Manchester United suffered a miserable return to the UEFA Champions League after a 12-month hiatus as fullback Luke Shaw suffered a double fracture to his leg during Tuesday’s 2-1 defeat at PSV Eindhoven.
Real Madrid had no such trouble as Cristiano Ronaldo scored a hat-trick in a 4-0 thrashing of 10-man Shakhtar Donetsk.
Paris Saint-Germain, Juventus and Atletico Madrid also began with victories.
Photo: Reuters
However, the main talking point in the Netherlands was Shaw’s terrible injury that saw him taken to hospital, and he is now to require an operation.
“It is horrible. When he was going in the dressing room, he was with the oxygen mask, he was crying,” United manager Louis van Gaal said.
Asked how long he thought Shaw’s recovery would take Van Gaal said:
Photo: AFP
“I am not a doctor, so I cannot say. A double fracture, it generally takes six months, but you can never say in advance,” he added.
The England international was surging into the box when he was crunched by a dangerous tackle from Mexico international Hector Moreno.
“I am really sorry. I think I played the ball,” Moreno said. “I just hope he will be back as soon as possible.”
Photo: EPA
Shaw received treatment for eight minutes on the pitch.
Memphis Depay gave United the lead against his former club with a sublime goal on 41 minutes.
However, Moreno, who was perhaps lucky just to still be on the pitch, let alone to have not even given away a foul for his challenge, equalized through a deflected header from a corner just before the break.
If that equalizer was against the run of play, PSV’s second had an element of smash-and-grab about it as Luciano Narsingh headed home a deep cross from Maxime Lestienne.
United dominated in terms of possession, territory and chances, but simply could not find another goal.
In Madrid, France striker Karim Benzema gave the hosts a 30th-minute lead, although Gareth Bale had already gone off for Real with a calf injury.
Taras Stepanenko then got sent off for a second booking five minutes into the second period and Ronaldo took over.
He scored two penalties and then headed in a third to take his tally of goals within the week to eight, following five in La Liga at the weekend.
It also took him three goals clear of rival Lionel Messi in the all-time Champions League top-scorers chart with 80.
“I am very happy. I thank my teammates for the confidence they have given me,” said Ronaldo, who said his side have hit their stride since drawing their opening La Liga match.
“We started a little badly in La Liga with a draw, but since then we have been good, more consistent and we are on a good run,” he added.
At the Parc des Princes, Angel di Maria started paying back his 63 million euro (US$68.9 million) price tag with his first goal for PSG after just four minutes.
The 27-year-old Argentina international was bought from United to help PSG take the next step on the continental stage after three straight Champions League quarter-final exits.
He ran onto Marco Verratti’s pass before beautifully finishing past Johan Wiland in the Malmo FF goal.
Uruguay striker Edinson Cavani added a second on the hour mark as he headed home a Zlatan Ibrahimovic flick from Maxwell’s left-wing cross.
PSG should have won more handsomely, but Ibrahimovic, in particular, was wasteful.
It was a dreadful night in Manchester as perennial European underachievers Manchester City lost 2-1 at home to last season’s finalists Juventus.
City took the lead at the Etihad Stadium in controversial fashion as Vincent Kompany pressured Giorgio Chiellini into scoring an own-goal with 57 minutes gone.
Juve had been holding on at times, but Mario Mandzukic touched home Paul Pogba’s cross to equalize on 70 minutes.
Nine minutes from time, Alvaro Morata pounced on an error from Aleksandar Kolarov to snare the winner.
The result was all the more surprising as City had won five from five league games so far while the Old Lady of Turin had drawn one and lost two of their three Serie A fixtures.
French forward Antoine Griezmann scored twice within seven first-half minutes to give Atletico a 3-0 win at Galatasaray.
Sevilla made it three out of three as they cruised past Borussia Moenchengladbach — who have lost all four Bundesliga matches this season — 3-0 with goals from Kevin Gameiro and Ever Banega, both from the spot, and Yevhen Konoplyanka.
SL Benfica beat Champions League debutants Astana of Kazakhstan 2-0 in Lisbon with goals from Nicolas Gaitan and Kostas Mitroglou.
Julian Draxler went some way to helping VfL Wolfsburg forget the departed Kevin de Bruyne by scoring his first goal for the Wolves in only his second appearance as the Germans beat CSKA Moscow 1-0.
A stunning Lamine Yamal strike on Thursday helped crown Barcelona La Liga champions with a 2-0 win over local rivals RCD Espanyol, with victory ensuring Real Madrid cannot catch them at the top of the table. Yamal’s effort and Fermin Lopez’s goal took Hansi Flick’s side seven points clear of Los Blancos with two matches remaining, to clinch Barcelona’s 28th title and complete a superb domestic treble. Only the UEFA Champions League title escaped an exciting young Barca side this season, as they won the league for the second time in six years, at Espanyol’s ground again just as in 2022-2023. Back then,
SSC Napoli will have to wait one more week to seal the Serie A title after on Sunday being held to a goalless draw at Parma, while closest rivals Inter drew 2-2 in a dramatic game with SS Lazio. Antonio Conte’s team stayed one point ahead of Inter and were unfortunate not to win after twice striking the woodwork through Andre-Frank Zambo Anguissa and Matteo Politano, while Scott McTominay also had a free-kick tipped onto the crossbar. The away side thought they would be handed a chance to take the points from the penalty spot in the 96th minute when David Neres
Jannik Sinner on Thursday marched into the semi-finals of the Italian Open after destroying Casper Ruud in straight sets 6-0, 6-1, while Coco Gauff won a marathon three-set battle with China’s Zheng Qinwen to advance to the women’s singles final. American Gauff is to face Italy’s Jasmine Paolini in today’s title match after pulling through 7-6 (7/3), 4-6, 7-6 (7/4) in a match that lasted over three-and-a-half hours. Ruud was supposed to be Sinner’s toughest test in Rome since he came back from his three-month doping ban, as the Norwegian came into the match in hot form on clay after winning in
Shohei Ohtani on Thursday delivered his first two-homer game of the season and had six RBIs as the Los Angeles Dodgers poured it on with five long balls in a 19-2 victory over the visiting Athletics. Max Muncy, Andy Pages and James Outman also hit home runs for the Dodgers, who left no doubt by taking a 13-2 lead following a seven-run third inning. Muncy and Kim Hye-seong each had three hits for Los Angeles. Dodgers right-hander Matt Sauer led off a bullpen game by allowing two runs in four innings. Left-hander Justin Wrobleski (1-1) finished with four scoreless innings after he
RSS