The proletarian Paris Saint-Germain that Luis Enrique is trying to build had a mess during his visit to the Emirates (2-0) and showed that today it is many lengths behind Arsenal, which was looking for its first win after the draw the opening day at Atalanta’s home. Dembele did not travel to London, punished by his coach. “If someone seriously does not comply with the obligations they have, they are not prepared,” explained the Asturian coach. “I would do it a hundred times,” he added before a match that ended in fiasco and in which he gave up his most incisive striker. “It is a difficult decision for the team,” Luis Enrique assumed. This seemed to be the case on the field, where some of their most expert footballers also did not measure up. For example, Donnarumma, who could have done more in the goals that Arsenal scored before the break.
Havertz scored by reaching a Trossard cross. Saka then scored on a lateral free kick that passed past Tyrians and Trojans to sneak into the net. Arsenal retreated after the break, PSG took the ball and found a rival on the counter, comfortable with the lack of verticality of the Parisians, who in any case went further and forced the team led by Arteta to roll up their sleeves to not to be doomed to a painful end.
In the other big duel of the day, Bayer Leverkusen already has two victories and was not surprised by Milan (1-0). A good goal from Boniface at the start of the second half and good defensive work from Xabi Alonso’s team was enough to contain the last attacks of the Italian team. The Portuguese Sporting also pushed at the end in Eindhoven, where they tied seven minutes from ninety through the young Bragança and were still able to take the victory in an electrifying finale.
Other favorites had less trouble. Manchester City walked (0-4) in Bratislava against Slovan. Within fifteen minutes Gündogan and Foden had already scored. Haaland increased the score around the hour mark and Guardiola immediately sent him to the bench. The young McAtee rounded off the rout, less than the one Borussia Dortmund inflicted on Celtic (7-1), with a productive display by Adeyemi (three) and Guirassy (two). There was no excitement at San Siro either, with Inter well ahead of Red Star (4-0) and goals from Çalhanoglu at the beginning of the match and Arnautovic, Lautaro and Taremi after the break.
Stuttgart could not confirm the good feelings it left at the Bernabéu at the competition’s premiere. They drew at home against Sparta Prague (1-1) and wasted an early lead. It goes better for debutant Brest, who had already won on the first day against Sturm Graz and struck the blow in the fiefdom of one of the classics of recent seasons in the Champions League. The Gauls defeated another Austrian rival Salzburg (0-4) in a display of aim. Nothing came of it for the young players from the Red Bull factory, who started the game with a goal disallowed and crashed, always, against goalkeeper Bizot. Sima scored on a counterattack midway through the first half and everything went in the Breton team’s favor, who rounded off the win after the break with goals from Camara, again Sima and Pereira Lage. On the next matchday they up the ante: they host Bayer Leverkusen.
