Borussia Dortmund Triumphs in UEFA Champions League Opener Against Villarreal
Dortmund's Dramatic Victory
Photo: @beritainbola/X
Berlin, Sep 8: Borussia Dortmund kicked off their UEFA Champions League journey with a thrilling 3-2 win over Villarreal, thanks to two late goals from Serhou Guirassy. Meanwhile, both Real Madrid and Manchester City also secured victories in their opening matches.
However, the match for Dortmund was marred by a concerning incident involving Konstantinos Karetsas, who collapsed without any contact during the first half and required extensive medical attention.
The 18-year-old Greek player was stretchered off in the 27th minute and transported to the hospital due to what the club referred to as circulatory issues, according to reports.
Fortunately, Dortmund later announced that Karetsas was stable given the circumstances and would undergo further tests.
After Karetsas was replaced by Ethan Nwaneri, Dortmund slowly regained their attacking momentum, although Guirassy was thwarted by Villarreal's goalkeeper Peter Gulacsi just before halftime.
Following the break, the home team intensified their efforts and nearly scored in the 52nd minute when Pape Gueye's attempted clearance struck his own post.
Dortmund finally broke the deadlock a minute later when Renato Veiga inadvertently redirected a low cross into his own net.
Villarreal responded with vigor, equalizing in the 66th minute when Santiago Mourino scored with a powerful header from close range after a corner.
Despite Villarreal's pressure, Dortmund's substitutes played a crucial role in shifting the momentum back. In the 80th minute, Jobe Bellingham set up Fabio Silva, who assisted Guirassy for a close-range finish.
Guirassy was then fouled in the penalty area and successfully converted the penalty in the 85th minute, extending Dortmund's lead to 3-1.
Villarreal managed to score again in stoppage time when Guirassy accidentally turned Nicolas Pepe's free kick into his own net, but Dortmund held on to secure the victory.
In other matches, Real Madrid capitalized on two mistakes from Inter Milan to win 2-1 at home. Kylian Mbappe opened the scoring, followed by Federico Valverde, who took advantage of a blunder by Inter's goalkeeper Josep Martinez. Carlos Augusto scored for Inter in the 76th minute, but Thibaut Courtois made several crucial saves to maintain Real's lead.
Manchester City triumphed 2-0 against Porto, with Erling Haaland netting both goals after halftime. He scored with a header from Enzo Fernandez's cross shortly after the break and added another from Rayan Ait-Nouri's assist in stoppage time.
Real Betis overcame Lille 3-2 in France, with Marc Bartra scoring both equalizers before Troy Parrott completed the comeback. Lille's Ethan Mbappe received a red card following a VAR review.
Aston Villa managed to fend off a second-half resurgence to defeat Club Brugge 3-2 in Belgium, with goals from John McGinn, Emiliano Buendia, and Nicolas Jackson, while Hugo Vetlesen and Nicolo Tresoldi scored for the hosts.
In another match on Tuesday, Razvan Marin's first-half free kick secured a 1-0 win for AEK Athens against Austrian side LASK.