What a thrilling opening night in the UEFA’s elite competition, featuring Juventus and Borussia Dortmund sharing an incredible eight after the break strikes while Qarabag surprised Benfica by fighting back.
Late Drama Earn Unbelievable Tie
Vlahovic and Lloyd Kelly found the back of the net in stoppage time to complete a memorable comeback for Juventus, enabling them to claim a eight-goal draw in a match where every one of the goals came after the break.
The hosts trailed 4-2 when Vlahovic scored his double of the night in the 94th minute of injury time and the defender completed the fightback 120 seconds later to earn a portion of the points.
Action-Packed After the Break
Post uneventful initial period, Dortmund made the opening goal in the 53rd minute after the restart as Adeyemi blasted a precise effort into the bottom corner from outside the box. The Italian team drew level in the 63rd minute through Kenan Yildiz, who collected the ball on the perimeter of the area, composed himself and guided a magnificent shot into the net to delight the Tifosi.
The excitement were fleeting, though, as the midfielder reclaimed BVB’s lead almost instantly later with a crisp instant finish from outside the box.
The pace exhibited little indication of slowing down, and at the 68th minute Juventus were level anew, the striker bursting on to a expertly placed through ball to place past the goalkeeper in Dortmund’s goal.
The excitement continued in the later stage, when the wing-back’s driven shot trickled between Michele Di Gregorio and a woodwork to place Dortmund into the lead. BVB were given a spot-kick four minutes from full-time, after the defender was called for handball with Ramy Bensebaini scoring from the spot. At the death of injury time, number nine netted a second from a well-placed cross before setting up for Lloyd Kelly, who guided in the leveler to round off a half to cherish.
Surprise Win for The Visitors
The hosts squandered an two-goal cushion to be defeated 3-2 at the Estadio da Luz to the visitors, with Kashchuk scoring the underdog team’s match-winner with four minutes from the end.
Benfica seemed in command when Barrenechea placed them in front in the early stages with a deflected finish from a set-piece and Vangelis Pavlidis fired on the turn to double the cushion 10 minutes later. Andrade hammered a instant effort past Anatoliy Trubin, however, and Qarabag nearly to drawing level when Kady Borges struck the post and Trubin made an superb stop from Jankovic’s second shot.
The Azerbaijani club were level just after after the interval when the forward ran on to a perfect through ball from Jankovic and smacked a first-time strike into the net but the underdogs were far from finished.
A huge clearance forward from the shot-stopper found the substitute outside the area and he executed a one-two with Zoubir before curling a effort past the keeper to stun the home crowd.
Other Results
- The Belgian champions celebrated a ideal first appearance in the tournament group stage by shocking the Dutch side 3-1 in a intense Low Countries match.
- The Gunners secured a comfortable victory at the Spanish side.
- The North Londoners squeaked past Villarreal 1-0.
- Real Madrid came from behind to defeat OM 2-1.
