Defending champions Real Madrid got off to a blistering start in their bid to successfully defend the UEFA Champions League title they won last season.
Despite starting a bit slow in their group opener away to Celtic on Tuesday night, Los Blancos romped to a 3-0 victory to show their intent of extending their dominance in the European Cup competition.
Though the Scottish champions were able to hold Carlo Ancelotti’s men to a 0-0 scoreline in the first half, the second half was all different as they crumbled like a pack of cards after their initial resolute display.
Vinicius Junior who scored the all-important goal that gave Real Madrid the title ahead of Liverpool last season got the opening goal against Celtic
The Brazilian found the back of the net in the 56th minute. This is the first time Vinicius has scored in four consecutive games for Real Madrid.
Los Blancos didn’t have to wait for too long before Luka Modric doubled the advantage for the visitors at the hour mark.
The 36-year-old Croat with Tuesday’s goal is the third oldest Champions League goal scorer for Real Madrid behind the duo of 38-year-old Ferenc Puskás and 37-year-old Alfredo Di Stefano.
Real Madrid completed the rout with a 77th-minute goal from a revitalised Eden Hazard as they start on the front foot in Group F.
While Real Madrid were fantastic in their group opener, Manchester City were even more ruthless in their away tie at Sevilla as they thumped the Spanish side 4-0.
Erling Haaland was once again colossal for the Cityzens; scoring two of the goals while the duo of Phil Foden and Reuben Diaz were also on hand to supply a goal each.
Elsewhere, Paris Saint-Germain were able to fend off a second-half fightback from Juventus to win their opening Champions League game 2-1 thanks to Kylian Mbappe’s brace.
Juve were clearly overshadowed by their hosts at the Parc des Princes in the first half, with Mbappe volleying home twice inside the first 22 minutes.
However, a defensive mistake from Christophe Galtier’s side allowed Weston McKennie to give Juve a lifeline eight minutes into the second half.
Dusan Vlahovic and Manuel Locatelli both came close to restoring parity, PSG had enough to see out a first competitive win over Juve.
There were also opening day victories for Borussia Dortmund and Benfica who recorded 3-0 and 2-0 wins respectively over FC Copenhagen and Macabi Hafia.
The only game which ended in a stalemate on Tuesday was between RB Salzburg and AC Milan as the final score stood at 1-1.
The remaining matchday one fixtures will be completed on Wednesday.