Champions League Highlights: Mourinho Returns, Haaland Shines
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 breathless opening night of the new league phase.
The competition has a different format. Mourinho does not.
Real, chasing a 16th European crown, have turned again to the Portuguese coach, and his first game back in the tournament came against the club he led to the treble in 2010. Nostalgia ended the moment the whistle blew.
Mourinho’s Madrid pounce on Inter errors
Inside a charged Bernabeu, Madrid were two up before Inter had even settled, both goals gift‑wrapped by the Italian champions’ defence.
Yann Bisseck’s slip in judgement opened the door for Kylian Mbappe on his 99th Champions League appearance. He needed no second invitation. One touch, one ruthless finish, and he moved to 71 goals in the competition, level with club icon Raul.
Inter then imploded again. Goalkeeper Josep Martinez tried to pirouette away from Fede Valverde inside his own six-yard box. It was a disastrous choice. Valverde read it, nicked the ball and stabbed in Madrid’s second.
From there, the game turned wild.
Carlos Augusto dragged Inter back into it, and chances flew at both ends as the match opened up into the kind of chaos Mourinho usually despises but could not escape. Real bent, but did not break.
“It was a crazy game,” Mourinho told Movistar. “A game that finished 2-1 could have finished 7-6 without any problems.”
On a night when Real showed both their cutting edge and their fragility, the scoreboard was all that mattered to their returning coach.
Haaland’s brutal efficiency in Porto
In Portugal, Erling Haaland did what Erling Haaland does. Again.
Enzo Maresca’s Manchester City, European champions in 2023, collected a fourth straight win in all competitions with a 2-0 victory away to Porto, their dominance underlined by the Norwegian’s cold precision.
City broke through two minutes after the restart. Enzo Fernandez swung in a cross, Haaland attacked it and buried the header. Simple, direct, devastating.
Porto chased, stretched, and were punished again in stoppage time as Haaland struck his second to seal the points. He now has 59 goals in 59 Champions League appearances, a scarcely believable return even by modern standards.
“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.
Next up in Europe for City: a home clash with reigning champions Paris Saint-Germain. Haaland will expect more.
Villa finally ignite in Europe
Aston Villa arrived in Belgium with questions hanging over them after a flat start to their domestic campaign. They left with a 3-2 win at Club Brugge and a much-needed jolt of belief.
Unai Emery’s side had not scored a goal in three Premier League games. John McGinn changed the mood with a trademark finish, curling into the far corner to put Villa ahead.
Brugge hit back through Hugo Vetlesen, but Villa’s response was sharp. Emiliano Buendia restored the lead, and just before the break, Nicolas Jackson pounced on chaos.
Yann Sommer charged out of his box and misjudged the situation completely. Jackson sprinted through, rolled in his first goal for Villa and made it 3-1.
The game refused to die. Nicolo Tresoldi pulled one back from the penalty spot just after the hour following a handball by Aaron Wan-Bissaka, then smacked the post moments later. Villa wobbled but survived.
“We took one step forward today and it was very, very important for our confidence and stability,” Emery said. For a team trying to shake off early-season rust, it felt like more than just three points.
Guirassy’s rollercoaster night in Dortmund
At Signal Iduna Park, Borussia Dortmund opened their campaign with a 3-2 win over Villarreal, a scoreline that barely captured Serhou Guirassy’s wild evening.
Last season’s runners-up went ahead early in the second half when Renato Veiga turned the ball into his own net. Villarreal hit back through Santiago Mourino’s header, and suddenly the yellow wall grew tense.
Guirassy took over.
With 10 minutes left, he fired Dortmund back in front, then held his nerve from the penalty spot to make it 3-1 and seemingly kill the contest. Yet his night ended in bizarre fashion, as a Gregor Kobel save cannoned off Guirassy’s face and into his own net.
A brace and an own goal, all in one game. Dortmund still walked away with the win, but it was anything but routine.
Parrott punishes Lille, AEK strike late
In Lille, Real Betis marked their first Champions League appearance in 21 years with a 3-2 comeback victory that turned Troy Parrott into an instant cult figure.
Japan forward Ayase Ueda and Brazilian defender Alexsandro both scored to put Davide Ancelotti’s Lille ahead twice, only for Marc Bartra to drag Betis level on each occasion.
Then came Parrott.
Five days after hitting the winner against Real Madrid in La Liga, the Irish striker struck again on 53 minutes, driving home what proved to be the decisive goal. Betis held on as Lille finished with 10 men after Ethan Mbappe, younger brother of Kylian, was sent off.
The night closed in Austria, where Greek champions AEK Athens edged LASK 1-0. Razvan Marin supplied the single moment of pure artistry, whipping a stunning free-kick into the net to cap an opening matchday already loaded with storylines.
Mourinho back in the Champions League, Haaland still rewriting the scoring code, old names and new faces colliding. If this was just the first act of the league phase, what comes next could be ferocious.
