Champions League Wrap: Real Madrid, Man City, PSG win easy; Juve, Chelsea stumble

London, September 15: Big guns such as Real Madrid, Napoli, Milan, Manchester City and Paris Saint-Germain won with clinical performances but Juventus and Chelsea could not join the winners list in the UEFA Champions League during the Wednesday night matches (September 14).

Real scored twice in the closing stages as they battled to a 2-0 win over RB Leipzig.

The reigning European champions had endured a frustrating day at the Santiago Bernabeu until Federico Valverde broke the deadlock with 10 minutes to play.

UCL RESULTS | POINTS TABLE

Substitute Marco Asensio then wrapped up the points in stoppage time to move Los Blancos to the top of Group F and give Carlo Ancelotti his 100th win in Europe's premier club competition.

Chelsea held

Chelsea remain winless in this season's Champions League after being held to a 1-1 draw at home to Salzburg in Graham Potter's first game as head coach.

The Blues slumped to a shock 1-0 loss at Dinamo Zagreb in their Group E opener last week, with that proving to be Thomas Tuchel's final match in charge.

Potter's tenure looked like getting off to a winning start against Salzburg when Raheem Sterling opened the scoring early in the second half.

But Salzburg, who also held Milan last week and are now unbeaten in nine games in all competitions, hit back through Noah Okafor in the 75th minute to leave Potter and his players frustrated.

City win

Erling Haaland came back to haunt his former club with a stunning acrobatic winner as Manchester City came from behind to earn a hard-fought 2-1 win over Borussia Dortmund at the Etihad Stadium.

Haaland, who averaged over a goal per game in the Champions League during a two-year spell at Dortmund, met Joao Cancelo's fine cross with a sensational backheeled volley to seal the hosts' victory in the 84th minute.

City had appeared set for a surprise defeat when Jude Bellingham nodded Dortmund ahead after the break, only for John Stones' long-range effort to beat Alexander Meyer for the leveller.

Napoli score big

Napoli needed three attempts to beat Allan McGregor from the spot before coasting past 10-man Rangers 3-0.

Rangers defied UEFA to go ahead with pre-match plans to sing God Save The King before the game following the death of Queen Elizabeth II.

McGregor, though, could not deny Napoli a third time after Borna Barisic was deemed to have handled in the area, Politano's penalty squeaking under his hand and into the bottom-right corner.

Giacomo Raspadori fired home a late second after a one-two with fellow substitute Mathias Olivera and Tanguy Ndombele added further gloss to the scoreline as Napoli moved three points at the top of Group A.

Benfica down Juve

David Neres scored a second-half winner as Juventus continued their poor start to the season with a 2-1 defeat at home to Benfica.

Arkadiusz Milik took just four minutes to open the scoring, flicking past Odisseas Vlachodimos to seemingly put the hosts in control.

However, Joao Mario levelled things up with a first-half penalty and Neres volleyed in the winner after 55 minutes, putting Benfica joint-top of Group H alongside Paris Saint-Germain.

PSG win

Lionel Messi, Kylian Mbappe and Neymar were all on target as Paris Saint-Germain came from behind to beat Maccabi Haifa 3-1.

Tjaronn Chery gave the Israeli side hope of a famous victory when he powered home from close range in the 24th minute.

But PSG responded well to that early setback and pulled level before the break when Messi stroked home following fine work by Mbappe.

France international Mbappe put the visitors ahead and Neymar then sealed the three points late on as PSG made it two wins from two in Group H following last week's victory over Juventus.

Celtic held

Celtic's five-year wait for a group-stage victory in the Champions League was extended following a 1-1 draw with Shakhtar Donetsk in Warsaw.

A dominant first half saw Ange Postecoglou's side take the lead courtesy of an own goal from Artem Bondarenko, but Mykhailo Mudry's impressive campaign continued as he netted the equaliser.

Milan stroll to win

Milan earned their first win of this season's Champions League group stage, but were made to work for it by Dinamo Zagreb as the Italian champions secured a 3-1 victory at San Siro.

Goals either side of half-time from Olivier Giroud and Alexis Saelemaekers gave Stefano Pioli's men a strong lead.

They were made to sweat after Mislav Orsic – who scored the winner against Chelsea for Dinamo last week – pulled his team within one goal.

The Rossoneri appeared to tire in the closing stages of the game, but sealed the points when substitute Tommaso Pobega swept in a third for Milan's first home win in the Champions League since they beat Celtic in September 2013.

Milan now move on to four points in Group E from their first two games, a point ahead of Dinamo.

(With OPTA inputs)