In this article, we take a look at all the action from Gameweek 4 of the 2024/25 UEFA Champions League (UCL).
Dinamo Zagreb eased to a convincing 4-1 victory at Slovan Bratislava on Tuesday, recovering from an early scare to dominate the match.
It took five minutes for David Strelec to put the home side ahead, but the visitors quickly took control of the contest. Dario Špikic equalised five minutes later, and Petar Sucic turned the tide in Dinamo’s favour with a goal on the half-hour mark. The visitors maintained their dominance in the second half as well, and Sandro Kulenovic netted a brace with goals in the 54th and 72nd minutes.
The result leaves Slovan Bratislava in a spot of bother, as they continue searching for their first point after four matches. Dinamo Zagreb, on the other hand, are comfortable in the playoff section of the table with seven points after four matches.
PSV won their first match in the Champions League this season as they thrashed Girona 4-0 at the Philips Stadion on Tuesday.
Ryan Flamingo got the scoring under way after 16 minutes as he turned Malik Tillman’s long throw home before Tillman himself got on the scoresheet 17 minutes later with a fine finish after arriving into the box unopposed.
Things went from bad to worse for Girona after half time as Arnau Martínez was handed a red card ten minutes in for a second bookable offence. From then on, it was one-way traffic against the team from LaLiga, and PSV might feel aggrieved not to have won by an even bigger margin.
Thilo Kehrer snatched a late goal to earn a 1-0 victory for his side at Bologna on Tuesday. The Monaco captain was left unmarked in front of goal four minutes from time and stretched out a leg to poke the ball home from a flick off a corner to claim the points.
Both sides believed they had achieved a breakthrough in the first half, but each time the goal was disallowed. There were chances in the second half as well, but neither team could break the deadlock until Kehrer struck in the 86th minute.
The visitors maintain their unbeaten start to this season’s Champions League, while Bologna have suffered their first home defeat of the UCL season. The win puts Monaco in third place with 10 points, while Bologna are down in 30th with one point after four games.
Nicolas Kühn scored an impressive double as Celtic secured back-to-back home wins in this season’s Champions League with a convincing 3-1 win against RB Leipzig.
The Bhoys again proved that their dismal showing in Dortmund was a one-off as they took belief from their draw against Atalanta last time out to stun the side currently sitting second in the German Bundesliga.
Christophe Baumgartner headed the visitors in front, but Kühn curled a stunning shot in off the post and smashed Greg Taylor’s cross into the net before the break to give Celtic the lead. In the second half, Reo Hatate put the game out of reach as he slammed the ball in after Leipzig keeper Péter Gulácsi made a mess of Alistair Johnston’s cross.
Celtic now have seven points from four games, while Leipzig are yet to get off the mark in the competition.
Donyell Malen hit a late winner as Borussia Dortmund squeezed past Sturm Graz on Tuesday. The German side came into the match as the UCL top scorers this season, but they could not find a way past visiting goalkeeper Kjell Scherpen with their first 18 shots.
Dortmund were missing several regular starters through injury and, as the second half went on, allowed the Austrian Bundesliga side to gain a foothold in the game as fatigue set in.
Sturm Graz grew in confidence and came close to taking the lead when Mika Biereth headed narrowly over. However, just as they looked set to leave the Westfalenstadion with a point, Malen fired home five minutes from time in front of the Yellow Wall with his side’s 19th attempt.
This victory has moved Dortmund up to fourth in the table, with nine points after four games, while the Austrian league leaders still wait for their first point.
Lille kept their composure to hold visitors Juventus to a 1-1 draw on Tuesday, continuing their solid form in the UCL first phase.
Bruno Genesio’s team, having beaten Real Madrid and Atlético Madrid in their two previous outings, were under pressure throughout this game, but another scintillating performance by their keeper Lucas Chevalier helped them secure a point. Jonathan David’s first-half opener for Lille was cancelled out by Dušan Vlahovic’s penalty after the interval.
Both sides are now on seven points from four games. Juve next travel to Aston Villa before hosting Man City, while Lille’s schedule gets easier on paper as they face Bologna away and host Sturm Graz.
Luis Díaz scored a hattrick as the Reds maintained their perfect UCL record for the season with a barn-storming second-half display in their 4-0 victory over Xabi Alonso’s Bayer Leverkusen at home.
Arne Slot played Díaz as a centre-forward for this game, and it proved to be a masterful move as the Colombian broke the deadlock of what had been a sluggish affair in stunning fashion in the 61st minute. Cody Gakpo then doubled the Reds’ lead two minutes later when he dived to head Mohamed Salah’s cross home at the back post.
Díaz netted his second in the 83rd minute when he latched onto a cross from Salah. He then completed his hattrick with a tap-in from close range in stoppage time after Darwin Núñez’ initial shot was blocked.
