Champions League Highlights: Mourinho's Return and Haaland's Dominance

PARIS (FRANCE) – Jose Mourinho walked back into the Champions League and straight into a win, Real Madrid edging Inter Milan 2-1 on a wild opening night that also saw Erling Haaland resume his personal assault on the record books for Manchester City.

The new league phase began with heavyweight statements from Real, City, Aston Villa and Borussia Dortmund, as the competition stretched its first matchday across three evenings and wasted no time in delivering chaos.

Mourinho back, Mbappé level with Raúl

Real have turned to Mourinho again, a second spell for the coach who once made the Bernabeu his battleground. Fitting, then, that his first game back in the competition came against Inter, the club he dragged to the treble and Champions League glory in 2010.

This time, he punished them.

Inter unravelled early. Madrid were two up before the half-hour, both goals gift-wrapped by a jittery visiting defence. On Kylian Mbappé’s 99th Champions League appearance, Yann Bisseck misjudged the danger and paid the price, allowing the Frenchman to pounce for the opener.

That strike took Mbappé to 71 Champions League goals, pulling him level with club legend Raúl. Same tally, very different era.

The second goal was even more self-inflicted. Inside his own six-yard box, Inter goalkeeper Josep Martinez tried to turn away from Fede Valverde. He never made it. Valverde nicked the ball off him and finished, the Bernabeu roaring at the sheer audacity of the press as much as the scoreline.

Inter, though, refused to disappear. Carlos Augusto dragged them back into the contest, and the final stretch turned frantic. Chances flew at both ends. Mourinho summed it up simply to Movistar: “A game that finished 2-1 could have finished 7-6 without any problems.”

It didn’t. Real held, Mourinho started with three points, and Madrid’s new era under an old face already feels combustible.

Haaland the “animal” as City roll in Porto

Over in Portugal, Enzo Maresca’s Manchester City were more controlled, more clinical, but just as ominous. They beat Porto 2-0, and of course, it was Haaland who did the damage.

Two minutes after the restart, Enzo Fernandez swung in a cross and Haaland did what Haaland does – powered in a header to break the deadlock. Porto had held firm in the first half; the dam broke almost instantly after the interval.

City managed the game, then killed it. Deep into stoppage time, Haaland struck again to seal the points. The Norwegian now has 59 goals in 59 Champions League games – a video-game return in a competition that rarely forgives.

“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, summing up the mood around City’s No 9.

It was a fourth straight win in all competitions for the 2023 Champions League winners, who now look ahead to a home showdown with reigning champions Paris Saint-Germain. That one already feels like a marker for the season.

Villa shake off the rust

Aston Villa arrived in Europe looking nothing like last season’s Europa League winners. No goals in three Premier League games, questions piling up. In Bruges, they finally snapped into life.

Unai Emery’s side beat Club Brugge 3-2 in Belgium, a scoreline that barely captured the swing of the contest. John McGinn bent in a superb opener, curling into the far corner to give Villa their first goal of the campaign.

The relief didn’t last long. Hugo Vetlesen levelled for the Belgian champions, but Villa hit back almost immediately. Emiliano Buendia restored the lead, then just before the break Nicolas Jackson made it 3-1, racing through after Yann Sommer charged out of his box and failed to reach the ball. Jackson skipped away and rolled in his first goal for Villa, a moment that felt like a release.

Brugge refused to fold. Nicolo Tresoldi pulled one back just after the hour from the spot following a handball by Aaron Wan-Bissaka, then smacked the post as Villa’s control slipped. Emery’s team bent but did not break, clinging on to a win that felt bigger than three points.

“We took one step forward today and it was very, very important for our confidence and stability,” Emery said, knowing exactly what the result meant for a stuttering start.

Guirassy’s hat-trick of sorts for Dortmund

In Dortmund, the Westfalenstadion got its first taste of this season’s drama, and Serhou Guirassy found himself at the centre of everything in a 3-2 win over Villarreal.

Last season’s runners-up needed a spark. They got it shortly after half-time when Renato Veiga diverted the ball into his own net to hand Dortmund the lead. Villarreal responded with authority, Santiago Mourino rising to head in the equaliser and silence the yellow wall, if only briefly.

The game drifted towards a tense finish. Then Guirassy took over.

With 10 minutes to go, he restored Dortmund’s advantage, finishing calmly to tilt the night back in the hosts’ favour. When Dortmund won a penalty, Guirassy stepped up again, converting for his second and his team’s third.

His night still had one sting left. A Gregor Kobel save cannoned off Guirassy’s face and flew into his own net – a brutal, almost comic own goal that cut the deficit and summed up the chaos of the evening. Dortmund still emerged with the win, Guirassy leaving the pitch as both match-winner and accidental villain.

Parrott punishes Lille, Marin stuns for AEK

In Lille, Real Betis marked their return to the Champions League after 21 years with a breathless 3-2 comeback win, driven again by Troy Parrott.

Japan forward Ayase Ueda struck first for Lille, only for Marc Bartra to haul Betis level. Lille went back in front through Brazil defender Alexsandro, and once more Bartra answered, his second equaliser dragging the Spaniards back into the game.

Then came Parrott. Five days after scoring the winner against Real Madrid in La Liga, the Irish striker delivered again, striking decisively on 53 minutes to complete the turnaround and cap Betis’ long-awaited return to the top table.

Lille’s night got worse. Ethan Mbappé, younger brother of Kylian, saw red as the French side finished with 10 men, their promising start undone by Betis’ stubborn refusal to go away.

The final act of the night played out in Greece, where AEK Athens edged LASK 1-0. It took a moment of pure quality: a stunning free-kick from Razvan Marin, whipped in with the kind of precision that decides tight European ties.

On a night when giants stumbled, recovered and roared, the Champions League reminded everyone of its old truth: it rarely eases you in. It throws you straight into the deep end and asks one question – who’s ready to swim?