Marcus Rashford made a spectacular Champions League bow for Barcelona as Newcastle United’s campaign got off to a losing start at St James’ Park. The Englishman scored a superb second half brace to give the Catalans a healthy lead however they were made to work for their win as a late Anthony Gordon goal setup a tense finale.
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Jose Mourinho has been appointed as Benfica’s new head coach – and one of his first assignments will be against his old club Chelsea. The Lisbon club turned to the 62-year-old after dismissing Bruno Lage in the early hours of Wednesday morning following a Champions League home defeat to Qarabag of Azerbaijan. Mourinho returns to Benfica after a short stint in charge of the club 25 years ago.
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Liverpool delivered another dramatic late twist as they opened their Champions League campaign with victory over Atletico Madrid at Anfield. Alexander Isak made his eagerly awaited Liverpool introduction but it looked as though Arne Slot’s side would be disappointed as Atletico came from 2-0 down to level, only for Virgil van Dijk to head a stoppage time winner.
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Gabriel Martinelli and Leandro Trossard came off the bench to earn Arsenal a 2-0 Champions League win over Athletic Club in Bilbao. Mikel Arteta’s side struggled to fashion clear openings for much of the contest but, once summer signings Viktor Gyokeres and Eberechi Eze departed, Martinelli latched onto a ball over the top by Trossard in the 72nd minute to find the breakthrough goal 36 seconds after coming on.
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World Tour cycling teams may refuse to race against Israel-Premier Tech following the multiple protests during the Vuelta a España that exploded into street violence in central Madrid on Sunday. Sources within rival teams have expressed their dismay to the Guardian at the refusal of the team to withdraw from the Vuelta and the lack of protection from the International Cycling Union (UCI) for its own commercial and sporting interests.
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