Slot’s Reds, also on top of the Premier League table at the moment, now lead the UCL standings with their fourth win in four matches.
Sporting marked the final home game of Rúben Amorim’s reign in stunning fashion as Viktor Gyökeres’ hattrick saw them come from behind to thrash Man City 4-1 and maintain their superb start to their Champions League campaign on Tuesday.
The Primeira Liga leaders were outplayed for most of the first half and should have trailed by more than the early Phil Foden goal, but Gyökeres levelled up the proceedings before the break.
City were caught cold at the start of the second half as Maximiliano Araújo finished a flowing move straight from kick-off before Gyökeres doubled Sporting’s lead minutes later from the penalty spot. Erling Haaland had the chance to drag City back into the game but struck the crossbar with his penalty before Gyökeres wrapped it up for the hosts with another spot kick to send the José Alvalade into raptures.
Amorim leaves the team second in the Champions League table with 10 points from four games, behind only Liverpool. On the other hand, City’s first defeat in this year’s competition leaves them on seven points, though more worryingly they have now lost three games in a row across all competitions.
AC Milan’s Malick Thiaw, Álvaro Morata, and Tijjani Reijnders all got on the scoresheet in a surprise 3-1 win away against the reigning UCL champions.
Thiaw gave the seven-time European champions the lead with a header from a corner in the 12th minute, but Vinícius Júnior equalised with a penalty in the 23rd minute. Morata then put the visitors back in front by netting from a rebound in the 39th minutes and Reijnders fired home a Rafael Leão cross after a counter-attack to wrap up their side’s statement win over the lacklustre title holders.
Following this result, Real Madrid find themselves languishing in 17th place with six points, one spot ahead of Milan on goal difference.
Aston Villa’s unbeaten record in the Champions League came to an end with a defeat against Belgian outfit Club Brugge, who hadn’t beaten an English side in the Champions League in about three decades but deserved this hard-fought victory.
Villa had some fairly decent chances early in the first half, as an Ollie Watkins shot fizzed narrowly past the far post while a John McGinn header sailed over the crossbar. Apart from that, it was all Club Brugge, who applied the pressure but couldn’t find the finish.
The only goal came in the 52nd minute when Villa centre-back Tyrone Mings handled the ball in his own box while it was already in play and the on-field referee awarded a penalty to Club Brugge. Hans Vanaken stepped up and converted the spot-kick to give his side the lead. The game got more open from here, with the hosts creating more chances and Unai Emery making substitutions, but to no avail. The Belgian side held on against late pressure from the Villans to bag all three points.
Shakhtar Donetsk came back after conceding an early goal to win at home against Young Boys, who took the lead in the 27th minute when Kastriot Imeri’s deflected shot went in from close range. Shakhtar came back with a quick riposte as Oleksandr Zubkov tapped in four minutes later from an assist from Heorhiy Sudakov, who then put the hosts ahead in the 41st minute.
The second half was largely uneventful as neither side could create clear-cut chances. The only decent chance fell to Zachary Athekame, who showed sublime dribbling skills inside the box but had his shot on goal prevented.
The Ukranian side held onto the lead to get their first league phase win, while Young Boys’ dismal Champions League campaign continues as they have lost all four of their games so far.
Salzburg came into this game on the back of a really poor run, while Feyenoord were looking for their third win of the league phase. The opening goal came in the first-half injury time courtesy of a sloppy roll-out from the Feyenoord keeper Timon Wellenreuther that was grabbed by Salzburg as Oscar Gloukh surged forward with the ball and his cross found Karim Konaté, who didn’t miss from close range.
Salzburg then scored before the hour mark as a Bobby Clark corner kick was kept alive by defender Kamil Piatkowski saw the ball fall to Konaté, who duly scored his second of the night. Things got even worse for Feyenoord when midfielder Chris-Kévin Nadje was shown a straight red for a poor challenge in the 79th minute.
Even after going down to ten men, however, Feyenoord showed great intent and cut the deficit down to one three minutes later as Anis Hadj-Moussa scored from a tight angle to give the home fans some hope. Konaté later had a chance to complete his hattrick when a penalty was awarded to Salzburg for a foul on Nicolás Capaldo, but his shot hit the crossbar. However, the killer blow came in the 86th minute when Gloukh’s cutback found Daouda Guindo, who scored a cracker from outside of the box to give Pep Lijnders’ side some breathing space in the UCL table.
Both teams had had an underwhelming start to the Champions League, so it was imperative for them to get a result in this game. It was the visitors who found a stoppage-time winner to take all three points.
PSG opened the scoring through some comical defending in the box from Clément Lenglet, which gave Warren Zaïre-Emery an easy chance in the 14th minute. But Atlético equalised four minutes later through Nahuel Molina when a loose ball fell perfectly for him in the box and he sent it into the far corner.
