The main stage of the football Champions League 2026/27 kicked off with six matches in Europe. French Real Madrid forward Kylian Mbappe scored against Inter Milan, while Norwegian Manchester City striker Erling Haaland scored a brace against Porto. This was reported by Qazaqyia.kz citing Kursiv Media.
First Matchday Highlights
The first round of the Champions League was spread over three matchdays. The key clash of the first day took place in Madrid. After pressing Milan early, Real Madrid led 2-0 by the middle of the first half. Goals from Mbappe and Federico Valverde were answered late in the match by Brazilian Inter defender Carlos Augusto. The Italians could not do more.
Haaland, who recently changed his image, turned Manchester City's total dominance into a 2-0 scoreline on the scoreboard at the Dragao stadium in Porto.
All First Round Results
⚽ REAL MADRID (Spain) – INTER (Italy) 2:1 (2:0). Goals: Mbappe 14 (1:0), Valverde 23 (2:0), Augusto 77 (2:1)
⚽ PORTO (Portugal) – MANCHESTER CITY (England) 0:2 (0:0). Goals: Haaland 47, 90+1
⚽ BRUGGE (Belgium) – ASTON VILLA (Birmingham, England) 2:3 (1:3). Goals: McGinn 11 (0:1), Vetlesen 19 (1:1), Buendia 22 (1:2), Jackson 44 (1:3), Trezoldi 61 pen (2:3)
⚽ AEK (Athens, Greece) – LASK (Linz, Austria) 1:0 (1:0). Goal: Marin 21
⚽ BORUSSIA DORTMUND (Germany) – VILLARREAL (Spain) 3:2 (0:0). Goals: Veiga 53 og (1:0), Mourinho 66 (1:1), Guirassy 80 (2:1), Guirassy 85 pen (3:1), Guirassy 90+3 og (3:2)
⚽ LILLE (France) – BETIS (Seville, Spain) 2:3 (2:1). Goals: Ueda 12 (1:0), Bartra 33 (1:1), Alexandro 36 (2:1), Bartra 49 (2:2), Parrott 53 (2:3). Sent off: Mbappe (Lille) 56
Match Details
French side Lille led twice against Spanish Betis but eventually had to concede defeat. The decisive factors were a brace from Sevilla's Marc Bartra and the sending off of Ethan Mbappe. Kylian's younger brother left the field shortly after the visitors' third goal for an elbow.
The hero of the German Borussia Dortmund vs Villarreal match was Serhou Guirassy. The Guinean forward scored twice for the hosts and once, for variety, into his own net.
Belgian champions Brugge, despite all efforts, could not cope with English Aston Villa. The winners of the 2025/26 Europa League, who moved up to the higher-ranked tournament, won away 3-2.
Greek AEK celebrated a 1-0 victory over Austrian club LASK in Athens thanks to a stunning free-kick goal from Romanian Razvan Marin.
Tomorrow, the first round of the Champions League will continue with six more matches.
Tournament Format
Each of the 36 teams will play 8 matches against different opponents in the main round of the Champions League. The top 8 clubs from the overall standings will advance directly to the Round of 16.
Teams finishing 9th to 24th will participate in play-off matches for the right to play in the Round of 16. Clubs ranked 9th to 16th will be seeded in the play-off draw. Teams finishing 25th to 36th are eliminated from the tournament.
Kazakhstan's Kairat, who played in the Champions League last season, failed to qualify for the main draw of the top European competition this time. Rafael Urazbakhtin's side will start their Conference League campaign with an away match against Riga on October 15.