Marko Arnautovic scored a goal in his first appearance of the season in Inter Milan’s starting line-up. The ÖFB record team player scored 2-0 in the Italian football champions’ 4-0 win against Red Star Belgrade in the Champions League. Triple packer Karim Adeyemi and Dortmund were in an impressive scoring mood in the 7-1 win against Celtic. The English heavyweights Arsenal and Manchester City also achieved their first victory at the start of the second round.
The Gunners beat Paris Saint-Germain 2-0, while defending champions City won 4-0 in Bratislava. In Barcelona, too, things were done on paper. Goalscorer Robert Lewandowski scored twice for the Catalans in a 5-0 win against Young Boys. The German champions Leverkusen inflicted Milan’s second defeat with a goal from Victor Boniface (51st). Stuttgart – Sparta Prague and PSV Eindhoven – Sporting both ended 1-1.
Arnautovic had not played a single half this season; the 35-year-old missed Milan’s 0-0 draw at Manchester City at the start due to illness. On Tuesday, however, the son of a Serb was in the starting line-up in what was an emotional game for him and celebrated his fifth Champions League goal (59th).
The insertion after Mahdi Taremi had won the ball in the penalty area and crossed it was an easy exercise for Arnautovic. After missing a brace, he was replaced by Lautaro Martinez, who only needed seven minutes to make it 3-0 (71′). Hakan Calhanoglu put the Nerazzurri on course with a free kick that deflected off the wall (11th). Taremi was also warmed by Arnautovic after the penalty was scored (81).
Arsenal looked confident against PSG. The increasing pressure culminated in a 2-0 lead in the first half. PSG goalie Gianluigi Donnarumma was unfortunate in each case. Kai Havertz headed a cross from Leandro Trossard past the late goalkeeper and into the goal (20′). At 2-0, Donnarumma let a free kick from Bukayo Saka pass, which went past friend and foe (35th).
Premier League rivals City traveled to Bratislava with a promising record, but as expected, they easily equaled their record of 24 unbeaten CL games against Slovan. England’s champions almost fell behind after a minute, but after a quarter of an hour the score was 2-0. Ilkay Gündogan also had a bit of luck with his deflected shot after a rebound (8th), Phil Foden increased the score with a well-placed low shot (15th). Before both goals, Kevin Wimmer, who was called up as left-back, left plenty of space for Belgian winger Jeremy Doku. Erling Haaland (58th) and James McAtee (74th) scored the other goals.
Dortmund, led by Adeyemi, were in a frenzy right up to the break (5-1). The ex-Salzburger in the BVB jersey overcame the Danish team keeper Kasper Schmeichel in the Celtic goal with a deflected flick (11th), a cracker from a half-left position (29th), dry as dust from the edge of the penalty area (42nd) and took the penalty the 4:1 by Serhou Guirassy (40th).
After the break, the hero of the day retired with a thigh injury. Celtic had defeated Bratislava 5-1 in the first game, but could only watch in amazement as last year’s finalist’s attack whirled on. Marcel Sabitzer saw Guirassy’s second goal (66th) from the bench, but Felix Nmecha (79th) saw the final score on the pitch. On November 5th, the difficult journey to Dortmund awaits Sturm Graz.
