Harry Kane and Jude Bellingham made US$100-million moves in the off-season and proved their worth Wednesday in Champions League debuts for their new clubs.
England captain Kane and his likely successor Bellingham scored key goals for Bayern Munich and Real Madrid, respectively, to show why they are adored already by their new home fans.
Kane’s precisely taken penalty quickly restored Bayern’s two-goal lead against Manchester United early in the second half of a 4-3 win. The final result was due to a late and fruitless flourish by the club that wanted to sign Kane and keep him in England.
Bellingham landed just where he wanted in Madrid and his 94th-minute goal in a 1-0 win over newcomer Union Berlin made it six goals for the English star in six straight wins to start the Spanish giant’s season.
Back home in England, Arsenal returned to the Champions League after a six-year absence as if it had never been away. PSV Eindhoven was thrashed 4-0 in a no-doubt win sparked by England winger Bukayo Saka’s goal in the 8th.
Late goals got Italian teams off to good starts in the last-ever group stage before the new Champions League format takes effect next year.
Serie A champion Napoli won 2-1 at Braga thanks to an own-goal in the 88th by Mali defender Sikou Niakate.
Lautaro Martinez was key to Inter Milan’s run to the final last season and the Argentina forward struck in the 87th to take a 1-1 draw from Real Sociedad.
Galatasaray got goals in the 86th and 88th to deny Copenhagen a valuable away win in Istanbul – it ended 2-2 – and Europa League winner Sevilla was held 1-1 at home by Lens, which is last in the French league.
Salzburg surprised Benfica by winning 2-0 in Lisbon.
OLD MASTERS
Real Madrid was playing its 477th game in the European Cup or Champions League. Union Berlin was playing its first. Madrid’s European adventure started on Sept. 8, 1955 – a 2-0 win against Servette in Geneva – in the third game ever played in the European Cup. Then, Union was playing behind the Iron Curtain in East Germany, outside the top tier, and known as SC Motor Berlin. The experience told. Union resisted Madrid’s first 29 goal attempts but the 30th proved too much when Jude Bellingham pirouetted to finish a game of pinball in the goalmouth and shoot into an empty net. It was the second time this month he scored a decisive stoppage-time goal.
UNITED’S STRUGGLES
Manchester United and manager Erik ten Hag have now lost three straight games and four of their last five. The cause was not helped by goalkeeper Andre Onana spilling Leroy Sane’s shot into the net to gift Bayern a 28th-minute lead. After Serge Gnabry double the lead, United players came out early for the second half and huddled for a pep talk from captain Bruno Fernandes. It appeared to have worked with a goal in the 49th from Rasmus Hjlund, the 20-year-old Denmark striker bought for $82 million from Atalanta in the role Kane might have filled. Kane’s penalty seemed to have sealed the win, but Casemiro scored two late goals either side of a fourth for Bayern by French 18-year-old Mathys Tel.
EUROPA CONFERENCE LEAGUE
The third-tier Europa Conference League kicked off with Lille beating Slovenian champion Olimpija Ljubljana 2-0. Canada forward Jonathan David scored the first from a 43rd-minute penalty. European newcomer K Klaksvik, the first group-stage team in any competition to come from the Faeroe Islands, and Slovan Bratislava also are in the group. The rest of the Conference League starts Thursday.