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As a result of Victor Osimhen’s 16th-minute penalty, Liverpool suffered a shock 1-0 defeat to Galatasaray on Tuesday.

The English champions were punished for their most recent performance in Istanbul, where they only suffered back-to-back defeats under Arne Slot for the second time.

A series of late winners have maskred an unconvincing start since a summertime transformation of the squad that won the Premier League title last year, but Liverpool were defeated for the first time this season at Crystal Palace on Saturday.

In response, Slot made four changes, starting with Alexander Isak and Mohamed Salah, for which he was replaced for a salary of £125 million ($168 million).

Only Alisson Becker could have prevented a humiliating half-time score, according to the Dutchman, who was critical of Liverpool’s first-half performance at Palace.

In yet another disjointed display, Slot, despite using a variety of star names, did little to provide a response.

“For me, this was a different performance because you lose and football is about winning,” Slot said.

Also available:  Champions League: Chelsea Beat Benfica On Mourinho’s Return

“We were frequently on the right side of the score last year, even though the margins were very small.”

The margins were extremely low again today, but on the wrong side for the second time in a row.

Galatasaray’s Champions League opener was a 5-1 defeat at Eintracht Frankfurt.

However, the Turkish champions capitalized on Liverpool’s defensive weaknesses to become a much stronger force on their own soil.

Slot’s choice to play Dominik Szoboszlai at right-back was unsuccessful.

When he didn’t succeed in beating Alisson in a one-on-one fight with the Brazilian, Baris Alper Yilmaz warned the visitors of the danger down Galatasaray’s left.

Alisson injured

Liverpool should have already taken the lead before they lost.

Ugurcan Cakir denied Hugo Ekitike’s rounding of the goalkeeper, and Ismail Jakobs blocked Cody Gakpo’s follow-up effort off the line.

After Galatasaray quickly broke upfield, Yilmaz was given a soft penalty for a stumbling Szoboszlai arm into the Turkish international.

Alisson had previously saved a Champions League penalty, but this time Alisson converted the spot kick.

After Cakir put a header past Florian Wirtz, who has struggled to deliver on his £100 million price tag, and Ibrahima Konate’s cross was just off the mark just before half-time, Ibrahima Konate headed home from the corner.

The Reds’ defensive woes began at the start of the season, and Konate nearly nearly scored his side a second goal early in the second half due to his poor form.

Alisson saved his teammate’s blushes with another save from Osimhen, but at a cost because the Liverpool number one injured while running off his line and was forced to take Giorgi Mamardashvili’s place.

Salah and Isak were introduced by Slot at the hour’s mark, but Liverpool remained a potent attacking force.

Clement Turpin, a French referee, initially criticized Konate for a foul, but overturned his decision following a VAR review.

Galatasaray were inches away from the game’s second goal when Lucas Torreira headed a wide shot in stoppage time.

In a 5-1 victory over Pafos on Tuesday, Harry Kane added a brace to his impressive scoring spree, and Nicolas Jackson added his first Bayern Munich goal.

Michael Olise and Kane had the upper hand in the starting lineup, but Kane and Olise created several chances that left.

With only 14 minutes left, Kane was quick to get on the scoresheet after surpassing the previous record for the fastest man to score 100 goals in a top-five league on Friday. He had already done so in 104 games.

Six minutes later, Raphael Guerreiro joined the action before Jackson added a third for the visitors at the end of the 31st minute.

Jackson had his first goal since joining Chelsea on a season-long loan in the summer.

With 34 minutes left, Kane hammered in the ball past the Pafos defense with a dribbling that he didn’t know. Kane scored the goal for Bayern for his 17th consecutive goal this season.

Also available:  Champions League: Chelsea Beat Benfica On Mourinho’s Return

Mislav Orsic’s dipping rocket, the club’s first ever Champions League goal, was just before half-time for Pafos, who needed a stunning performance to win it.

Bayern’s Olise scored a goal with 21 minutes left, knocking in from a tight angle after Jackson had already shot straight at the goalkeeper.

Bayern striking the woodwork three times was a positive reflection of the Cypriot side’s night.

Jose Mourinho was sent off in Chelsea on his return as a result of Richard Rios’ own goal, which gave the former Blues boss a 1-0 defeat in the Champions League on Tuesday.

Mourinho’s chances of winning against the team with whom he is most associated with were ruined by Rios’ costly blunder in the first half of Rios’ match at Stamford Bridge.

After taking over in 2004, Mourinho and then-owner Roman Abramovich won three Premier League titles and seven major victories in his two terms in charge.

Although the 62-year-old’s managerial success may be coming to an end after a decade without a league title, his west London debut was still a box office success.

Mourinho had just begun his season in charge of Fenerbahce, which he was fired from in August before making his way back to Benfica this month.

