Champions League: Spanish sides shine as French clubs stumble

The second matchday of the Champions League league phase delivered its share of drama and surprises. Spanish clubs enjoyed a perfect night, with wins for FC Barcelona, Atlético Madrid and Villarreal. French sides, by contrast, came unstuck, with defeats for Lille and Lens. But the real shock of the night came in Norway, where Viking held Bayern Munich to a draw (3-3).

Barça cruise in Istanbul

It was a perfect night for Spanish clubs in the Champions League. FC Barcelona had a scare at Galatasaray before eventually winning. Aleksey Batrakov put the Turkish side ahead in the 28th minute, against the run of play. But the Catalan response was swift: Cancelo equalised two minutes before the break with a curled shot into the far corner of the net.

The second half was one-way traffic. Barça purred thanks to an outstanding Lamine Yamal, named man of the match, who provided two assists in three minutes. The first allowed Fermín López to put the Catalans ahead in the 50th minute, before Anthony Gordon made it 3-1 in the 53rd. Introduced as a substitute, Karim Adeyemi completed Barcelona's attacking show by scoring the fourth and final goal in the 65th minute.

The Spanish club thus make it two wins in a row in the competition, ahead of a meeting with PSG next Tuesday.

Atlético Madrid and Villarreal bounce back at home

Beaten on the first matchday, Atlético Madrid and Villarreal picked up their first points in the competition.

Against Manchester United, the Colchoneros confirmed their excellent form in La Liga by scoring after just 53 seconds through Pablo Barrios, set up perfectly by Álex Baena. After the break, United's hopes were undermined by the sending-off of Leny Yoro. The Spaniards then added a second goal in the 79th minute through Ademola Lookman.

Villarreal, for their part, saw off Napoli. After conceding the opener to the Italians through Amir Rrahmani as early as the 8th minute, the Yellow Submarine pulled level thanks to Mikautadze in the 23rd minute, then Santiago Mouriño three minutes later. As the final whistle approached, the Spaniards sealed victory with a goal from Oluwaseyi.

Gloomy night for Lille and Lens

Lille suffered a second successive defeat in the Champions League. After losing away to Real Betis on the first matchday, the northern club collapsed in England against Arsenal. After a fairly solid first half, the French side cracked after the break, conceding three goals in seven minutes: Timber opened the scoring in the 64th minute, before Eze, in the 67th, then Saka, in the 71st, extended the lead.

The momentum had been very different for Lens, who beat Slavia Prague on the first matchday. But the Blood and Gold this time bowed their heads at home to Sporting CP. Luis Suárez and Issa Doumbia silenced the Stade Bollaert-Delelis by scoring both Portuguese goals, in the 22nd and 74th minutes respectively. It was a tough night for the French representatives in the competition.

Viking stun Bayern

What had been billed as a stroll for the Bundesliga leaders almost turned into a fiasco. Travelling to Norway, the Bavarians were caught out in the second minute by Stensness, before Christiansen doubled the lead in the 38th minute. Against all expectations, Viking went in at the break two goals ahead.

After the interval, the Bavarian response was swift. Harry Kane scored a brace in six minutes, between the 54th and the 60th minute. Colombian Luis Díaz then thought he had won it for Bayern by scoring in the 71st minute. But that reckoned without the resilience of the Norwegians, who managed to snatch a draw at the death in the 90th minute.

The night's other results

In the other Tuesday games, Sabah FK recorded their first Champions League win, against Slavia Prague (2-0). Club Brugge won at San Siro against Inter Milan (4-3), while RB Leipzig got the better of PSV Eindhoven at home (1-0).