UEFA Champions League
LIVE: CHAMPIONS LEAGUE REPORTS: ATALANTA 1-2 PSG
GOAL!!!!!
90+3mins: PSG Leads!!!! Choupo-Moting scores for PSG
Atalanta 1-1 PSG
Minutes are turning into seconds now. Can PSG survive?
87mins: Draxler (PSG) misses the target.
Chance for Draxler to shoot, but he blazes the effort over the top. Atalanta will be happy with that for the rest of the night.
86 mins: Choupo-Moting (Paris) misses the target.
After Caldara slices a cross over his own crossbar, Choupo-Moting, once of Stoke City, climbs highest to meet Draxler’s corner but heads it over.
85 mins: Atalanta fouling at will now. Palomino is booked this time.
84 mins: Hateboer (Atalanta) is penalised for a foul on Neymar (Paris).
82 mins: Substitution: Da Riva (in) – Zapata (out) (Atalanta).
81 mins
Another big chance for Mbappe!
He’s in on the left and makes his way into the box before getting a left-footed shot away.
79 mins: Substitution for PSG
Rico (in) – Navas (out)
73 mins:
Three changes for PSG, starting with an enforced one as Draxler and Paredes replace Gueye and Herrera.
Goalkeeper Navas had looked to be coming off with an injury but he’s OK to continue.
72mins: Substitutions: Draxler (in) – Herrera (out) (Paris).
Paredes (in) – Gueye (out) (Paris).
70mins: Substitution: Goal scorer, Pasalic replaced
Muriel (in) – Pašalić (out) (Atalanta).
62mins: Mbappé’s first contribution is a cross into the box but not for the first time this evening there aren’t too many white shirts up there in support.
60 mins: Substitution: Palomino (in) – Djimsiti (out) (Atalanta)
60 mins: Sub for PSG. Tuchel has seen enough. On comes Mbappe.
54 mins
Neymar pulls off a brilliant nutmeg before driving towards goal.
There’s nobody making a good run, however, and the attack comes to nothing.
It’s Neymar and 10 robots at the moment.
51mins: Neymar’s driven free-kick from 30 yards takes a deflection and goes behind
50 mins: Neymar shows brilliant skill to skip past two players but Marten de Roon pulls him back.
He’s booked for his troubles.
49 mins: Atalanta are dominating and preparing to make substitution. Not a defensive one as expected. They appear still hungry for goals.
No changes for either side but Mbappe was warming fairly thoroughly at the break.
The second half begins.
HALF TIME
Match UPDATE AT HALF TIME
- Pašalić curls in opener for Atalanta
- Neymar spurns two one-on-one chances
- Mbappé on the bench for Paris
- Atalanta in quarters in debut campaign
- Winners face Leipzig/Atlético in semis
ATALANTA 1-0 PSG
45+1 mins
Remo Freuler receives the game’s second yellow card.
45 mins
There will be one minute of added time.
42 mins
Another big miss from Neymar!
He intercepts another loose pass and drives through on the left. The keeper is out of position but the Brazilian shanks his left-footed finish high and wide.
40 mins
Close!
Sarabia is played into loads of space on the left and makes his way towards the box before trying to find Icardi in the centre.
His low cross is good but just too far out of the Argentine’s reach!
37 mins
Berat Djimsiti picks up the game’s first yellow for a foul on Icardi.
32 mins
All PSG’s good attacking play has come through Neymar down the left so far but he’s getting little support.
If only a certain Kylian Mbappe was fit.
30 mins:Atalanta are unbeaten in all 16 matches in which Mario Pasalic has scored (W14 D2)…
UPSET!!! ATALANTA SCORES!
GOAL! Atalanta 1-0 PSG (Pasalic 26)
Match Update
Atalanta 1-0 PSG
20mins: Match Update
Atalanta 0-0 PSG
- Neymar spurns early one on one
- Navas keeps out Hateboer header
- Mbappé on the bench for Paris
- Atalanta in quarters in debut campaign
- Winners face Leipzig/Atlético in semis
15 mins: Atalanta now piling up the chances – they have to take them, though!
5 mins: What a miss from Neymar!
He pounces on a loose ball and runs through on goal before proceeding to slice his effort horribly wide.
Mbappe has his head in his hands in the stands.
KICK-OFF
After a minute’s silence in memory of those who have lost their lives to Covid-19, we’re underway
TEAM LISTS
Atalanta: Sportiello, Toloi, Caldara, Djimsiti, Hateboer, De Roon, Freuler, Gosens, Papu Gómez, Pasalic, Zapata.
PSG: Keylor Navas, Kehrer, Thiago Silva, Kimpembe, Bernat, Ander Herrera, Marquinhos, Gueye, Neymar, Icardi, Sarabia.
Subs: Rico, Bulka, Mbappe, Paredes, Choupo-Moting, Diallo, Draxler, Bakker, Kalimuendo-Muinga, Dagba, Ruiz-Atil, Mbe Soh
The first ever-mini tournament version of the Champions League kicks off tonight in Lisbon. Ligue 1 side, PSG takes on Serie A team, Atalanta in the first of the four quarter final matches.
PSG will be hoping to continue their European journey after doing one better than last season and progressing pass the round of 16.
Atalanta will be likely without key forward Josip Ilicic due to personal reasons, which will leave the scoring duties to Duvan Zupata and Luis Muriel as they look to continue their fine season.
UEFA Champions League
Osimhen and Aubameyang: Africa’s First Men of the Match in 2025/26 Champions League
The Champions League has barely started and already African fans have something to be proud of.
