On the first day of the new Champions League format records were broken and the stars glittered as the continent’s best returned.

Breaking Records

Bayern Munich have made UEFA Champions League history by being the first team to score nine goals in a match. Bayern faced off against Croatian club Dinamo Zagreb and handed them a 9-2 thrashing. Harry Kane scored four goals and became the highest scoring Englishman in the competition, surpassing Wayne Rooney’s record of 30 goals. Not only did Kane score 4 goals, the most by an Englishman in the Champions League since the early ‘90s, but he became the first player to score a hattrick of penalties in the competition.

Breakouts and Breakthroughs

Real Madrid starlet Endrick marked his debut with a goal, announcing himself on the continental stage, while summer signing Kylian Mbappe also got on the scoresheet. After a scoreless first half Kylian Mbappe opened the scoring one minute after the start of the second half, after Rodrygo was played through by Aurelian Tchouameni before squaring it to a wide open Kylian Mbappe. Stuttgart was able to get back into the game with a goal from Deniz Undav, and looked a real threat to steal all three points at the Bernabeu. This was before an 83rd minute towering header from Antonio Rudiger made the score 2-1. Endrick put the cherry on top for Los Blancos picking up the ball in his own half before carrying it the length of the pitch and unleashing a rocket from 25 yards to make the score 3-1. 

Aston Villa marked their return to the competition after 42 years with a convincing 3-0 win over Swiss club Young Boys. Juventus started their campaign, under new manager Thiago Motta, with a 3-1 win over PSV Eindhoven, with Turkish starlet Kenan Yildiz scoring the first ever goal in the new Champions League format. Weston McKennie also got on the scoresheet for the Italian club. Portuguese giants Sporting beat French side Lille 2-0 to secure their first three points of the league phase. 

Disappointment Continues

Elsewhere, American star Christian Pulisic opened the scoring early for AC Milan, who ultimately fell 3-1 to Liverpool, behind goals from Virgil Van Dijk, Ibrahima Konate, and Dominik Szobaszlai. AC Milan have had arguably one of the most disappointing starts to the season in years and were looking to turn it around on Champions League Day 1. However, after scoring their first goal it was very clearly going in Liverpool’s favor. 

Stay tuned for more matches on Wednesday and Thursday with some enticing fixtures to come. English Champions Manchester City face Italian champions Inter Milan on Wednesday, and Arsenal take on Europa League winners Atalanta on Thursday.