African Players in Europe: Osimhen, Salah Open Goal Accounts 

 Football - Premier League - Liverpool v AFC Bournemouth - Anfield, Liverpool, Britain - August 19, 2023 Liverpool's Mohamed Salah celebrates scoring their first goal. (Reuters)
Football - Premier League - Liverpool v AFC Bournemouth - Anfield, Liverpool, Britain - August 19, 2023 Liverpool's Mohamed Salah celebrates scoring their first goal. (Reuters)
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African Players in Europe: Osimhen, Salah Open Goal Accounts 

 Football - Premier League - Liverpool v AFC Bournemouth - Anfield, Liverpool, Britain - August 19, 2023 Liverpool's Mohamed Salah celebrates scoring their first goal. (Reuters)
Football - Premier League - Liverpool v AFC Bournemouth - Anfield, Liverpool, Britain - August 19, 2023 Liverpool's Mohamed Salah celebrates scoring their first goal. (Reuters)

African stars Victor Osimhen and Mohamed Salah opened their goal accounts for the season as they helped Napoli and Liverpool to league victories at the weekend.

Osimhen, the leading Serie A scorer last season, netted twice in a 3-1 win at Frosinone while Salah atoned for having a penalty parried by tapping in the rebound in a 3-1 victory over Bournemouth.

Here, AFP Sport highlights African headline-makers in the major European leagues:

ENGLAND

MOHAMED SALAH (Liverpool)

The Egyptian, who has been voted African Footballer of the Year twice, netted in the 36th minute for a 2-1 Premier League lead as he fired the penalty rebound past Bournemouth captain and goalkeeper Neto.

PAPE SARR (Tottenham)

The Senegal midfielder netted his maiden goal for the north Londoners in their impressive 2-0 win against Manchester United. Sarr steered home from close range in the 49th minute to end the stalemate. The 20-year-old has been given a chance in the heart of midfield by new Tottenham boss Ange Postecoglou, and responded with a dynamic display.

YOANE WISSA (Brentford)

The Democratic Republic of Congo forward produced the key moments as the Bees won 3-0 at London rivals Fulham. Pouncing on a mistake from Issa Diop in the 44th minute, Wissa rounded goalkeeper Bernd Leno to score. In the 64th minute, Wissa was pushed by Tim Ream in the area as he attempted to shoot. Ream was given a second yellow card and sent off, and Cameroon forward Bryan Mbeumo netted the penalty and scored again in added time.

SPAIN

INAKI WILLIAMS (Athletic Bilbao)

The Ghana international broke the deadlock in Athletic's 2-0 La Liga win at Osasuna with a finish from close range after being set up by his younger brother Nico Williams. Inaki scored 10 league goals last season, his second best career tally in the Spanish top flight.

ITALY

VICTOR OSIMHEN (Napoli)

Nigeria forward Osimhen started his season where he left off in the last campaign with a super double in Napoli's 3-1 win at promoted Frosinone. The 24-year-old crashed in a rocket shot off the crossbar to put the champions in the lead shortly before the break and sealed the points with a simple finish past Stefano Turati after being sent clear by captain Giovanni Di Lorenzo.

GERMANY

SERHOU GUIRASSY (Stuttgart)

Guinean Guirassy, Stuttgart's top scorer last season, netted twice in a 5-0 home demolition of Bochum. Alongside DR Congo striker Silas Mvumpa, who also scored twice, Guirassy spearheaded a fine attacking display from Stuttgart, who needed a playoff win over Hamburg to avoid relegation last season.

FRANCE

MARSHALL MUNETSI (Reims)

An early headed goal from the Zimbabwean set up Reims for a 2-0 Ligue 1 win over Clermont -- their first of the season after an opening-round defeat. After the visitors failed to clear a corner, Munetsi beat Senegalese goalkeeper Mory Diaw from close range.