Two of the continent’s biggest names, Victor Osimhen from Nigeria and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang from Gabon, have become the first African players this season to be named Man of the Match.
For Osimhen, it was a night to remember in Istanbul. Galatasaray were up against Liverpool, a team with a European pedigree and needed someone to step up. Osimhen did just that.
His goal gave Galatasaray a 1-0 win but it was more than just the goal. His energy and how he kept Liverpool’s defenders on their toes all night made him the best player on the pitch.
So his winning of the UEFA Man of the Match award. Galatasaray fans had proof they have a striker who can change games at the highest level.
Meanwhile, on the same night in Marseille, Aubameyang was showing why he has been Africa’s most reliable goal scorer for over a decade.
At 36, some wondered if he still had it on nights like this. His answer was a thunderous “YES.”
Marseille tore Ajax apart in a 4–0 demolition that saw Aubameyang seal his stature as the orchestrator and heartbeat of the French club’s attack.
His movement, his composure and his leadership stood out. So much so that he too was rightfully awarded the Man of the Match.
The fact that these two happened on the same night made it even more special for African football fans.
Osimhen represents the new generation: quick, hungry and with still a few years ahead to make history.
Aubameyang is the veteran still out there to prove – even though he really has nothing to prove anymore – that experience and class don’t fade easily.
Together, they gave African football fans a double reason to smile.
For Nigeria and Gabon, these awards are more than individual trophies. They are ultimately a reminder of how much African players contribute to the Champions League season in, season out.
And the tournament is still in its early stages. So there’s every chance more players from the continent will follow in their footsteps before the Budapest finale in 2026. Only good omens for the 2025 AFCON that starts in a few months.
-Morocco World News
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In his glory days, Jose Mourinho celebrated dramatic goals from his teams by sprinting down the touchline, sometimes sliding on his knees for extra euphoric effect.
On Tuesday, back at his former club Chelsea as the new coach of Benfica, Mourinho’s most eye-catching intervention was down the touchline again, but this time his run was to urge his team’s fans to stop hurling objects onto the pitch.
Benfica under Mourinho, in his fourth game in charge, were defeated 1-0 by an under-strength Chelsea side in the Champions League after a fist-half Richard Rios own goal.
The self-declared “Special One” was lauded by the home fans with a few choruses of “Jose Mou-rin-ho” in recognition of his successes – three Premier League titles and four other trophies – which no other Chelsea manager has come close to matching.
Mourinho, 62, acknowledged the chants with a gentle wave, got a cheer when he ventured onto the pitch to clear a spare ball and quickly vanished down the tunnel at the final whistle after shaking the hand of Chelsea coach Enzo Maresca.
It was all a far cry from the fervour of 20 years ago when Mourinho – having led Porto to an unlikely Champions League triumph – turned Chelsea into English champions for the first time in 50 years in 2005 and won the title again a year later.
After a collapse of form, Mourinho departed in 2007 but he won the Champions League again, this time with Inter Milan in 2010, knocking out the Londoners on the way to the final.
He went on to manage Real Madrid before returning to Chelsea where he claimed a third English title and then had spells at Manchester United, London side Tottenham Hotspur – an unforgivable move for many Chelsea fans at the time – and Roma.
As the big offers dried up, Mourinho went on to coach Fenerbahce in Turkey where he lasted little more than a year before his return to Portuguese football with Benfica.
Asked after Tuesday’s defeat by Chelsea if he still had the drive of the early days of his career, Mourinho insisted he felt more motivated.
“If I am in a job it’s because I like to put myself on the line every day,” he told reporters. “I am desperate to win the next match.”
Mourinho said he thought Benfica had deserved more from the game. “We started well, we controlled well. I don’t know if I can say big chances but we had chances for sure.”
Chelsea’s Maresca said he was relieved to secure a win – albeit a scrappy one – after two consecutive defeats in the Premier League and a 3-1 loss at Bayern Munich in the his side’s Champions League opener.
“Sometimes you need to learn to win in another way,” he said of Chelsea’s improved defensive performance. “At least we learned how to win a game with a red card.”
Striker Joao Pedro was dismissed for a second yellow card after coming on as a substitute, the third time in four matches that Chelsea have finished with 10 men
-Reuters
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Hosts Eintracht Frankfurt scored four times in 29 minutes to bounce back from a goal down and hammer Galatasaray 5-1 in their Champions League opener on Thursday.
The Turkish sides are without their talismanic striker, Victor Osimhen who was injured while on international duty with Nigeria.
The Turks had hit Frankfurt on the break with Yunus Akgun completing the move from a Leroy Sane assist in the eighth minute. Germany international Sane, who joined from Bayern Munich this season, became the only player in Champions League history to play for four or more clubs and score or assist on his debut for each of them.
Frankfurt, competing for only the second time in the Champions League main round, struggled to break through Galatasaray’s defence until a defensive error from Akgun in the 37th. Ritsu Doan pounced, charged into the box and Davinson Sanchez deflected the Japanese winger’s shot in for an own goal.
The hosts took the lead in first-half stoppage time when 19-year-old Turkey international Can Uzun scored a superb goal on his Champions League debut after fine control and a quick turn in the box. The hosts netted again before halftime with Jonathan Burkardt’s well-timed glancing header putting them 3-1 up.
With the visitors forced to take more risks after the break, Frankfurt found space and Burkardt completed his dream Champions League debut with another header in the 66th for his second goal of the evening. Ansgar Knauff completed the rout in the 75th.
Frankfurt next travel to Atletico Madrid on September 30 when Galatasaray host Liverpool.
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