It was a very lucky start for Cristiano Ronaldo and his team in the Champions League as Real Madrid narrowly avoided defeat in their opening match of the competition. The European record champions came out on top thanks to superstar Ronaldo and Alvaro Morata scoring late in the game against last year’s Portuguese runners-up Sporting Lisbon to give real a 2-1 win.
The sensational story continues for English champions Leicester City who cruised to victory at FC Brügge with a 3-0 win. Italian record title winners Juventus and midfielder Sami Khedira were not able find the breakthrough in a goalless draw against Europa League Champions Sevilla.
In Madrid, the hosts and Toni Kroos struggled in the first half. Los Blancos could not deal with Sporting’s Bas Dost, formerly at VfL Wolfsburg. Brazilian midfielder Bruno Cesar hit the target in the 47th minute for Cristiano Ronaldo's former club, giving underdogs Sporting a surprise lead. Madrid were extremely lucky that Ronaldo and Morata were able to turn the match around for them and secure a late win.
Khedira with two good chances for Juventus
It was no surprise to see world champion Sami Khedira in the Juventus starting line-up after a string of strong performances in Serie A. Khedira missed two good opportunities to put the Italian side into the lead in the opening stages of the match. While it was a disappointing draw for Bianconeri, they remain unbeaten in 18 European Cup home games.
Leicester only needed five minutes to open their Champions League account. Marc Albrighton got Claudio Ranieri’s team off to a flying start with the first goal of the game and Algerian Ryad Mahrez tucked away a free-kick shortly afterwards for the Foxes, who only have one win in four Premier League games. Mahrez added another from the penalty spot in the 61st minute.