The Champions League returned this week with three days of games and a first round that offered a little bit of everything.
Real Madrid survived Inter despite spending much of the night on the back foot. Arsenal went to Napoli and produced one of the best controlled road performances of the round. Liverpool came from behind against Atlético Madrid. Manchester City eventually broke through at Porto, while Barcelona and Paris Saint-Germain overwhelmed weaker opponents.
Then there was Como, playing the first European match in the club’s 119-year history, Cesc Fàbregas’ team did not merely beat RB Leipzig. They dismantled them 4-1 and immediately produced one of the most memorable results of the new league phase.
The Best XI lines up in an attack-heavy 3-4-3, with Barcelona captain Raphinha earning Player of the Round honors after leading the 5-1 demolition of Feyenoord.
Player of the Round: Raphinha, Barcelona
There were players with bigger raw statistical performances this week.
Ermedin Demirović scored a first-half hat trick for Stuttgart. Ferran Torres scored three for PSG. Ousmane Dembélé scored twice in the same game, while Erling Haaland scored both Manchester City goals in a much more difficult road matchup.
Raphinha gets the nod because his performance combined production with the larger influence he has increasingly brought to Barcelona.
He opened the scoring against Feyenoord after only three minutes and added another shortly after halftime. More importantly, he helped establish the tone of the game. UEFA’s technical observers highlighted his intensity leading Barcelona’s press, his runs behind the defense and his movement into spaces between the lines. Raphinha was also named the official Player of the Match.
Barcelona has more naturally gifted dribblers and younger players with higher ceilings, but Raphinha has developed into the attacker who often connects everything together. He can move centrally, run beyond the striker, defend aggressively from the front and finish the chances created by Barcelona’s collection of playmakers.
It’s starting to look like the best move of the summer transfer window was Barcelona NOT signing a true striker.
Goalkeeper: Thibaut Courtois, Real Madrid
Real Madrid beat Inter 2-1, but this was not one of those Champions League nights where Madrid simply controlled the game and waited for its superior attackers to decide it.
Inter created real problems.
Courtois made seven saves from eight shots on target in his 100th Champions League appearance, repeatedly denying Inter as Madrid protected the early advantage created by Kylian Mbappé and Federico Valverde. Curtis Jones also struck the frame of the goal before Carlos Augusto finally pulled one back late.
Madrid finished with only 36 percent possession, its lowest share in a home Champions League game this decade. That number does not mean Inter necessarily controlled everything, since José Mourinho’s team was clearly comfortable attacking quickly after regains, but it does tell you how much defending Madrid had to do.
Courtois was the difference between a successful counterattacking performance and a night where Madrid dropped points.
Center Back: Marc Bartra, Real Betis
Scoring twice earns a defender plenty of forgiveness.
Bartra was already having a busy evening trying to handle Lille when he became Betis’ most dangerous attacker as well.
Lille twice took the lead in the first half, but Bartra answered the first goal with a header and then scored another shortly after halftime to make it 2-2. Troy Parrott eventually completed the comeback as Betis won 3-2 in its first Champions League match in 21 years.
The two goals were enough to make the highlight reel, but UEFA’s technical group also praised Bartra’s defensive leadership and aerial work throughout the match. He was named Player of the Match.
For a 34-year-old center back making his return to this competition, it was a pretty good night.
Center Back: Gabriel Magalhães, Arsenal
Martin Ødegaard provided the spectacular moment in Arsenal’s 1-0 win at Napoli, but the performance was built on what happened behind him.
Napoli had dangerous players capable of punishing one defensive mistake, particularly Kevin De Bruyne and Matteo Politano, yet Arsenal rarely allowed the home side to turn possession into sustained pressure.
Gabriel was central to that.
Arsenal defended comfortably enough to gradually push the game farther into the Napoli half after halftime rather than spending the final half hour hanging onto a draw. That mattered because it allowed the midfield and fullbacks to keep moving forward until Ødegaard finally produced the winning goal in the 75th minute.
