The reigning European champions, Bayern Munich, started the title defense with a huge win over the Spanish representatives, Atletico Madrid, 4-0.
It was another display of raw power from Hansi Flick boys, who are arguably the most dominant team on the continent in the last decade. What should have been a derby of the first round, was, in fact, one-sided domination, where Bayern pressured the guests throughout the majority of the game.
Bayern Munich in the UCL under Hansi Flick:
Played: 9
Won: 9
Scored: 34
Conceded: 4 pic.twitter.com/pXXTYURgLb— ESPN FC (@ESPNFC) October 21, 2020
Atletico tried to be aggressive at the start, but quickly after that, the champs woke up and started pounding. Kingsley Coman and Leon Goretzka scored in the first halftime, while Corentin Tolisso and Coman added two more goals in the second half.
Previously, the first match of Group a between RB Salzburg and Lokomotiv Moscow ended 2-2.
The English champions, Liverpool, had a tough job in the Netherlands, where they defeated Ajax with a minimal result, 0-1. Nicolas Tagliafico scored an own goal in the 35th minute, and that was all in this match.
In the same Group, D, Atalanta visited Midtjylland, recording another pretty confident victory, 0-4. La Dea scored three times in 16 minutes. Duvan Zapata, Alejandro Papu Gomes, and Luis Muriel packed three hits between the 26th and 42nd minute, with the newcomer from Russia, Aleksey Miranchuk, sealing the win in the 88th minute.
Group C saw Manchester City coming back from behind against Porto, defeating the Portuguese powerhouse, 3-1. Luis Diaz opened the show, with Sergio Aguero responding pretty quickly from the penalty spot. Ilkay Gundogan and Ferran Torres completed the rally with two goals midway through the second half.
Greek champs, Olympiacos, reached a massive win against Marseille with Ahmed Hassan scoring in the stoppage time for a 1-0 triumph.
⚫️🔵 Lukaku has now scored 40 goals in 56 games for Inter 🔥🔥🔥#UCL pic.twitter.com/YOfU06k4Yy
— UEFA Champions League (@ChampionsLeague) October 21, 2020
Finally, Group B saw Inter Milan‘s failure at home against Borussia Monchengladbach as they played just 2-2 with the rival from Germany. Inter was a massive favorite here, but they couldn’t win, even though Romelu Lukaku brought them the lead after 49 minutes of play.
Ramy Bensebaini equalized in the 63rd minute, before Jonas Hofmann’s stunner with six minutes left. Lukaku would save the hosts in the last moments of the regulations, with his second goal of the game.
Earlier today, Real Madrid and Shakhtar played the opening contest of this group, with the Ukrainians making a sensation, taking down the home team with 2-3.