home from point-blank range to give Atletico hope and substitute Hector Herrera headed in a corner in the final minute to snatch a point.
Strong response by Manchester City
Both sides trail Lokomotiv Moscow following the Russians’ 2-1 win at Bayer Leverkusen. Grzegorz Krychowiak and Dmitri Barinov scored for Lokomotiv either side of an own goal by former Germany defender Benedikt Hoewedes.
Premier League champions City bounced back from defeat by Norwich at the weekend with a comfortable 3-0 victory against Shakhtar Donetsk in Kharkiv.
City are second to Dinamo Zagreb in Group C after the Croatian champions made it a night to forget for competition debutants Atalanta with a 4-0 rout.
Bayern Munich needed late goals from Robert Lewandowski and Thomas Mueller to make sure of victory against Red Star Belgrade in Group ‘D.’
Kingsley Coman’s bullet header gave Bayern a first-half lead but the German champions were forced to wait until the 80th minute before Lewandowski ended Red Star’s threat. Mueller volleyed in a third in stoppage time.
Last year’s finalists Tottenham blew a two-goal lead to draw 2-2 at Olympiakos.
