There were goals for Kylian Mbappe and Erling Haaland; and wins for Real Madrid and Manchester City as the Champions League returned Tuesday (September 8, 2026) for a new season.

Mbappe gave record 15-time champion Madrid an early lead en route to 2-1 victory over Inter Milan at the Santiago Bernabeu.

Haaland scored both goals as 2023 winner City beat Porto 2-0.

Madrid and City are expected to be among the main challengers to back-to-back defending champion Paris Saint-Germain this season, and each club will be relying on its star strikers.

Mbappe’s goal after 14 minutes was his 71st in European club soccer’s top continental competition and saw him move level with Madrid great Raúl in fifth place on the all-time scorers list. Haaland took his tally to 59 in 59 appearances in the Champions League.

Borussia Dortmund beat Villarreal 3-2, and Real Betis won by the same score at Lille.

Aston Villa also won 3-2 over Club Brugge, and AEK Athens had a 1-0 win over LASK. PSG begins its campaign Wednesday (September 9) against Slovan Bratislava.

Jose Mourinho made a winning return to the Champions League as Real Madrid coach, despite Inter dominating possession.

When Inter lost possession deep in its own half Brahim Diaz slid in Mbappe, who fired low past Josep Martinez.

The Inter goalkeeper was then guilty of indecision when Federico Valverde closed him down in his own area and poked the ball into an empty net.

Inter, which ended the game with 61% possession, set up a tense finish when Carlos Augusto scored in the 77th.

“There’s so much criticism when a game is boring, but today it was crazy — it could easily have ended 7-6,” Mourinho told broadcaster Movistar.

Mourinho won his second Champions League title with Inter in 2010 and is aiming to join the likes of Pep Guardiola, Luis Enrique and Zinedine Zidane by lifting the trophy for a third time.

Unstoppable Haaland With five goals in his last three games, Haaland is in hot form. And it could have been even more if not for Porto goalkeeper Diogo Costa’s first-half performance.

Haaland eventually found the breakthrough at Estadio do Dragao with a header two minutes into the second half. He side-footed City’s second in stoppage time to make certain of the win and ensure new coach Enzo Maresca’s 100% start continued.

“We have to learn. Enzo demands a lot from us and we have to demand a lot from each other,” Haaland told Amazon Prime. “We have to win games because at Man City, you have to win trophies. That’s what we have to do at this club.”

Villa kicks off with a win. Aston Villa put its domestic problems behind it with a win over Club Brugge.

Victory in Belgium ended Villa’s winless and goalless start to its 2026-27 season, after early struggles in the Premier League.

John McGinn recorded the first goal of the Champions League campaign with a sweeping low shot from an angle in the 11th minute. Hugo Vetlesen equalized for Brugge, but Emiliano Buendia and Nicolas Jackson put Villa 3-1 up by the break.

Nicolo Tresoldi scored for the home team with a penalty in the 61st, but Villa held on for the win.

Villa coach Unai Emery will hope victory sparks his team’s season after the summer departures of star players Morgan Rogers, Ollie Watkins, Ezri Konsa and Emi Martinez.

His much-changed team lost to Brighton and Arsenal in the Premier League and picked up its first point of the season with a goalless draw against newly promoted Hull City. It had recorded only one shot on target in those three games.

Borussia Dortmund teenager Konstantinos Karetsas was taken to hospital after slumping to the turf 25 minutes into his Champions League debut.

“Konstantinos Karetsas had to leave the field due to circulatory problems,” Dortmund said in a statement. Karetsas “is doing well under the circumstances and is on his way to the hospital for further tests.”

Serhou Guirassy scored three goals — two for Dortmund and one in his own net — in a frantic finish against Villarreal.

Guirassy gave Dortmund a 2-1 lead in the 80th and then struck again from the penalty spot five minutes later to make it 3-1. He then added an own goal in stoppage time to make it 3-2

Parrott strikes again It has been an eventful few days for Troy Parrott.

The Ireland international scored his first goal for new club Betis with a late winner against Madrid on Friday (September 4) and he was on target again with the decisive goal in the 3-2 win in Lille.

AEK Athens beat LASK 1-0 thanks to Razvan Marin’s brilliant first-half free kick.

Published – September 09, 2026 11:17 am IST

England manager Thomas Tuchel after the match as England qualify for the semi-finals of the World Cup, on July 11, 2026.
| Photo Credit: Reuters