Mbappe cannot save a pale Real Madrid, which loses to Lille in the Champions League

Kylian Mbappe came off the bench but was unable to revive a flagging Real Madrid, which lost 1-0 to unknown Lille on Wednesday in the new Champions League format.

Having recovered from a minor muscle injury, Mbappe came out for the second half. It was to no avail for the reigning European champions as they failed to save Canadian striker Jonathan David’s penalty in first-half stoppage time. VAR confirmed a handball in the penalty area by midfielder Eduardo Camavinga.

David, fresh from a hat-trick in the French Championship, converted the maximum penalty with aplomb in the 57th minute, beating goalkeeper Andrei Lunin, who had replaced the injured Thibaut Courtois.

It was Madrid’s first defeat in the tournament since Manchester City’s 4-0 win in the second leg of the semi-final in 2023.

And coach Carlo Ancelotti was not lenient towards his team.

“The sadness comes from the feeling of the team because it was not a very good game. You can lose, this is a sport, but losing without a good feeling is what worries me the most,” he commented. “We have all the resources to learn from defeat and do better next time. We need to turn things around quickly because we have a game on Saturday.”

Madrid are unbeaten in 36 official matches since Atlético Madrid defeated them 4–2 after extra time in January in the Copa del Rey.

“The criticism of today’s game is fair, we must accept it,” Ancelotti admitted. “We didn’t show a good version. “I hope it gets some fantastic attention.”

This wasn’t the only big surprise of the day.

In another deadly strike from the bench, Colombian striker John Duran scored in the 79th minute as Aston Villa defeated Bayern Munich 1–0.

When the sides met in the 1982 European Cup final, Villa won 1–0. England’s Prince William was born the same year and celebrated at Villa Park as Durant pierced the nets in the final stretch.

Atletico Madrid, in turn, suffered a 4-0 defeat in the match with Benfica. Argentine striker Angel Di Maria converted the penalty in the 52nd, the Portuguese club’s second.

Liverpool manager Arne Slott played his first European game at Anfield as his side beat Bologna 2-0 thanks to goals from Argentine midfielder Alexis McAllister and striker Mohamed Salah, who provided the assist for the opening goal.

Salah sent the center to Mac Allister to score just steps from goal. His goal came from a bow shot in the 75th.

Bologna, who are participating in this tournament for the first time in 60 years, are still hoping to score. On the opening day they drew 0:0 with Shakhtar Donetsk.

Despite goalkeeper Michele Di Gregorio being sent off in the 59th minute, Juventus won 3–2 away to Leipzig.

Earlier today, Feyenoord and Atalanta achieved their first away victories in the new Champions League format, albeit with varying degrees of difficulty.

While Italy’s Atalanta thrashed Ukraine’s Shakhtar 3-0, Dutch side Feyenoord struggled to beat debutants Girona 3-2 on the second day of the tournament.

Berat Djimsiti, Ademola Lookman and Raul Bellanova scored for Atalanta in the German city of Gelsenkirchen. Shakhtar are playing at home at the stadium of the German club Schalke due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Girona took the lead through a goal from centre-back David Lopez in the 19th minute, but the visitors equalized in the 23rd minute thanks to an own goal from Venezuelan midfielder Yangel Herrera and took the lead through Anthony Milambo’s strike in the 31st minute.

Donny van de Beek made it 2-2, but another own goal, in this case from Ladislav Krejci, gave Feyenoord three points in a match in which both teams missed a penalty.