Although Mourinho’s former glory was attained here, Stamford Bridge has not been his happy hunting ground since.

Since leaving Chelsea for a second time in 2015, he has failed to win any of his seven matches at Manchester United, Tottenham, or now Benfica.

Also read: Mourinho Celebrates Benfica’s Resurrection With A Convincing Win.

In 2010, Mourinho’s only notable outing was when he led Inter Milan to a champion trophy win over Chelsea.

Mourinho, who owns a house close to Stamford Bridge, had insisted Chelsea’s fans would welcome him warmly on his most recent appearance after claiming he was “always a Blue” and still the “biggest” manager in the club’s history on Monday.

The match’s loud chanting of Mourinho’s name by Chelsea fans who gathered in unison to applaud him proved to be accurate.

At the climax of a flowing move, Vangelis Pavlidis forced Robert Sanchez to save in response to the Mourinho love-in.

When Dodi Lukebakio’s drive was pushed onto the near post by the Chelsea keeper, Sanchez made a second crucial stop.

Mourinho’s frustration

Heorhiy Sudakov should have done better with a chance that Sanchez gratefully smothered, and Mourinho’s game plan revealed weaknesses in Chelsea’s defense.

However, Rios’ blunder gave Chelsea the lead in the 18th minute, and they rode their luck.

Alejandro Garnacho was found inside Benfica by Pedro Neto, and Rios deflected the ball high into his own net from close range.

When Benfica fans threw missiles at Chelsea captain Enzo Fernandez, who had only a brief spell at the Portuguese club, marching down the touchline and gesturing to the supporters to stop the barrage, Mourinho’s luck was out, but he was still willing to play peacemaker.

Mourinho was right, but Chelsea showed less complacency, and Tyrique George should have doubled the lead when the young forward’s shot wide from a good angle at half-time.

After the break, Benfica failed to create the cutting edge needed to equalize.

Even a red card for Chelsea’s Joao Pedro for kicking Leandro Barreiro high in the closing seconds was insufficient to save Mourinho from a frustrating defeat.

Enzo Maresca’s Chelsea manager had to bemoan the first defeat of his Benfica reign, which was a welcome success.

Chelsea’s previous three games against Bayern Munich, Manchester United, and Brighton left them with questions about Maresca’s ability to take the organization to the next level.

Since Maresca took over the club last year, Maresca has won the UEFA Conference League and the Club World Cup, but Mourinho has slammed both of those accomplishments.

Real Madrid, the 15-time champions of the Champions League, defeated Kairat 5-0 on Tuesday to claim a hat-trick in the league phase, according to Kylian Mbappe.

After more than 7, 000 kilometers of travel, Xabi Alonso’s side recovered from their crushing defeat at city rivals Atletico Madrid on Saturday.

Mbappe scored the winning goal, while Eduardo Camavinga and Brahim Diaz completed Madrid’s victory, which temporarily placed them at the top of the table.

After their lengthy journey east, particularly with French superstar Mbappe, Kairat defeated Celtic in the first match of the tournament, but they were unable to handle Los Blancos.

Mbappe told Movistar, “We can’t forget what happened this weekend (against Atletico), but we have to keep thinking about it and working to improve every day and every week to prevent that from happening again.”

READ MORE: Mbappe on target as Real Madrid defeats Espanyol

The forward has 13 goals already this season in nine games, scoring them all, but he appeared irate when he missed a good chance in the second half.

Mbappe continued, “My work is helping the team, doing what I can to win the team.”

Real Madrid bought me because I have five chances and I want to score five goals, so I must score five goals.

I’ll strive to be better and make more of the same effort to score goals and defend the net.

Due to the injuries of three other club goalkeepers, hosts Kairat and 18-year-old Sherkhan Kalmurza were paired in goal.

Madrid’s opener was caused by Kalmurza’s awkwardly felled Franco Mastantuono.

In the 25th minute, Mbappe sent Kalmurza the wrong way after the youngster had earlier saved a shot from the penalty spot.

Before the break, the Frenchman whistled a shot narrowly wide of the far post, which had been Madrid’s main threat all season.

“Enormous pass!”

After being hit hard by goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois, Mbappe scored his second goal just seven minutes into the second period.

After scoring twice against Marseille in Madrid’s opener, Mbappe subdued Kalmurza with a gentle dink over the latter.

Mbappe said, “I added the other 20% and it was an enormous pass that was worth 80% of the goal.”

After receiving two passes from Vinicius Junior, the striker should have scored his hat-trick, but Vinicius Junior only had time to beat the goalkeeper before firing wide.

Dastan Satpayev, a promising 17-year-old forward who will move to Chelsea next summer, whipped a free-kick just wide.

