Paris Saint-Germain battled back from a goal down to grab a late 2-1 win over Barcelona in a gripping Champions League encounter, with the defending champions overcoming a raft of injuries to secure a valuable away victory.
Substitute Goncalo Ramos bagged the winner in the 90th minute for the holders, who had fallen behind early on before taking control of the match, after a quick counter-attack ended with Achraf Hakimi crossing for the Portuguese striker to fire home from close range.
On 19 minutes, Marcus Rashford had delivered a precise pass across the box to Ferran Torres, who slid in to beat the offside trap and slot past PSG goalkeeper Lucas Chevalier.
But PSG equalised in the 38th minute when Nuno Mendes embarked on a dazzling run down the left, beating three defenders before setting up 19-year-old Senny Mayulu, who finished clinically into the bottom corner.
It was PSG’s third consecutive triumph over Barcelona in the Catalan capital and maintained their perfect start to the Champions League campaign, after they opened with a 4-0 win over Atalanta.
Meanwhile, Villarreal snatched a dramatic 2-2 draw against Juventus, with Renato Veiga’s last-minute header denying the Italian side their first win.
Georges Mikautadze put Villarreal ahead in the 18th minute, finishing coolly into the far corner after Nicolas Pepe put him through inside the area.
Juventus rallied in the second half, equalising through Federico Gatti’s acrobatic overhead kick in the 49th minute, before Francisco Conceicao gave them the lead seven minutes later, pouncing on a defensive error by Dani Parejo to slot home.
Villarreal refused to give in, and Veiga, who spent half of last season at Juventus, rose highest to head in a corner from close range in the 90th minute, securing the hosts’ first point of the campaign.
Borussia Dortmund were on the brink of blowing a two-goal lead for the second consecutive Champions League game before holding their nerve to earn a 4-1 victory over visitors Athletic Bilbao.
Undefeated across all competitions so far this season, Dortmund, second in the Bundesliga, looked to have learned their lesson after spectacularly conceding two goals deep in second-half stoppage time to settle for a 4-4 draw against Juventus on the first matchday.
Dortmund went 2-0 up with goals from Daniel Svensson and Carney Chukwuemeka in each half but the Spaniards improved after the break and pulled a goal back through Gorka Guruzeta before missing several chances to level in a nail-biting finale.
They even put the ball in the net again but the home fans breathed a collective sigh of relief when Robert Navarro was offside before Dortmund striker Serhou Guirassy netted a deflected effort eight minutes from the end and Julian Brandt then added another in stoppage time to seal their first win.
Napoli striker Rasmus Hojlund netted twice either side of a Luis Suarez penalty to secure a 2-1 home win over Sporting and kick-start their Champions League campaign with their first points of the competition, while PSV Eindhoven fought back quickly after conceding a sloppy goal to hold German hosts Bayer Leverkusen to a 1-1 draw.
Calamitous defending from the Dutch visitors allowed teenager Christian Kofane to pinch a 65th-minute goal at the Bay Arena but PSV were quick to pull level, with Ismael Saibari thundering home a 72nd-minute equaliser.
Reuters