A clean sheet away at Napoli carries more weight here than piling up defensive numbers against one of the league-phase minnows.
Center Back: Marc Guéhi, Manchester City
Manchester City’s 2-0 win at Porto was one of the most complete road performances of the opening round.
Porto entered the game unbeaten in its previous 33 home matches and City did not allow a shot on target.
Guéhi and Rúben Dias controlled the center of the defense while City pushed most of the game into Porto’s half. Guéhi completed 97 percent of his passes, helping City recycle possession without giving the home side many opportunities to counter through mistakes in the buildup.
There will be games where Guéhi has to spend far more time defending his own box. This was more about preventing Porto from ever getting there.
Considering this was City’s first European game under Enzo Maresca and a difficult stadium where nobody had won in 2026, that control was impressive.
Midfielder: Federico Valverde, Real Madrid
Valverde provided perhaps the perfect goal for Mourinho’s version of Real Madrid.
Inter tried to play backward through goalkeeper Josep Martínez, Valverde anticipated it, stole the ball and finished to make it 2-0.
The sequence was not an isolated mistake as much as an example of what Madrid was trying to do throughout the game. Instead of chasing possession for its own sake, the attackers and midfielders defended aggressively enough to create opportunities immediately after turnovers.
UEFA’s analysis highlighted Madrid’s transition threat following regains, and Valverde remains almost uniquely suited to that type of soccer. He can press, cover enormous spaces and then immediately turn a defensive action into an attacking one.
He was named Player of the Match against one of the strongest opponents anyone faced this week. That gets him comfortably into the team.
Midfielder: Dominik Szoboszlai, Liverpool
Liverpool’s Champions League opener was heading in the wrong direction when Marcos Llorente gave Atlético Madrid the lead at Anfield.
Szoboszlai changed it.
He equalized shortly before halftime, finding the bottom corner after Ronald Araújo flicked the ball into his path. Alexis Mac Allister then completed the comeback early in the second half with a powerful strike.
The goal was only part of Szoboszlai’s influence, as he had more touches than anyone in the game, produced five key passes and attempted six dribbles while repeatedly carrying Liverpool through Atlético’s midfield pressure. UEFA’s tactical review specifically highlighted his role driving Andoni Iraola’s team forward.
Liverpool still looks like a team adjusting to a new coach, but Szoboszlai already appears comfortable taking more responsibility in that transition.
Midfielder: Martin Ødegaard, Arsenal
The best individual performance in arguably the most impressive road win of the week.
Ødegaard completed more than 100 passes, created six chances and eventually scored the only goal as Arsenal beat Napoli 1-0.
His winner was excellent, a precise shot off the inside of the post after Arsenal worked through Napoli with one of its better passing sequences of the night.
What made the performance more impressive was everything preceding it.
Arsenal did not go to Italy, sit deep and hope for one counter. They gradually took control of possession, forced Napoli backward and spent more of the second half playing where they wanted. Ødegaard was the player connecting those phases, knowing when to accelerate an attack and when to keep Napoli chasing the ball.
The goal gave him the headline. The control put him in this team.
Midfielder: Martin Baturina, Como
There probably wasn’t a better team story in Europe this week than Como.
The club had never played a European match before Thursday. Fifteen minutes into its Champions League debut, Baturina had scored its first European goal.
He was just getting started.
Baturina combined with Tasos Douvikas for the opener, then returned the favor later in the first half to create Como’s second. His movement continually gave Fàbregas’ team an extra player in midfield and helped them play through Leipzig rather than simply bypass the press and defend.
That is what made the 4-1 score so startling.
Como did not pull off a smash-and-grab upset. They were quicker, cleaner and more coherent for much of the game against a club with years of Champions League experience.
Baturina was at the center of it.
Forward: Lamine Yamal, Barcelona
Raphinha was Barcelona’s best player, but Yamal was not far behind.
