Real Madrid’s 2025/26 Champions League campaign got off to a winning start on Tuesday night with a 2-1 over Olympique Marseilles, on a night which produced 23 goals. But Los Blancos needed two penalties to make their contribution.
Timothy Weah, on loan from Juventus, silenced the Santiago Bernabeu, on 22 minutes, when he took a pass from Mason Greenwood and fired home the opener. The USA striker almost doubled his tally and Marseille’s lead but Los Blancos held on and then levelled on 28 minutes. Geoffrey Kondogbia fouled Rodrygo, the ref pointed to the spot and Kylian Mbappe slotted the penalty into the bottom left corner.
Real pushed for a winner though their task became harder when Dani Carvajal was red carded on 72 minutes; but the ref came to Los Blancos’ aid again when he awarded a second penalty, this time when Facundo Medina handled. Mbappe stepped up…same result…2-1.
Old Boys do it for Arsenal
In our SBOTOP preview of Arsenal’s trip to the Basque we predicted goals and we got a couple as the Gunners got off to a winning start with a 0-2 victory. Mikel Arteta has been backed by the Arsenal board this summer and has made some stellar signings, but it was two of his existing group who climbed off the bench to get the Premier League side the opening win they hoped for. Gabriel Martinelli and Leandro Trossard were the heroes after they replaced summer buys Viktor Gyokores and Eberechi Eze with the score at 0-0.
It was Brazil forward Martinelli who opened the scoring when he picked up a ball from Trossard to fire home on 72 minutes and, with just three minutes remaining Martinelli returned the favour as he teed up Trossard who saw his deflected strike fly into the Bilbao net to seal the win. The Champions League 2025 betting odds back the Gunners to go deep into the competition, with a semi-final place or better well within their reach. Arteta’s men dominated possession and had six shots to two on target so they showed plenty in this performance to justify that confidence.
In the other early evening kick-off PSV Eindhoven hosted Union Saint-Gilloise and it was the Belgians who came out on top with a dominant performance and a 3-1 win. Goals from Promise David, Anouar Ait El Hadj and Kevin MacAllister gave Union a 3-0 lead before Ruben Van Bommel gave PSV a 90th minute consolation.
Bianconeri and Schwarzgelben have a second half tear up
Juventus’ clash with Borussia Dortmund pitched together two teams which hope to challenge for domestic titles, and they are decent outside bets in the Champions League too. When they met in Turin in Monday they played a game of chess in the first half, each with respect for the other and then, after half time it all kicked off. Four goals in 15 minutes made it 2-2 by the midway point of the second period – and the next 25 minutes were just as wild!
Karim Adeyemi gave Die Schwarzgelben a lead when he arrowed in a low shot from distance but Kenan Yildiz levelled with a screamer into the top right corner. Two minutes later Felix Nmecha copied Yildiz to perfection to make to 1-2 and, in the blink of an eye, Juventus equalised again through Dusan Vlahovic. Yan Couto put the Germans ahead for a third time; and any thoughts that the Old Lady could fight back for a third time were surely put to bed when Ramy Bensebaini converted a penalty after Lloyd Kelly had handled.
Well no. Juventus just wouldn’t lie down quietly. Vlahovic smashed home his second on 94 minutes and then, on 96, Kelly made amends as he headed home a dramatic leveller.
There was a superb fight-back in Portugal as Qarabag stunned Benfica with a 2-3 win.
Enzo Barrenechea gave the hosts an early lead and Vangelis Pavlidis doubled it with just a quarter of an hour on the clock, but Leandro Andrade halved the deficit on the half hour. Camilo Duran made it 2-2 just after the break and the comeback was complete when Oleksii Kashchuck slotted home late in the game.
Much like Arsenal, Thomas Frank’s Tottenham Hotspur are chasing Liverpool at the top of the Premier League table, currently in third place on nine points from three games and they have high hopes in Europe too, and they got off the mark with a 1-0 win over Villarreal as Luiz Junor put through his own goal on four minutes. So, with Tuesday’s Champions League 2025 results all in, attention turns to the fixtures on Wednesday and Thursday as reigning champions PSG begin their campaign. After Tuesday’s action the standard has been set.
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