Vinicius Junior scored a hat-trick as Real Madrid turned boos into cheers with a 5-2 win over Borussia Dortmund in the Champions League on Tuesday, while Paris Saint-Germain dropped more points.
Madrid was 2-0 down at halftime in a rematch of last season’s final but rallied with three goals from Vinicius Junior — who also scored in the final in May — and one each from Antonio Rudiger and Lucas Vazquez.
The crowd had jeered loudly after the halftime whistle as Madrid struggled and looked set for its second straight Champions League loss following a 14-match unbeaten run in the competition.
“We know that when we are at home playing in front of our fans, anything can happen,” Vinicius Junior said. “When we got to the locker room, we were all very quiet, we just listened to the coach and we said only one thing, that if we scored the first goal, we would rally and win, and we did it again.”
Coming off a loss to Arsenal in its last Champions League game, PSG managed to level the score with an Achraf Hakimi goal after going into the break a goal down against Dutch club PSV Eindhoven, but couldn’t find a second goal in a 1-1 draw.
PSG, which has four points from three games, had a stoppage-time penalty overturned by video review.
Elsewhere, Aston Villa became the first team with three wins in the new Champions League format, and Arsenal’s injury list lengthened.
Pulisic’s corner goal
Christian Pulisic scored direct from a corner — and admitted it was an accident — while there was VAR heartbreak for 16-year-old Francesco Camarda as AC Milan beat Brugge 3-1 to end its wait for a Champions League win.
United States forward Pulisic seemed stunned by his feat — known as an “Olimpico” — as Milan finally earned its first three points, having lost its opening two games in the new-look format.
Belgium’s Brugge had to play most of the game with 10 men after Raphael Onyedika was sent off in the 40th minute but still leveled the score with a goal from Kyriani Sabbe in the 51st. Tijjani Reijnders later scored twice to give Milan the much-needed win.
Camarda was brought on in the 75th and became the youngest Italian debutant in the Champions League. He briefly thought he’d broken the record for youngest Champions League scorer too, but his header was ruled offside to halt joyous celebrations.
Arsenal bounces back
Arsenal steadied the ship after its 2-0 loss to Bournemouth last week in the English Premier League, beating Ukraine’s Shakhtar Donetsk 1-0, but ended the game with yet more injury worries.
Arsenal needed an own goal to get past Shakhtar as its attack struggled to deliver a cutting edge without injured pair Martin Odegaard and Bukayo Saka. Now, manager Mikel Arteta has to deal with an apparent knee injury for left back Riccardo Calafiori too, ahead of playing Liverpool on Sunday.
Gabriel Martinelli’s shot bounced off the post, hit the backside of goalkeeper Dmytro Riznyk and deflected into the net in the 29th at Emirates Stadium. Riznyk made amends by saving a penalty by Leandro Trossard in the 77th.
Villa on top
Playing in Europe’s top competition for the first time in 41 years, Villa is the only team to have won its first three games after beating Bologna 2-0. John McGinn and Jhon Duran were the second-half scorers at Villa Park for Unai Emery’s team.
Liverpool, Bayer Leverkusen, Brest and Benfica could all join Villa on nine points at the top of the 36-team standings when they play Wednesday.
El Bilal Touré scored in stoppage time to give Stuttgart a 1-0 win at Juventus, which ended a Champions League match with 10 men for a second straight time. Juventus goalkeeper Mattia Perin had stopped Enzo Millot’s penalty shortly before.
Wilfried Singo scored from around 30 meters (100 feet) out as Monaco stayed unbeaten with a 5-1 win over Red Star Belgrade. Monaco has seven points from its opening three games.
Girona earned its first-ever Champions League win by beating Slovan Bratislava 2-0. Sporting Lisbon beat Sturm Graz 2-0.
