UEFA Champions League: Liverpool beat Milan; City win nine-goal thriller
After an action-packed opening night in the UEFA Champions League matchday one, there was plenty of drama as Groups A to D were in action on Wednesday. Liverpool beat AC Milan 3-2 in the group of death. The other match in Group B saw Atletico and Porto draw their game (0-0). Meanwhile, Manchester City won a nine-goal thriller against 10-man RB Leipzig (Group A).
Liverpool started the game in frantic pace not giving Milan any room as the visitors were down 1-0. Trent Alexander-Arnold scored the opener. Liverpool dominated from there on before Milan stung them before half-time. Ante Rebic equalized with a brilliant first-time finish past Alisson. Milan scored another within minutes to stun Liverpool. After half-time, goals from Mohamed Salah and Jordan Henderson helped the hosts.
Mohamed Salah is now Liverpool's joint-highest scorer in UEFA Champions League games at Anfield. He netted his 14th UCL goal at Anfield which took him level with Steven Gerrard. Salah now has four goals in five appearances for Liverpool this season. He has raced to 129 goals for the Reds in 208 appearances.
As per Opta, Salah has failed to convert a penalty for just the second time in 19 attempts for Liverpool. Prior to this, Salah had failed to score versus Huddersfield in October 2017. Under Jurgen Klopp, Liverpool have only lost one of their 13 group stage games in the UCL at Anfield (W10 D2). Meanwhile, there were just 110 seconds between Milan's goals.
Last season's finalists Man City clinched the UCL opener 6-3 against German side RB Leipzig. It was a notable UCL debut for Jack Grealish. As per Opta, Grealish is the first Englishman to both score and assist on his UCL debut since Wayne Rooney versus Fenerbahçe in September 2004. City's Riyad Mahrez has scored five goals in his last five UCL appearances.
Christopher Nkunku's hat-trick went in vain. However, Nkunku has become the first RB Leipzig player to score a UCL hat-trick. As per Opta, he is only the second player to score a hat-trick against City in the competition after Lionel Messi in October 2016. He is also the third player after Messi and Jamie Vardy (twice) to slam a hat-trick against Guardiola's City.
In Group A, Paris Saint-Germain were held by Club Brugge (1-1), despite Lionel Messi, Kylian Mbappe, and Neymar starting for the French side. Messi made his 150th appearance in the Champions League, becoming only the third outfield player to reach this milestone in the competition after Cristiano Ronaldo (177) and Xavi (151). PSG mid-fielder Ander Herrera has now scored in four successive matches.
⏰ RESULTS ⏰
— UEFA Champions League (@ChampionsLeague) September 15, 2021
Goals, goals more goals! What. A. Night! 🔥
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Tell us which players stood out on Wednesday 👇#UCL
