In the afternoon matches, the Spaniards suffered an embarrassing defeat in Cyprus, while Garnacho wasn’t enough for the Blues. In the evening, the Blaugrana were held to a 3-3 draw and salvaged a point in the final moments; it was smooth sailing for Manchester City and Newcastle. Ajax and Benfica are in deep trouble

Soccer is now played at a high level all over the world, and Chelsea and Villarreal paid the price—in different ways—as they were unable to secure three points against Qarabag and Pafos, respectively. Not exactly Champions League powerhouses, to put it mildly. Yet both the Azerbaijanis and the Cypriots managed to throw a wrench in the works. Maresca’s team—which lost Lavia to injury just a few minutes in—was held to a 2-2 draw in Azerbaijan, while Villarreal actually fell to Pafos. The momentum in the first half was entirely in the Spaniards’ favor, but as soon as they returned from halftime, they were caught off guard by Luckassen’s header off a corner kick that decided the match. Barcelona also reminded everyone that soccer is unpredictable in an entertaining match full of twists and turns. It was Bruges who took the lead through Tresoldi, only to be immediately equalized by Ferran Torres. Borges put the Belgians back in front, but in the second half, a perfectly executed play by Yamal tied the score at 2-2. Borges once again outwits Szczesny, then Tzolis’s own goal sets the final score at 3-3. And to think that Barça bemoans two shots off the woodwork (Lopez hitting the post and Koundé hitting the crossbar), while Bruges laments a goal disallowed in the closing minutes for an alleged foul on Szczesny. It was a walk in the park for Manchester City against Borussia Dortmund, led by an inspired Foden who scored two virtually identical goals: left-footed, low shots to the goalkeeper’s right. In between came a goal from the ever-reliable Haaland, while Anton narrowed the gap before Cherki joined the party. Two headers secured Newcastle’s victory over Athletic: Burn’s in the first half was a curling effort, while Joelinton’s in the second half was a crisp finish. Tonali was named man of the match. It was a dismal night for Benfica and Ajax. Mourinho’s team put up a decent fight, but failed to capitalize against Bayer Leverkusen, so Schick sealed their fate in the 65th minute with a header. In Amsterdam, all eyes were on Victor Osimhen, who scored a hat trick (including two penalties) for Galatasaray to take the lead in the single-round-robin group stage scoring race.

Champions League, today’s results —  Results and scorers from today’s matches:

Qarabag-Chelsea 2-2: 16′ Estevao (C), 29′ Andrade (Q), 39′ (pen.) Jankovic (Q), 53′ Garnacho (C).

Pafos-Villarreal 1-0: 46′ Luckassen.

Manchester City vs. Borussia Dortmund 4-1: 22′ Foden (M), 29′ Haaland (M), 57′ Foden (M), 72′ Anton (B), 90+1′ Cherki (M).

Bruges vs. Barcelona 3-3: 6′ Tresoldi (C), 8′ Torres (B), 17′ Borges (C), 61′ Yamal (B), 64′ Borges (C), 77′ own goal Tzolis (B).

Newcastle-Athletic Bilbao 2-0: 11′ Burn, 49′ Joelinton.

Benfica-Bayer Leverkusen 0-1: 65′ Schick.

Ajax-Galatasaray 0-3: 59′, 66′ (pen.) and 78′ (pen.) Osimhen.