Matchday 2 of the 2024/25 UEFA Champions League had many of Europe’s top teams in action from Monday, September 30 to Wednesday, October 3. Seven teams are tied at the top of the leaderboard with 6 points after two matches, led by Borussia Dortmund based on goal differential.
This week was particularly good for teams from the English Premier League, as Man City, Arsenal and Liverpool all came away with big wins. Arguably the biggest surprise of Matchday 2 was Real Madrid’s 1-0 loss to French team LOSC on the road. The defending champions are now 1-1 after two matches and will likely need to play catch up the rest of the season.
Let’s take a closer look at some of the most interesting highlights and results from Matchday 2.
Arsenal Beat PSG 2-0 In Huge Clash
Arsenal defeated Paris Saint-Germain 2-0 at the Emirates Stadium on Tuesday night to post their first win of the new Champions League season. The team was coming off a 0-0 draw against Atalanta in their first match of the season which got them off to a rocky start.
Arsenal opened the scoring in the first half when Kai Havertz sliced between two defenders to get to a Leandro Trossard’s cross which he headed in to open the scoring. Bukayo Saka added the second goal with a near-post shot which went through the crowd to beat Donnarumma. Saka has been involved in eight goals in six home Champions League appearances for Arsenal (five goals, three assists) with all five of his goals coming at the Emirates Stadium.
PA Images / Alamy Stock Photo
Next up for Arsenal in the Champions League season will be Ukrainian club Shakhtar Donetsk on October 22nd. PSG will look to get back to winning ways against PSV in their next league encounter.
Borussia Dortmund Destroy Celtics in 7-1 Rout
Celtic’s unbeaten start to the season came to an abrupt halt as they were dominated by Borussia Dortmund 7-1 on Tuesday. Despite Daizen Maeda canceling out Emre Can’s early penalty, the Scottish champs couldn’t stop the bleeding, as Dortmund kept piling on the goals.
Karim Adeyemi had a hat-trick in the first half alone, while Serhou Guirassy nailed a free-kick to help the home side take a 5-1 half-time lead. Guirassy struck again after the break and Felix Nmecha notched a goal late to complete the absolute beat down in Germany.
The victory puts Dortmund at the top of the standings based on goal differential but the real test should come next week when they take on Real Madrid in a rerun of last season’s final. Celtic will need to put this game behind them and concentrate on improving as they play Italy’s Atalanta in two weeks.
Man City Cruise to 4-0 Win Over Slovan Bratislava
In a very one-sided affair, Manchester City cruised past Slovan Bratislava 4-0 to secure their first win of the Champions League season. Ilkay Gundogan gave City a quick lead in the eighth-minute before Phil Foden, who was reinstated in the starting line-up, added a second.
Erling Haaladn added yet another goal to his total after the half and James McAtee added the exclamation point with the team’s fourth. In total, Man City had 28 shots on goal and a whopping 76.3 percent possession.
Their next test will be against Czech team Sparta Praha on the 23rd of October.
Champions League 2024/25 Matchday 2 Full Scorecard
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