When Dani Ceballos was found guilty of tripping Valery Gromyko, Kairat believed they had won a penalty, but it was voided following a VAR review.

After Arda Guler threw the ball into his path on the edge of the box, Mbappe then scored his treble, finishing with a razor-sharp finish.

The Champions League holders’ opponents in Paris Saint-Germain will face their biggest test of the season when they travel to Barcelona this week, but Luis Enrique’s side are currently dealing with a number of their biggest stars’ injuries.

Ousmane Dembele, who won the Ballon d’Or last week in recognition of his magnificent 2024/25 campaign, in which he scored 35 goals, is the headline absentee.

How Dembele would have preferred to face the Catalans, a team he left in 2023 after six years of dazzling but inconsistent performance and injuries.

Lamine Yamal, a teenager who won the Kopa Trophy for the best player in the world last year aged under 21, could have taken on the 28-year-old.

Dembele is recovering from a thigh injury that he sustained at the start of the month while playing for France on international duty, but he won’t be expected to return for at least another few weeks.

“It is proceeding well. Dembele announced on French television that he would return soon after receiving the Ballon d’Or trophy in the wake of Saturday’s 2-0 victory over Auxerre.

Desire Doue, a thrilling 20-year-old attacker who finished second to Yamal in the Kopa Trophy rankings, has not played since he injured his calf while on French duty with Dembele, who has also been missing.

Additionally, center-back Marquinhos and captain Joao Neves are both recovering from hamstring and thigh injuries.

Third-place Playmaker Vitinha of the Ballon d’Or came off just before half-time, and Khvicha Kvaratskhelia was subsequently withdrawn.

PSG hopes both players were removed as soon as possible to avoid any long-lasting harm, but suddenly Luis Enrique’s options are drastically reduced.

After the win over Auxerre on Saturday, the coach, a former Barcelona player and manager, said, “We have to stay positive because we need to be able to manage this situation.”

“Not just the injured ones are Paris Saint-Germain.” With such a busy calendar, it is the case for every team.

Too many games are catching up.

In a season that lasted 11 months, the Parisians played 65 games in 2024/25. That included 17 Champions League matches and seven Club World Cup contests, which their marathon campaign came to an end with a 3-0 defeat to Chelsea in the middle of July.

Dembele has signed for PSG for just over two years, and he has also played 20 games for France in that time. This seems to be catching up with other players.

Since joining PSG in 2023/24, Vitinha has made 21 more appearances for Portugal.

Achraf Hakimi, PSG’s star right-back, has 131 games between the club and nation while he has the Africa Cup of Nations coming up this year and the World Cup of the following year.

These players need more of a rest, according to experts in the game, and playing too many games would harm the product.

Last week, FIFPro’s secretary general, Alex Phillips, made the point that “we think club owners are beginning to realize that this is bad for business.”

The newly crowned world champion should be appearing on a Champions League showdown between the reigning French and European champions.

PSG may need to invest more money in their resources, even though their squad depth is being exposed as perhaps not as impressive as it should be.

Despite that Luis Enrique’s side won their opening game 4-0 against Atalanta in Catalonia a fortnight ago.

In any case, a loss in this match may not be a significant setback for their main objective of reaching the knockout stage because more than enough games will be left in the league stage.

After defeating American Taylor Fritz 6-4, 6-4 in the Japan Open final on Tuesday, world number one Carlos Alcaraz won his eighth title of the year.

The Spaniard, who is currently the world’s number five, was too hot for the rest of the competition to handle after suffering an ankle injury this week in Tokyo, including Fritz, who is the world’s number five.

In his first appearance in Japan, the reigning US Open champion displayed yet another breathtaking display of strength and athleticism.

Before hurling himself to the net to warm up Fritz, he clinched victory with a cleverly disguised drop shot.

The Spaniard won his ninth straight championship championship championship championship game, his 10th overall.

No man has ever reached the top 10 finals in a single season, aside from Rafael Nadal, the legendary countryman he was with in 2017.

ALCAraz also anticipates Sinner to rebound from the US Open defeat.

After falling to Fritz for the first time at the Laver Cup in San Francisco two weeks ago, Alcaraz gained some form of retribution with the victory.

Alcaraz wasted several chances in the first set to break Fritz, but he made it happen in the ninth game.

The Spaniard was then assigned to the set, and Fritz’s return to the net sealed the deal.

Alcaraz kept his head on the gas and broke with the second set’s opener.

He broke him once more to give Fritz a 4-1 lead, and he continued to use brutal forehands against him.

Fritz responded with his second break of the match, but Alcaraz won the championship in his next service game too little, too late.

After winning at Eastbourne and Stuttgart, Fritz wanted to win his third title of the year.

In 2022, the American won the Japan Open.