Barcelona kicked off their UEFA Champions League campaign with a 2-1 victory against Newcastle United at St James’ Park. Marcus Rashford, who was making his Champions League debut for the Catalan side after his loan move from Manchester United, scored both goals to secure the win for Barcelona. The England forward opened the scoring just before the hour mark, heading in a cross from Jules Kounde. Rashford then doubled his tally with a powerful right-foot shot from outside the box that sailed into the top corner.
Newcastle’s Anthony Gordon managed to pull one back for the home side, but Barcelona held firm to claim their first three points of the group stage. Despite the victory, Barcelona was keenly aware of their ambitious goals for the season after being eliminated in the semi-finals the previous year. Rashford shared his excitement about playing for such a prestigious club, stating, “It’s an amazing experience playing for Barcelona. I’ve always been a huge admirer of the club.”
In Manchester, reigning Champions League holders Manchester City started their title defense with a comfortable 2-0 win over Serie A champions Napoli. The match was marred by a red card midway through the first half for Napoli captain Giovanni Di Lorenzo, who was sent off for a foul on Erling Haaland as he was heading towards goal. Haaland opened the scoring for City early in the second half with a header from a Phil Foden cross, reaching his 50th Champions League goal in the process.
Jeremy Doku added a second for City to seal the victory, keeping Napoli winless in their last 13 visits to face English opposition in European competitions. City manager Pep Guardiola praised Haaland, saying, “The numbers speak for themselves and how fortunate we are to have him. Along with the two monsters of the past 15 to 20 years, Ronaldo and Messi, Erling is there. In terms of goals, he is unbelievable.”
Elsewhere, Eintracht Frankfurt delivered the most dominant performance of the night, thumping Galatasaray 5-1. Despite going behind early, Frankfurt fought back with goals from Can Uzun, Jonathan Burkardt, and Ansgar Knauff, securing a top spot in their group.
Other notable results included a 2-2 draw between Bayer Leverkusen and FC Copenhagen and a stunning 4-1 win for Club Brugge over Monaco, with Ansu Fati scoring a late consolation for the visitors.
