Champions League results, matchday one: Como put four past Leipzig
Eighteen games in three days. Como win 4-1 in their first ever Champions League match, Inter Milan fall at the Bernabeu, Roma draw in Istanbul. Every result with the scorers, and how our calls went: sixteen from eighteen.
The opening round of the Champions League closed on Thursday night. Eighteen games across three days, and the picture is clear enough: the favourites won almost everywhere, and the biggest surprise carries an Italian name.
Below are all the results with the scorers split by side, and next to each one how our call went, the wrong ones included.
The tally, before anything else
Across the eighteen games our calls came in sixteen times. Four from six on Tuesday, six from six on Wednesday, six from six on Thursday.
The two that missed are AEK Athens against LASK, which finished 1-0 when we expected at least two goals, and Lille against Betis, which ended 2-3 when we expected no more than four. They stay written where they belong, among the others: it is the only way the tally means anything.
Como's night
Como beat RB Leipzig 4-1 in the first Champions League match in the club's history. Baturina on 15 minutes, Douvikas on 38 from a Baturina pass, then Diao on 54 and Perrone on 90, both set up by Nico Paz. Maksimović had pulled one back for Leipzig on 58.
This was not a narrow win over a small side: Leipzig are one of the most solid German teams of the last decade. Como finished with seven big chances to three and an expected-goals figure of 2.98 against 1.36, so the 4-1 is not a freak scoreline either. And it is the widest margin any Italian club managed this round.
The Italian clubs, one by one
Beyond Como the picture is mixed. Inter Milan lost 2-1 at the Bernabeu to Real Madrid: Mbappé on 14, Valverde on 23, then Carlos Augusto on 77 to reopen it far too late. Napoli lost 0-1 at home to Arsenal, settled by Ødegaard on 75 minutes. Roma drew 1-1 in Istanbul against Fenerbahce: Cristante ahead on 39, Archie Brown level on 48.
The big numbers of the round
PSG won 6-1 against Slovan Bratislava: two for Dembélé and a Ferran Torres hat-trick. Barcelona put 5-1 past Feyenoord with two from Raphinha. Bayern Munich finished 5-0 against Bodo/Glimt, Olise scoring twice late on.
And there is a second hat-trick worth noting even though the game passed quietly: Demirović for Stuttgart, three goals between the 20th and the 32nd minute.
The oddest night belonged to Guirassy: in Borussia Dortmund's 3-2 over Villarreal he scored twice, on 80 and on 85 from the spot, then turned the ball into his own net on 90+3.
All the results, day by day
Tuesday 8 September
Real Madrid 2-1 Inter Milan — Real Madrid: Kylian Mbappé 14', Federico Valverde 23'. Inter Milan: Carlos Augusto 77'. Here our call was over 1.5 goals, confidence 7 out of 10: correct.
FC Porto 0-2 Manchester City — Manchester City: Erling Haaland 47', 90+1'. Here our call was under 4.5 goals, confidence 7 out of 10: correct.
Borussia Dortmund 3-2 Villarreal — Borussia Dortmund: Renato Veiga 53' (o.g.), Serhou Guirassy 80', 85' (pen.). Villarreal: Santiago Mouriño 66', Serhou Guirassy 90+3' (o.g.). Here our call was over 1.5 goals, confidence 6 out of 10: correct.
Club Brugge 2-3 Aston Villa — Club Brugge: Hugo Vetlesen 19', Nicolò Tresoldi 61' (pen.). Aston Villa: John McGinn 11', Emiliano Buendía 22', Nicolas Jackson 43'. Here our call was over 1.5 goals, confidence 6 out of 10: correct.
Lille 2-3 Betis — Lille: Ayase Ueda 12', Alexsandro Ribeiro 36'. Betis: Marc Bartra 33', 49', Troy Parrott 53'. Here our call was under 4.5 goals, confidence 7 out of 10: wrong.
AEK Athens 1-0 LASK — AEK Athens: Răzvan Marin 21'. Here our call was over 1.5 goals, confidence 7 out of 10: wrong.
Wednesday 9 September
PSG 6-1 Slovan Bratislava — PSG: Ousmane Dembélé 17', 23', Ferran Torres 31', 47', 57', Fabián Ruiz 87'. Slovan Bratislava: Suleiman Camara 58'. Here our call was over 2.5 goals, confidence 5 out of 10: correct.
Barcelona 5-1 Feyenoord — Barcelona: Raphinha 3', Karim Adeyemi 22', Raphinha 57', Lamine Yamal 77', Gabriel Jesus 85'. Feyenoord: Sem Steijn 82'. Here our call was over 2.5 goals, confidence 7 out of 10: correct.
Liverpool 2-1 Atletico Madrid — Liverpool: Dominik Szoboszlai 40', Alexis Mac Allister 50'. Atletico Madrid: Marcos Llorente 17'. Here our call was over 1.5 goals, confidence 7 out of 10: correct.
Sporting 3-1 Galatasaray — Sporting: Geny Catamo 27', Luis Javier Suárez 57' (pen.), Rodrigo Zalazar 63'. Galatasaray: Gonçalo Inácio 5' (o.g.). Here our call was over 1.5 goals, confidence 7 out of 10: correct.
Stuttgart 3-1 Viking — Stuttgart: Ermedin Demirović 20', 26', 32'. Viking: Zlatko Tripić 22'. Here our call was both teams to score or over 2.5 goals, confidence 7 out of 10: correct.
Napoli 0-1 Arsenal — Arsenal: Martin Ødegaard 75'. Here our call was under 4.5 goals, confidence 7 out of 10: correct.
Thursday 10 September
Como 4-1 RB Leipzig — Como: Martin Baturina 15', Anastasios Douvikas 38', Assane Diao 54', Máximo Perrone 90'. RB Leipzig: Andrija Maksimović 58'. Here our call was over 1.5 goals, confidence 6 out of 10: correct.
Bayern Munich 5-0 Bodo/Glimt — Bayern Munich: Jamal Musiala 47', Harry Kane 61', Alphonso Davies 77', Michael Olise 83', 90+2'. Here our call was over 2.5 goals, confidence 7 out of 10: correct.
Manchester United 4-0 Sabah — Manchester United: Matheus Cunha 27', Bruno Fernandes 42', Benjamin Šeško 45', Lisandro Martínez 68'. Here our call was over 2.5 goals, confidence 8 out of 10: correct.
Slavia Prague 2-3 Lens — Slavia Prague: Danijel Šturm 51', 88'. Lens: Abdallah Sima 73', Florian Thauvin 90+1', Ruben Aguilar 90+3'. Here our call was over 1.5 goals, confidence 7 out of 10: correct.
Fenerbahce 1-1 Roma — Fenerbahce: Archie Brown 48'. Roma: Bryan Cristante 39'. Here our call was over 1.5 goals, confidence 7 out of 10: correct.
PSV 1-1 Shakhtar — PSV: Sergiño Dest 48'. Shakhtar: Gleiker Mendoza 45+1'. Here our call was over 1.5 goals, confidence 7 out of 10: correct.
How we read this tally
Every call carries a confidence from 1 to 10, our measure of how solid the picture looked before kick-off: not a promise, a weight. Sixteen from eighteen is a high number, and that is exactly why it has to be published with the two misses next to it.
Upcoming games, with predicted line-ups and our calls, are on the Champions League page. The record of settled calls is in the results history, and the individual ones are in player predictions.