Champions League Returns with Liverpool-Real Madrid and Bayern-PSG Rematches of Recent Finals

22 November 2024, Bavaria, Munich: Bayern Munich's Harry Kane (C) celebrates scoring his side's second goal with Leroy Sane, during the German Bundesliga soccer match between Bayern Munich and FC Augsburg at the Allianz Arena. Photo: Tom Weller/dpa
22 November 2024, Bavaria, Munich: Bayern Munich's Harry Kane (C) celebrates scoring his side's second goal with Leroy Sane, during the German Bundesliga soccer match between Bayern Munich and FC Augsburg at the Allianz Arena. Photo: Tom Weller/dpa
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Champions League Returns with Liverpool-Real Madrid and Bayern-PSG Rematches of Recent Finals

22 November 2024, Bavaria, Munich: Bayern Munich's Harry Kane (C) celebrates scoring his side's second goal with Leroy Sane, during the German Bundesliga soccer match between Bayern Munich and FC Augsburg at the Allianz Arena. Photo: Tom Weller/dpa
22 November 2024, Bavaria, Munich: Bayern Munich's Harry Kane (C) celebrates scoring his side's second goal with Leroy Sane, during the German Bundesliga soccer match between Bayern Munich and FC Augsburg at the Allianz Arena. Photo: Tom Weller/dpa

Real Madrid playing Liverpool in the Champions League has twice in recent years been a final between arguably the two best teams in the competition.

Their next meeting, however, finds two storied powers in starkly different positions at the midway point of the 36-team single league standings format. One is in first place and the other a lowly 18th.

It is not defending champion Madrid on top despite adding Kylian Mbappé to the roster that won a record-extending 15th European title in May.

Madrid has lost two of four games in the eight-round opening phase — and against teams that are far from challenging for domestic league titles: Lille and AC Milan.

Liverpool, which will host Wednesday's game, is eight points clear atop the Premier League under new coach Arne Slot and the only team to win all four Champions League games so far.

Still, the six-time European champion cannot completely forget losing the 2018 and 2022 finals when Madrid lifted its 13th and 14th titles. Madrid also won 5-2 at Anfield, despite trailing by two goals after 14 minutes, on its last visit to Anfield in February 2023.

The 2020 finalists also will be reunited this week, when Bayern Munich hosts Paris Saint-Germain in the stadium that will stage the next final on May 31.

Bayern’s home will rock to a 75,000-capacity crowd Tuesday, even though it is surprisingly a clash of 17th vs. 25th in the standings. Only the top 24 at the end of January advance to the knockout round.

No fans were allowed in the Lisbon stadium in August 2020 when Kingsley Coman scored against his former club PSG to settle the post-lockdown final in the COVID-19 pandemic season.

Man City in crisis

Manchester City at home to Feyenoord had looked like a routine win when fixtures were drawn in August, but it arrives with the 2023 champion on a stunning five-game losing run.

Such a streak was previously unthinkable for any team coached by Pep Guardiola, but it ensures extra attention Tuesday on Manchester.

City went unbeaten through its Champions League title season, and did not lose any of 10 games last season when it was dethroned by Real Madrid on a penalty shootout after two tied games in the quarterfinals.

City’s unbeaten run was stopped at 26 games three weeks ago in a 4-1 loss to Sporting Lisbon.

Sporting rebuilds That rout was a farewell to Sporting in the Champions League for coach Rúben Amorim after he finalized his move to Manchester United.

Second to Liverpool in the Champions League standings, Sporting will be coached by João Pereira taking charge of just his second top-tier game when Arsenal visits on Tuesday.

Sporting still has European soccer’s hottest striker Viktor Gyökeres, who is being pursued by a slew of clubs reportedly including Arsenal. Gyökeres has four hat tricks this season for Sporting and Sweden including against Man City.

Tough tests for overachievers

Brest is in its first-ever UEFA competition and Aston Villa last played with the elite in the 1982-83 European Cup as the defending champion.

Remarkably, fourth-place Brest is two spots above Barcelona in the standings — having beaten opponents from Austria and the Czech Republic — before going to the five-time European champion on Tuesday. Villa in eighth place is looking down on Juventus in 11th.

Juventus plays at Villa Park on Wednesday for the first time since March 1983 when a team with the storied Platini-Boniek-Rossi attack eliminated the title holder in the quarterfinals. Villa has beaten Bayern and Bologna at home with shutout wins.

Zeroes to heroes?

Five teams are still on zero points and might need to go unbeaten to stay in the competition beyond January. Eight points is the projected tally to finish 24th.

They include Leipzig, whose tough fixture program continues with a trip to Inter Milan, the champion of Italy.

Inter and Atalanta are yet to concede a goal after four rounds, and Bologna is the only team yet to score.

Atalanta plays at Young Boys, one of the teams without a point, on Tuesday and Bologna hosts Lille on Wednesday.