Real Madrid opened their 2026/27 UEFA Champions League campaign with a hard-fought 2-1 victory over Inter Milan at the Santiago Bernabéu on Tuesday night, while Erling Haaland inspired Manchester City to a 2-0 win away to Porto.
Kylian Mbappé and Fede Valverde struck within the opening 23 minutes to give Real Madrid a commanding advantage, although Inter had the better of the possession and created enough opportunities to make the result considerably more uncomfortable for José Mourinho’s side.
Mbappé opened the scoring in the 14th minute after Inter defender Yann Bisseck was punished for a costly error. Brahim Díaz capitalised on the mistake before setting up the French forward, who finished past Josep Martínez to give Madrid an early lead.
Nine minutes later, another Inter mistake doubled the advantage. Martínez received a back pass only for Valverde to press aggressively, dispossess the goalkeeper and prod the ball into an empty net.
Inter refused to collapse and dominated significant periods of the contest. Madrid were forced to rely heavily on Thibaut Courtois, who produced several important saves, including a crucial intervention late in the game.
The Spanish giants also missed chances to put the match beyond doubt, with Mbappé, Jude Bellingham and Díaz unable to convert promising opportunities.
Carlos Augusto eventually reduced the deficit in the 77th minute, finishing from a Lautaro Martínez delivery.
Inter pushed for an equaliser in the closing stages, but Madrid survived the pressure to begin their European campaign with three points.
Haaland Delivers as City Silence Porto
Manchester City also made a winning start, defeating Porto 2-0 at the Estádio do Dragão with both goals coming from Erling Haaland.
After a goalless first half, the Norwegian striker broke the deadlock shortly after the restart, heading home from an Enzo Fernández delivery. He then sealed the victory in stoppage time with a composed finish following a cut-back from Rayan Ait-Nouri.
The result gives Enzo Maresca four wins from his first four matches in charge of City and provides an early indication that the Italian coach can make a strong start to his tenure despite the scale of the challenge.
City will next face Paris Saint-Germain in the league phase, while Porto travel to Real Betis.
In Germany, Borussia Dortmund overcame Villarreal 3-2 in a dramatic encounter at the Signal Iduna Park.
An own goal from Renato Veiga gave Dortmund the lead before Santiago Mouriño levelled for Villarreal.
Serhou Guirassy then took control of the contest, scoring twice in the space of five minutes to put Dortmund 3-1 ahead. His night ended strangely when a late deflection off him produced an own goal in stoppage time, but Dortmund held on.
Real Betis also produced one of the night’s best comebacks, recovering from being behind twice to defeat Lille 3-2 in France.
Ayase Ueda and Alexsandro Ribeiro put Lille ahead on separate occasions, but Marc Bartra scored twice before Troy Parrott completed the turnaround. Lille were further weakened when Ethan Mbappé was sent off in the second half.
Villa End Goal Drought as AEK Edge LASK
Aston Villa also began their campaign with a 3-2 away victory over Club Brugge. John McGinn, Emiliano Buendía and Nicolas Jackson gave Unai Emery’s side a 3-1 half-time lead before a second-half penalty from Nicolò Tresoldi set up a nervous finish.
The victory was particularly significant for Villa after they had failed to score in their opening three Premier League matches. McGinn’s goal also made him the club’s leading scorer in major European competition.
Earlier, AEK Athens defeated Champions League debutants LASK 1-0, with Răzvan Marin scoring the only goal through a curling free-kick in the 21st minute.
Matchday 1 continues on Wednesday with six fixtures, including Barcelona against Feyenoord, Liverpool versus Atlético Madrid, Paris Saint-Germain against Slovan Bratislava, Sporting CP versus Galatasaray and Napoli’s meeting with Arsenal.
The final six matches will be played on Thursday, headlined by Manchester United against Sabah, Bayern Munich versus Bodø/Glimt and Fenerbahçe against Roma.
The opening round has already underlined the unpredictability of the expanded 36-team league phase, with heavyweight clubs forced to work for their points and individual errors proving decisive in several of Tuesday’s fixtures.
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