The 19-year-old scored Barcelona’s fourth with a free kick and then created the fifth with an excellent floated cross for Gabriel Jesus.
Even without those two actions, Feyenoord spent most of the match dealing with the basic problem every Barcelona opponent now faces: how much defensive attention can you afford to send toward Yamal without creating openings somewhere else?
Raphinha’s willingness to run beyond the defense and move centrally becomes more dangerous because defenders are reluctant to leave Yamal alone.
Barcelona’s attack is increasingly built around forcing exactly that choice.
Feyenoord never found a good answer.
Forward: Erling Haaland, Manchester City
Porto held Manchester City scoreless through the first half mostly because Diogo Costa kept stopping Haaland.
Eventually, that stopped working.
Two minutes after halftime Haaland headed City ahead, then finished the game in stoppage time with his second. He now has 59 goals in 59 Champions League appearances, which remains a fairly ridiculous sentence.
Porto had not lost at home in 33 matches and successfully frustrated City for much of the opening half despite allowing several good opportunities. This was not a striker piling goals onto an opponent that had already collapsed.
City needed someone to break the game open and Haaland did just that.
Forward: Ousmane Dembélé, Paris Saint-Germain
Ferran Torres ended up with the hat trick and the official Player of the Match award, but Dembélé was the player who initially tore the game open.
The Ballon d’Or winner scored twice in six minutes as PSG overwhelmed Slovan Bratislava, turning the match into a 2-0 game before the half-hour mark. Torres took over from there and finished with three of his own in the 6-1 victory.
The opponent obviously matters here. Slovan was not the caliber of team Haaland, Valverde or Ødegaard faced.
Dembélé still remains one of the most difficult attackers in Europe to deal with because he does not need to operate from one fixed position. He can begin wide, drift centrally, receive between midfield and defense or make the run beyond the striker.
Against an overmatched defense, all those possibilities became overwhelming very quickly.
The Biggest Games of Matchday 1
Real Madrid 2-1 Inter
This was probably the highest-level matchup of the opening round and one of the more interesting tactical games.
Inter had considerably more possession and forced Courtois into seven saves, but Madrid was consistently threatening when the ball changed hands.
Mbappé opened the scoring after 14 minutes before Valverde doubled the lead by pressing Martínez into a mistake nine minutes later. Inter continued to push forward and eventually got one back through Carlos Augusto, but Courtois prevented the comeback.
The interesting development for Madrid is that Mourinho does not appear especially concerned with winning the possession battle.
Madrid had only 36 percent of the ball but created a high percentage of its attempts from inside the penalty area. The front line defended aggressively enough to create transition opportunities, then Mbappé and the other attackers had space to run into once possession changed.
There will be nights when that approach leaves Madrid pinned too deep.
Against Inter, it mostly worked.
Liverpool 2-1 Atlético Madrid
Liverpool’s first Champions League game under Iraola provided an early test of whether the new team could respond when the initial plan went wrong.
Atlético scored first through Llorente and was happy to make Liverpool chase the game.
The Reds responded through Szoboszlai shortly before halftime, then Mac Allister scored the winner after the break.
The biggest positive was Liverpool’s ability to keep attacking without allowing the match to become completely frantic. Szoboszlai continually carried the ball through midfield and created openings, while Liverpool maintained enough control after taking the lead to keep Atlético from producing a second response.
It was not a dominant performance.
It was a very useful one.
Napoli 0-1 Arsenal
There may not have been a more convincing one-goal win this week.
Napoli created a few dangerous moments early and forced Raya into saves, but Arsenal gradually took control rather than retreating into a defensive shell on the road.
That was the major difference.
By the second half Napoli was spending more time responding to Arsenal’s possession than forcing Arsenal to react to theirs. The breakthrough finally came in the 75th minute when Ødegaard finished a slick passing move.
