Roberto Firmino’s last-gasp strike gave Liverpool a 3-2 win over Paris Saint-Germain in a thrilling encounter on the opening night of the UEFA Champions League group stage, after Lionel Messi’s latest hat-trick handed Barcelona a winning start.
There were dramatic late goals around Europe, including for Inter Milan against Tottenham Hotspur, and winning starts for several of the leading contenders, with Atletico Madrid battling back to beat Monaco.
But the heavyweight encounter of the evening was at Anfield, and the Group C match between last season’s beaten finalists and the ambitious PSG lived up to expectations.
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Liverpool was rewarded for its excellent start as it found itself two goals up after 36 minutes, Daniel Sturridge getting the opener before James Milner netted a penalty.
But the French champion pulled one back before the interval through Thomas Meunier — the goal allowed to stand despite Edinson Cavani being offside in the build-up.
The two most expensive players in the world then combined for the 83rd-minute equaliser that looked set to earn PSG a draw, Neymar assisting Kylian Mbappe to score.
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PSG next faces Red Star Belgrade, which marked its return to the big time with a 0-0 draw against Napoli.
After winning the Europa League last season, Atletico Madrid is targeting Champions League glory with the final to be played in its own stadium.
It started its campaign by beating Monaco 2-1 away in Group A, Diego Costa and Jose Maria Gimenez getting their goals after Samuel Grandsir put the hosts in front.
In the same group, Christian Pulisic celebrated his 20th birthday in style by scoring a fortunate late goal that gave Borussia Dortmund a 1-0 win away to Club Brugge.
Dortmund’s bitter rivals Schalke started off with a 1-1 draw against FC Porto in an eventful Group D encounter.
Breel Embolo gave the German side a second-half lead, firing past Iker Casillas, who has now played in the Champions League in a record 20 separate seasons.
That was after Alex Telles had an early penalty saved for the visitors. But Porto, which won the Champions League in Schalke’s Gelsenkirchen stadium in 2004, equalised when Otavio converted another penalty late on.
Meanwhile, Garry Rodrigues and Eren Derdiyok netted, and Selcuk Inan scored a penalty, as Galatasaray beat Lokomotiv Moscow 3-0 in Istanbul.
The results: Group A: Club Brugge 0 lost to Borussia Dortmund 1 (Pulisic 85); Monaco 1 (Grandsir 18) lost to Atletico Madrid 2 (Costa 31, Gimenez 45+1).
Group B: Barcelona (ESP) 4 (Messi 31, 77, 87, Dembele 74) bt PSV Eindhoven 0; Inter Milan 2 (Icardi 85, Vecino 90+2) bt Tottenham 1 (Eriksen 53).
Group C: Liverpool 3 (Sturridge 30, Milner 36-pen, Firmino 90+2) bt Paris Saint-Germain 2 (Meunier 40, Mbappe 83); Red Star Belgrade 0 drew with Napoli 0.
Group D: Galatasaray 3 (Rodrigues 9, Derdiyok 67, Inan 90+4-pen) bt Lokomotiv Moscow 0; Schalke 04 1 (Embolo 64) drew with Porto 1 (Otavio 75-pen).