Champions League group stage: Young Boys spoil Cristiano Ronaldo's historic day
The UEFA Champions League group stage kicked off Tuesday, with two match windows chock-full of action.
In the two-game early slate, Cristiano Ronaldo tied history with his 177th appearance in the competition as Manchester United traveled to Bern, Switzerland, to take on Young Boys.
Little did United know that Young Boys wouldn't cower in the big moment. Despite Ronaldo's scoring the first goal of the UCL season, the Swiss team rallied for a monster win against shorthanded United in the game's final moments.
It was an American who dealt the decisive blow for Young Boys, no less!
At the same time, RB Salzburg and Sevilla butted heads in a Group G clash that made history of its own.
Bayern Munich's trip to Barcelona, where the Germans smashed the Spanish giants, highlighted the later window. Meanwhile, defending champions Chelsea edged past Zenit St. Petersburg in London.
In total, 16 teams were in action Tuesday. Which squads started their respective European campaigns off on the right foot?
Here are the biggest moments from Tuesday's slate!
Young Boys 2, Manchester United 1
That didn't take long
Ronaldo padded his lead atop the list of all-time leading goal-scorers in Champions League history with his 135th goal in the competition.
He did so with a cool finish in the 13th minute off a picture-perfect Bruno Fernandes cross to make it 1-0 for United.
Seeing red
Despite going down an early goal, Young Boys gained a foothold in the match after Man U went down a player.
Right back Aaron Wan-Bissaka was sent off for a heavy tackle on Christopher Martins Pereira, leaving the Premier League giants shorthanded after the 35th minute.
On the board
After being held at bay despite the man advantage, Young Boys finally found a breakthrough off the foot of Nicolas Moumi Ngamaleu against United.
American influence
U.S. men's national team forward Jordan Pefok delivered a signature moment — and win — for Young Boys in front of their home fans.
Pefok latched onto a horrendous back-pass from Jesse Lingard in the game's waning moments to slip the ball into the United net and take a 2-1 lead.
First-half penalty shootout?
It's not often that the beginning of a soccer match looks more like the end of one, but Sevilla and RB Salzburg couldn't help themselves.
With a total of four penalties called by referee Aleksei Kulbakov in the first half, three for Salzburg and one for Sevilla, history was made on the UCL stage.
Somehow, the scoreline read just 1-1 after a certifiably wild first half.
The antics carried into the second half, when Sevilla were reduced to 10 men due to a red card, but the Spanish side held on to keep the score 1-1 in the end.
Off the back
Barcelona went down in the 34th minute due to a powerful shot from Bayern's Thomas Muller — and a bit of bad luck.
Check out that wicked deflection!
Muller won't mind, as he continued to add to his reputation of being Barcelona's kryptonite. In six appearances against the Spanish club, Muller has racked up seven goals.
It had to be you
With 73 goals in his Champions League career, Robert Lewandowski is no stranger to the big stage.
Naturally, he upped that total to 74 with this strike to make it 2-0.
Later in the game, Lewy increased his career total to 75 as Bayern cruised to a 3-0 win.
As for Barcelona, it wasn't the juggernaut folks are used to seeing on the European stage.
Believe in believe
Zenit looked to channel inspiration from the titular hero of the show "Ted Lasso" with a sign in their locker room ahead of their match vs. Chelsea.
Blue through and through
Zenit's pregame ritual held for 69 minutes — until Chelsea's big-money summer acquisition delivered a brilliant header to snap the deadlock.
Romelu Lukaku, who made his return to Chelsea this summer after leaving the club in 2014, continued to add to his growing account for the Blues with his first Champions League goal for the club.
Despite some late scares, as well as some chances to add to their tally, Chelsea settled for a 1-0 win at home.
Mad dash
Juventus had a 1-0 lead heading into halftime, but whatever head coach Massimiliano Allegri said at halftime put the bit between the teeth of his players.
Shortly after the whistle sounded to resume play, Juve tacked on back-to-back goals to push the score to 3-0.
That score was more than enough for Juve to claim the win and move atop Group H on goal difference.
The game for goals
The ball was flying around Estadio de la Cerámica, with both Villarreal and Atalanta finding the back of the net before the stroke of halftime.
In the 73rd minute, it seemed Arnaut Danjuma smacked home a winner with a smart finish.
However, Robin Gosens popped up in the 83rd to answer back for Atalanta.
A late red card for Villarreal's Francis Coquelin gave Atalanta about 10 minutes with an extra man, but the Italian side couldn't find another after getting the equalizer, and the game ended 2-2.
Other Tuesday results:
For more up-to-date news on all things UEFA Champions League, click here to register for alerts on the FOX Sports app!