The second half saw PSG keep the majority of the possession and create a multitude of chances, but poor finishing and an inspired Jan Oblak in goal kept the hosts at bay. It was yet again their goalkeeper’s involvement that led to Atleti’s winner, as Oblak’s long pass found Antoine Griezmann on the counter, who then sprayed a pass to the right to find Ángel Correa outside the box. Correa moved in and slotted in the goal past a flailing Gigi Donnarumma to steal the win in the dying minutes in dramatic fashion.
Brest’s first-ever campaign in the Champions League couldn’t have started any better as they remain unbeaten in the competition, having gained a massive three points away from home in Gameweek 4.
Brest threatened in the first half with several decent scoring chances and finally scored from a well-worked corner in the 37th minute when Edimilson Fernandes’ volley found the back of the net. They then doubled their advantage in the 79th minute from an own goal when Sparta midfielder Kaan Kairinen bundled Ludovic Ajorque’s pass across the goal into his own net, with Kamory Doumbia lurking behind him. Sparta did score a late consolation through Victor Olatunji in the 92nd minute, but the visitors managed to hold on for their third UCL win in four games.
It has been an exceptional campaign for Brest so far as they sit comfortably in fourth place.
Barça continued their swashbuckling form under coach Hansi Flick as they travelled away to Serbian outfit Crvena zvezda (Red Star Belgrade). They scored the opener in the 13th minute through an Iñigo Martínez header from Raphinha’s curling free kick. The hosts restored parity in the 27th minute, however, when they broke the Barça offside trap and Silas chipped it over Iñaki Peña. However, Barcelona restored the lead two minutes before half time via an excellent Robert Lewandowski finish.
The Blaugrana started the second half in the same manner as the first and Lewandowski scored their third goal in the 53rd minute as he tapped home from a delightful Joules Koundé cross. Two minutes later, Raphinha made it four when his low shot found the far post. A deflated Red Star side were put to the sword with a fifth when Koundé’s cutback found Fermín López in the box, who finished past Marko Ilic. Substitute Felício Milson then pulled one back for Red Star with a fine curling effort, but it was not enough to spark a comeback.
Also read: UEFA Champions League 2024/25 Sponsors
The big game between these two European powerhouses ended up being a cagey affair as Inter eked out a narrow win. The Nerazzurri had almost opened the scoring in the first minute when Denzel Dumfries caught Arsenal napping, but his shot hit the crossbar.
Inter started quickly out of the traps and created several chances in the early period, but the visitors soon started finding their feet and creating chances of their own. Arsenal had many set-piece opportunities but failed to convert any. The home side then broke the deadlock when they were awarded a penalty for an unfortunate Mikel Merino handball in the box. Hakan Çalhanoglu stepped up and converted the spot-kick at the end of the first half to take the slim advantage into the break.
Arsenal had the better chances in the second half as well but couldn’t apply the finishing touches. Dumfries cleared a header from a Bukayo Saka corner off the far post, soon after which Kai Havertz had a few glorious opportunities to equalise, but Inter remained stoic in defence and didn’t let the Gunners through.
Bayern managed to get a slender win against Benfica to earn three crucial points. The first half started with Bayern dominating possession, with clear-cut chances few and far between at first. Serge Gnabry had a shot blocked before Konrad Laimer fired wide and a Harry Kane effort was saved.
Bayern continued to push for an opening goal, but the Benfica keeper Anatoliy Trubin was in fine form and parried another Kane shot before saving Gnabry’s rebound. Jamal Musiala saw a deflected effort saved as the contest remained goalless at half time.
As the second half began, Bayern kept probing the away goal and saw Trubin make two great saves against Leroy Sané, whose introduction helped raise the tempo. Musiala finally broke the deadlock in the 67th minute when a header from Kane invited him to head the ball into the net. Bayern had several decent chances to score more past Benfica, but they couldn’t apply the finishing touches, though they managed to hold on to a well-deserved victory.
Stuttgart’s shock win over Juventus last time out had given hope to their fans that they could carry that form into the home game against Atalanta. However, the Italian visitors ran away with the three points, ending in the process Stuttgart’s one-year unbeaten run at home.
The first half saw a couple of clear-cut chances from both sides as Atalanta’s Mario Pašalic had his shot deflected into the side netting before Stuttgart forward Deniz Undav spurned a glorious chance to take the lead. The first half went goalless.
The second half saw Atalanta’s fortunes change with the introduction of Charles De Ketelaere, who beat two defenders and created an incredible chance for Ademola Lookman in the 51st minute for the opener. The German side had an uphill task now and couldn’t even find an equaliser. In the closing stages, Nicolò Zaniolo pounced on a defensive error and slipped the ball past Alexander Nübel to close out the game.
Stuttgart’s struggles at home in the Champions League are a cause for concern for Sebastian Hoeneß.
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