Kylian Mbappé struck twice as Paris Saint Germain kicked off their latest quest for Champions League glory with victory Juventus. The France international took just five minutes to put his side ahead after running into Neymar’s audacious ball and he doubled his tally at just 22 minutes.
half time Juventus substitute Weston McKennie reduced the deficit with a 53rd-minute header after Mbappé squandered a big chance for the hosts, failing to pass the ball to the unmarked Neymar early in the second half.
“Mbappe played a great game and he’s obsessed with goals,” said PSG coach Christophe Galtier. “Maybe he didn’t see Neymar, I don’t know.”
However, Juventus couldn’t force the equalizer and slipped to a 2-1 loss in Group H.
Both Mbappé and Galtier faced pre-match backlash for laughing at a question about why the team took a private jet for a short trip to a game in Nantes at the weekend.
“Are you serious, are you answering like that???”, tweeted the mayor of Paris, Anne Hidalgo. “Wake up guys???”
Asked about PSG’s plane trip to Nantes at a press conference on Monday, Galtier and Mbappé looked at each other and the World Cup winner burst out laughing when his coach replied with a quip.
“This morning we talked about it with the company that organizes our trips and we are thinking about sand yachting trips,” Galtier said. Asked about his view on the matter, Mbappé replied that he had none.
A video of their comments immediately went viral, sparking angry reactions from social media users, environmentalists and ministers. Galtier later called his joke “bad taste”.
PSG is joined at the top of its Champions League by group Benficawho won 2-0 at home against Maccabi Haifa thanks to goals from Rafa Silva and Alejandro Grimaldo, who scored the goal of the night, curling a disconcerting shot into the top corner from 25 yards out.
Marco Reus and Raphael Guerreiro scored in seven minutes in the first half to score Borussia Dortmund en route to a 3-0 home win against FC Copenhagen. England international Jude Bellingham secured the points seven minutes from time and Copenhagen’s disappointment was complete when Rasmus Falk saw a late consolation strike ruled out by the new semi-automated VAR system.
Manchester City top of Group G on goal difference after to beat Seville 4-0 awaywith Erling Haaland scoring two more goals to continue his sublime start to the season in front of goal.
RB Salzburg and Milano drew 1-1 in Austria after Alexis Saelemaekers canceled Noah Okafor’s opener for the home side. chelsea sit at the bottom of group E after their shock 1-0 defeat against Dinamo Zagreb.
Marian Shved scored twice Shakhtar Donetsk propelled to a 4-1 win at RB Leipzig. Goalkeeper Peter Gulacsi handed the opening goal to Shved after he tripped over the ball outside his penalty area after 16 minutes and watched in horror as the striker rolled it into the empty net.
Mohamed Simakan equalized for Leipzig in the 57th minute but Shved struck again within seconds before Mykhailo Mudryk and Lassina Traore scored the points. Shakhtar top Group F with real Madridwho overcame a nervous start to beat Celtic 3-0 in Glasgow.