Arsenal has been one of Europe’s best teams for several years now. The next step is proving it can consistently produce performances like this deep into the Champions League.
Winning comfortably at home is one thing.
Going to Naples, controlling long stretches and leaving with three points is considerably more meaningful.
Porto 0-2 Manchester City
Manchester City encountered a similar challenge in Portugal.
Porto entered unbeaten in 33 home games and Diogo Costa produced several excellent first-half saves to keep the match scoreless.
The difference was that City never really lost control.
Porto finished without a shot on target, while City continued creating opportunities until Haaland finally scored immediately after halftime. His second in stoppage time merely made the score better reflect the balance of the match.
For Maresca, this was probably the most encouraging possible European debut.
City did not need a chaotic comeback or individual miracle. They controlled possession, defended transitions and eventually allowed their superior attacking talent to decide the game.
Barcelona 5-1 Feyenoord
Barcelona simply overwhelmed Feyenoord.
Raphinha scored after three minutes, Adeyemi added another before halftime and any hopes of a second-half comeback disappeared quickly when Raphinha scored his second.
Yamal’s free kick made it four before he created Gabriel Jesus’ first Barcelona goal late in the game.
The score is impressive, but the larger issue for opponents is the variety in Barcelona’s attack.
Yamal creates one-on-one advantages on the right. Raphinha attacks spaces all across the front line. Adeyemi adds another runner capable of getting behind the defense.
Feyenoord could protect one area at a time.
Barcelona kept finding the one they abandoned.
Lille 2-3 Real Betis
This was probably the best comeback of the opening night.
Lille twice led in the first half and had Betis under considerable pressure. Bartra answered the first goal with a header before Alexsandro restored Lille’s advantage.
Then Bartra scored again shortly after halftime.
Parrott completed the comeback before Ethan Mbappé’s red card made Lille’s attempt to respond even more difficult.
Betis had waited 21 years to return to the Champions League.
Falling behind twice on the road would have been a fairly understandable way for that return to end badly.
Instead they left France with three points.
Borussia Dortmund 3-2 Villarreal
The first half produced no goals.
The second produced five.
Dortmund went ahead through a Renato Veiga own goal before Santiago Mouriño immediately answered for Villarreal. Guirassy then took over, scoring from open play and again from the penalty spot to put Dortmund 3-1 ahead.
A bizarre deflected Nicolas Pépé free kick eventually made it 3-2, but Dortmund survived the final stretch.
Guirassy was one of the hardest omissions from the Best XI.
The two goals mattered, but so did the circumstances. Villarreal is a Champions League-level opponent and Dortmund needed both of them in a match that remained competitive until the end.
Como 4-1 RB Leipzig
And then there was the result nobody saw coming.
Como’s first European opponent was not a qualifier from a smaller league or another debutant.
It was Leipzig.
That apparently did not matter.
Baturina opened the scoring in the 15th minute, Douvikas doubled the advantage and Diao made it 3-0 on the counter after halftime. Leipzig briefly reduced the deficit before Perrone completed the 4-1 score in the final minute.
The remarkable part was how normal it looked.
Como did not spend 90 minutes desperately clearing crosses and hoping Leipzig missed its chances. They found midfield overloads, played through pressure and then attacked quickly when Leipzig opened space.
Perhaps the rest of the Champions League should have taken the hint from Como’s rise through Serie A.
They are not here merely to enjoy the experience.
Best XI
GK: Thibaut Courtois, Real Madrid
CB: Marc Bartra, Real Betis CB: Gabriel Magalhães, Arsenal CB: Marc Guéhi, Manchester City
M: Federico Valverde, Real Madrid M: Dominik Szoboszlai, Liverpool M: Martin Ødegaard, Arsenal M: Martin Baturina, Como
FW: Lamine Yamal, Barcelona FW: Erling Haaland, Manchester City FW: Ousmane Dembélé, Paris Saint-Germain
Player of the Round: Raphinha, Barcelona