Published : 11 Sep 2026, 05:43 PM
Updated : 16 Sep 2026, 11:49 AM
The Champions League is back, and it did not take long for the familiar faces — or some decidedly unfamiliar ones — to make an impression.
Arsenal picked up where last season’s run to the final left off, Manchester City barely allowed Porto a kick and Manchester United enjoyed a comfortable return to Europe’s top table.
But the biggest winners of the first round came from the shores of Lake Como, while a new arrival in Paris needed only one game to announce himself.
Here are the winners and losers from Matchday 1.
WINNERS
Como — Some Way to Say Hello
Como had never played a European match. Their stadium required a race against time to meet UEFA standards, with the alternative involving playing home games some 200km away.
Then RB Leipzig arrived.
Fifteen minutes into Como’s Champions League debut, Martin Baturina had their first goal. By full-time it was 4-1, with Cesc Fàbregas’s side celebrating a dream opening night.
The Champions League has its newest fairytale. Como may have other ideas about how long it lasts.
Manchester United — Remember This Feeling?
Two seasons away from the Champions League ended with four goals, four different scorers and a clean sheet at Old Trafford.
Sabah were debutants and United were expected to win comfortably, so nobody should read too much into a 4-0 victory. But after dropping points from winning positions at Everton, Michael
Carrick could hardly have designed a better night before the Manchester derby.
Benjamin Sesko scoring for a second successive game following his return from injury was another bonus.
The opposition demands an asterisk. The occasion does not.
Ferran Torres — Three Goals, One Emphatic Introduction
Paris Saint-Germain hardly needed rescuing. They have won the last two Champions Leagues.
Ferran Torres nevertheless found a spectacular way of introducing himself to European nights in Paris.
The summer signing scored three times as Slovan Bratislava were swept aside 6-1, completing his hat-trick with PSG already five goals up inside 57 minutes.
After a sluggish domestic start for the holders, this was considerably more familiar.
Arsenal — Europe Feels Like Home Now
There was a time when a Champions League trip to somewhere like Naples felt like an examination of Arsenal’s European credentials.
Increasingly, it just looks like another game they expect to win.
Last season’s runners-up created enough chances at Napoli to win by more, but eventually needed Martin Ødegaard’s 75th-minute strike. The 1-0 victory extended Arsenal’s remarkable run to nine successive league-phase wins across two seasons.
Perhaps the biggest compliment is how unsurprising it all felt.
Manchester City — New Manager, Familiar Domination
Porto managed zero attempts.
That statistic probably tells Enzo Maresca more about Manchester City’s Champions League opener than anything else.
City had more than 70 percent possession and 20 shots but needed until the second half to break through, when Erling Haaland took over with two goals.
Four competitive matches under Maresca have produced four victories. The Guardiola era may be over, but the habit of suffocating opponents appears rather harder to shift.
Lens — Never Leave Early
After 90 minutes, Lens were losing 2-1 to 10-man Slavia Prague.
By the 93rd, they had won 3-2.
Florian Thauvin supplied the stoppage-time equaliser before Ruben Aguilar completed an extraordinary turnaround two minutes later.
Three minutes can be an awfully long time in the Champions League.
Bayern Munich — Death, Taxes and Winning on Matchday 1
Bodø/Glimt reached half-time in Munich at 0-0.
That was the good news.
Bayern scored five times after the break, Harry Kane collected his 34th Champions League goal in 39 appearances for the club and Michael Olise finished proceedings with a late double.
It was Bayern’s 23rd consecutive victory in their opening Champions League match.
Different seasons, different opponents. Same beginning.
LOSERS
RB Leipzig — Como’s Fairytale, Leipzig’s Warning
The temptation is to view Leipzig’s 4-1 defeat as simply the other side of Como’s extraordinary night.
It looks rather more troubling than that.
Leipzig have won only one of their last 10 Champions League matches and arrived in Italy after losing 3-1 to Werder Bremen.
For Como, this was history. For Leipzig, it is beginning to look like a pattern.
Inter — Everything but the Points
Inter had more than 64 percent possession at the Bernabéu, repeatedly forced Thibaut Courtois into action and arguably played the better football.
They were also punished for two costly errors.
Yann Bisseck lost possession under pressure from Kylian Mbappé for the opener before goalkeeper Josep Martínez’s attempt to dribble past Federico Valverde gifted Madrid another.
Inter did almost everything required to win at the Bernabéu except the part that counts.
Ethan Mbappé — From Creator to Culprit
For a while, this was shaping up to be a fine European night for Ethan Mbappé.
He supplied the cross for Ayase Ueda’s opener as Lille led Real Betis 2-1 at half-time.
Within eight minutes of the restart, Lille were 3-2 down. Four minutes later, Mbappé was sent off following a VAR review.
On an evening when older brother Kylian scored in Madrid, Ethan’s night travelled sharply in the opposite direction.
Atlético Madrid — Had It, Lost It
For a while, Atlético had the game exactly where they wanted it.
Marcos Llorente put them ahead at Anfield and their five-man midfield initially caused Liverpool problems. But Andoni Iraola adjusted, Dominik Szoboszlai equalised before half-time and
Alexis Mac Allister completed the turnaround five minutes after the restart.
An Atlético lead is supposed to be an uncomfortable place for opponents.
Liverpool made it look rather less so.
Galatasaray — The Perfect Start, Wasted
Five minutes into their Champions League campaign, Galatasaray were ahead at Sporting and had exactly the start an away side would want.
It unravelled from there.
Poor defending allowed Sporting back into the game before half-time, and two second-half goals completed a 3-1 defeat.
Five minutes of promise. Very little thereafter.
Slavia Prague — 90 Minutes Not Enough
Imagine playing more than 40 minutes with 10 men, twice taking the lead and reaching the end of normal time 2-1 ahead.
Then imagine losing.
Lens scored twice in stoppage time to complete Slavia’s misery and prolong their long wait for another victory in the Champions League proper.
Few defeats will hurt quite like this one.
Bodø/Glimt — Whatever Happened at Half-Time
Forty-five minutes at Bayern Munich. No goals conceded.
Then Bayern scored five.
Bodø/Glimt had done the difficult part, frustrating the six-time European champions throughout the opening half before the floodgates opened after the interval.
Unfortunately, there was another half to play.
