Piraeus (Greece) (AFP)
Marseille missed its return to the Champions League after seven years of absence, beaten by the wire by Olympiakos (1-0), Bayern Munich admirably launched the defense of its title with the imperial Kingsley Coman and Real Madrid sank from the start.
- OM, oh no!
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After a seven-year term without C1, OM returned to their European past in pain.
Unable to score in Piraeus, the Phocaeans experienced the worst of fates: a goal conceded in added time by the substitute Ahmed Hassan (90th + 1) on a cross from Mathieu Valbuena.
The 36-year-old midfielder, former OM idol (2006-2014), is not the only one to have tormented the Phocéens, even if he forced Steve Mandanda to a reflex parade (71st).
The French defense suffered a lot in the second half, with a goal (52nd) invalidated after video assistance and an outgoing post (69th), in particular.
Behind closed doors at the Karaïskaki stadium, on the outskirts of Athens, the Marseillais failed to convert a rather successful start to the match, with opportunities from Florian Thauvin (32nd) and Dimitri Payet (34th).
The three points of victory could have come from the feet of Benedetto but the Argentine, ineffective at the start of the season, missed his duel against the goalkeeper (46th).
Seven years after the calamitous 2013-2014 season (zero points in six matches), the reunion in C1 is painful for the Marseillais who will receive from Tuesday the scarecrow Manchester City, leader of group C after its success against Porto (3-1) .
- Imperial Coman -
Fifty-nine days after the coronation goal, in Lisbon against Paris SG, French winger Kingsley Coman launched Bayern's new European campaign with a brace (28th, 72nd) and an assist for Leon Goretzka ( 41st).
It didn't take much for the German ogre to devour Luis Suarez's Atlético Madrid (4-0).
The Uruguayan gunslinger, bitten 8-2 by the Bavarians in the quarter-finals of the previous edition with Barça, did not obtain the expected revenge under his new colors.
After this successful start, Bayern of Benjamin Pavard, Lucas Hernandez, Corentin Tolisso (scorer in the 66th) and Coman, all holders at kick-off, seized the lead of Group A alone ahead of Salzburg and Lokomotiv Moscow.
The Austrians and the Russians fought a nice fight (2-2), without succeeding in inflicting K.-O.
- Shipwreck of the Real -
Zinédine Zidane's Real Madrid, crowned in 2016, 2017 and 2018, missed its entry into the big picture!
His defense sank as in Cadiz (1-0) on Saturday and as in City in the round of 16 in August (2-1 defeat), where Raphaël Varane lived through an ordeal.
Author of a goal against his side (33rd, 0-2), the French world champion still lived a dark evening in the small Alfredo-Di Stéfano stadium in Valdebebas, in the northern suburbs of Madrid.
Without captain Sergio Ramos (knee), the foundations of the "White House" collapsed under the blows of Mateus Tetê (29th) and Manor Solomon (42nd).
Luka Modric (54th) and Vinicius (59th) maintained hope against a Ukrainian team diminished by a multitude of absences, as well as Federico Valverde but his goal in added time was invalidated.
The reaction of the Madrilenians will not be long.
They go to enemy territory on Saturday to play the first "Clasico" of the season at Camp Nou before traveling to Germany on Tuesday to challenge Mönchengladbach, caught in extremis on Wednesday by Inter Milan (2-2) from double scorer Romelu Lukaku.
- Happy Liverpool -
European champion in 2019, Liverpool began their reconquest operation with a bit of success on the pitch of Ajax Amsterdam (1-0).
Argentina international defender Nicolas Tagliafico catapulted a failed strike by Sadio Mané, the Senegalese striker from the Reds, into his own goal.
Behind, the defense of the English champions held up despite the absences due to injury of the titular goalkeeper Alisson, the side Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and the central defender Virgil van Dijk, seriously injured in a knee on Saturday against Everton (2-2)
In the other meeting of the group, Atalanta Bergamo punished the novices of Midtjylland (4-0), qualified for the first time in their history via the dams.
In the rain, the Danes were showered before the break by the offensive trident of the "Dea": Duvan Zapata (26th), Alejandro Gomez (36th) and Luis Muriel (42nd).
Tuesday, the wave could be even higher at Anfield ...
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