Champions League Highlights: Mourinho, Haaland, and More

PARIS (FRANCE) – Jose Mourinho walked back into the Champions League and straight into the familiar glare of a Real Madrid victory, his new-old side edging Inter Milan 2-1 on a breathless opening night of the league phase.

The competition has changed format. Mourinho hasn’t. He still wins.

Mourinho back, Mbappé level with Raúl

Real, rekindling their relationship with the coach who once divided and defined the Bernabeu, handed him Inter as a first assignment – the club he guided to the trophy in 2010. The script was irresistible, and for 30 minutes it looked like Madrid would run away with it.

Inter helped them on their way.

Yann Bisseck’s error cracked the game open, Kylian Mbappé pouncing to score on his 99th Champions League appearance. One touch, one ruthless finish, and another milestone: 71 goals in the competition, drawing level with club icon Raúl.

The second goal was even more self-inflicted. Josep Martinez tried to turn away from Fede Valverde inside his own six-yard box. It was a disastrous decision. Valverde hunted him down, nicked the ball and rolled it in. Bernabeu delirium, Inter in disbelief.

Carlos Augusto dragged the Italians back into it after the break, and from there the match veered into chaos. Chances flew at both ends. Real clung on.

"It was a crazy game," Mourinho told Movistar. "A game that finished 2-1 could have finished 7-6 without any problems."

It didn’t. It finished with Mourinho walking down the tunnel with three points and a reminder of why Madrid turned to him again.

Haaland the finisher, City the machine

In Portugal, Manchester City moved through the gears with a familiar inevitability. Enzo Maresca’s side beat Porto 2-0, and once again it was Erling Haaland who did the heavy lifting.

The deadlock lasted only two minutes after the restart. Enzo Fernandez swung in a cross, Haaland attacked it, and the net bulged. Classic, brutal simplicity.

Porto pushed, but City never truly panicked. Deep into stoppage time, Haaland struck again to seal it. That’s 59 goals in 59 Champions League appearances. Video-game numbers, delivered with cold regularity.

"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.

City, winners in 2023, have now racked up four straight victories in all competitions. Next up in Europe: a home date with holders Paris Saint-Germain. That one already feels heavyweight.

Villa find their spark in Bruges

Aston Villa arrived in Belgium with questions hanging over them after a stuttering start to their domestic season. They left with a 3-2 win over Club Brugge and something far more valuable: a jolt of belief.

Unai Emery’s team, still goalless after three Premier League matches, needed a release. John McGinn provided it, curling a precise finish into the far corner to open the scoring.

Club Brugge hit back through Hugo Vetlesen, but Villa responded with the kind of sharpness they’ve been missing in England. Emiliano Buendia restored the lead, and just before the interval Nicolas Jackson made it 3-1, racing through to roll in his first Villa goal after Yann Sommer misjudged a desperate charge out of his box.

The game refused to settle. Nicolo Tresoldi pulled one back from the spot just after the hour following a handball by Aaron Wan-Bissaka. Tresoldi then smacked the post as Villa wobbled, but Emery’s side held on.

"We took one step forward today and it was very, very important for our confidence and stability," Emery said. For a team trying to remember what it feels like to control big nights, this mattered.

Guirassy everywhere as Dortmund edge thriller

At Signal Iduna Park, Borussia Dortmund opened their campaign with a wild 3-2 win over Villarreal, a night when Serhou Guirassy somehow managed to score twice at one end and once at the other.

Last season’s runners-up went ahead early in the second half when Renato Veiga diverted the ball into his own net. Villarreal answered through Santiago Mourino, whose header dragged them level and briefly silenced the Yellow Wall.

The tension grew, and Guirassy took over.

With 10 minutes left he put Dortmund back in front, then stepped up from the penalty spot to make it 3-1 and seemingly kill the game. Yet even his third act came with a twist: a Gregor Kobel save cannoned off Guirassy’s face and flew into his own net. A bizarre own goal, a frantic finale, and a narrow Dortmund win.

Parrott punishes Lille, AEK strike late

In Lille, Real Betis marked their return to the Champions League after a 21-year absence with a 3-2 comeback victory that turned into the Troy Parrott show for the second time in five days.

Ayase Ueda struck first for the hosts, only for Marc Bartra to level. Alexsandro restored Lille’s advantage, and again Bartra replied, refusing to let Betis fade.

Then came Parrott.

The Irish forward, fresh from scoring the winner against Madrid at the weekend, struck on 53 minutes to complete the turnaround and stun the French crowd. Lille’s night collapsed further when Ethan Mbappe, younger brother of Kylian, was sent off, leaving them to chase the game with 10 men.

Elsewhere, Greek champions AEK Athens edged LASK 1-0, a tight contest decided by a stunning Razvan Marin free-kick that bent past the wall and into the top corner.

One night into this new-look league phase, the familiar themes are already back: Mourinho in the spotlight, Haaland breaking records, underdogs landing punches. If this is the tone being set in September, what will these nights look like when the stakes really start to bite?