Mbappé can’t rescue Real Madrid in Champions League loss to Lille

AP Sports Writer (AP) — Kylian Mbappé came off the bench but couldn’t prevent defending champion Real Madrid from losing 1-0 at unheralded Lille in the revamped Champions League on Wednesday.

With Mbappé a substitute after a minor hamstring injury, the opening goal came from Canada striker Jonathan David ‘s penalty deep into first-half stoppage time. A video review ruled that midfielder Eduardo Camavinga handled the ball.

David scored a hat trick last weekend and shot confidently past goalkeeper Andriy Lunin, who was replacing the injured Thibaut Courtois. Mbappé came on in the 57th.

It was Madrid’s first loss in the competition since a 4-0 hammering by Manchester City in the 2023 semifinal return leg.

Real Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti did not excuse his players.

“We made a lot of errors. In the first half, we had a lot of issues in the transitions,” he said. “We weren’t aggressive enough. We weren’t able to create chances, we weren’t great in possession. We were slow, we lacked ideas. We have forwards that need to play vertically, and, if we can’t supply that, it’s difficult. … It was the same the last time we lost a match.”

Madrid hadn’t lost in 36 official matches, since a 4-2 defeat in extra time to Atletico Madrid in the Copa del Rey in January.

A brighter note saw Brazil teenager Endrick becoming the youngest Champions League starter for Madrid at 18 years, 73 days old. He surpassed the mark set by former Madrid great Raúl González, who was 18 years, 78 days old when he faced Ajax in 1995.

Liverpool coach Arne Slot got his first taste of a European night at Anfield and saw his team beat Bologna 2-0, thanks to goals from midfielder Alexis Mac Allister and prolific forward Mohamed Salah, who set up the first goal.

Salah teased the defense with an 11th-minute cross for Mac Allister to score from close range and curled in a rising shot in the 75th as Liverpool carried over the confidence from easing past AC Milan 3-1 at San Siro two weeks ago.

Bologna, playing in the competition for the first time in 60 years, is still looking for a goal after drawing 0-0 with Shakhtar Donetsk in the first round.

Super sub strikes again

Substitute Jhon Duran scored a late winner to give Aston Villa another 1-0 win over Bayern Munich.

When the sides met in the 1982 European Cup final, Villa won 1-0 in a big upset. Prince William was born that year, and he was cheering in the Villa Park crowd when Duran pounced late on.

Coach Unai Emery sent the 20-year-old Duran on in the 70th and the Colombia forward — who has made a habit of scoring goals from the bench — did it again with a brilliant left-footed effort from around 25 meters to beat Bayern goalkeeper Manuel Neuer.

Juventus wins despite goalkeeper’s red card

Juventus had goalkeeper Michele Di Gregorio sent off in the 59th for a handball yet still won 3-2 at Leipzig.

Slovenia forward Benjamin Sesko scored both goals for Leipzig but Serbia’s Dusan Vlahovic did the same for 10-man Juve before Francisco Conceição netted in the 82nd.

Bad night all around for Madrid

Kerem Akturkoglu, veteran Ángel Di Maria, Alexander Bah and Orkun Kokcu scored for Benfica in a 4-0 rout of Atletico Madrid.

Benfica’s victory equaled the biggest winning margin by a Portuguese team against a Spanish one in Europe’s elite club competition. They also claimed the other victory, defeating Real Madrid 5-1 back in February 1965.

To add to the pain, it was Atleti’s joint-biggest margin of defeat in UEFA club competitions.

Other matches

Earlier, Atalanta and Feyenoord got their first wins in the competition’s second round of matches.

Italian team Atalanta coasted to a 3-0 win over Ukraine’s Shakhtar while Dutch club Feyenoord secured a gritty 3-2 win at tournament newcomer Girona.

Albanian Berat Djimsiti, Nigerian Ademola Lookman, and Italian Raoul Bellanova scored for Atalanta in the German city of Gelsenkirchen. It was officially a home game for Shakhtar, which is playing at German club Schalke’s stadium because of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Girona led through center-back David López’s close-range finish, but the visitors equalized with an own goal from Yangel Herrera and took the lead on Antoni Milambo’s 31st-minute strike.

Donny van de Beek made it 2-2 but another own goal, this time from Ladislav Krejci, gave Feynoord — Slot’s former club — victory in a match where both teams missed a penalty.

Monaco netted a last-minute equalizer in a 2-2 draw at Dinamo Zagreb thanks to Denis Zakaria’s penalty.

Also, Sturm Graz lost 1-0 at home to Club Brugge, which won thanks to a curling strike from Christos Tzolis. ___

AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer

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