UCL: Chelsea lose as Real Madrid, Man City secure easy wins

Real Madrid began their UEFA Champions League (UCL) defence on Tuesday night with a 3-0 win over Celtic at the Celtic Park in Glasgow, Scotland.

Second half goals from Vinicius Jr., Luka Modric and Eden Hazard were enough for Carlo Ancelotti’s men who allowed their opponents to wear themselves out before delivering decisive blows.

Celtic ran their socks off in an eventful first half that the Scottish champions hit the post and fluffed other chances as both sides went into the break level.

Real Madrid broke the deadlock on 56 minutes, turning a devastating counter attack into the first goal through Vinicius who clinically finished off Federico Valverde’s low cross.

Modric doubled the lead following another swift counter as he found the net with his trademark outside of the boot shot.

Eden Hazard, on for the injured Karim Benzema, repaid Ancelotti’s faith in him with the clincher as he finished off a 33-pass move with a tap in on 77 minutes for his first UCL goal in two years.

Earlier in the day, Chelsea suffered a shock 1-0 loss to Dinamo Zagreb in Croatia. Mislav Orsic’s 13th-minute goal was enough to hand the Croatian champions a famous victory.

Manchester City, however, breezed past Sevilla 4-0, thanks to goals from Erling Haaland (brace), Phil Foden and Ruben Dias.

Paris Saint-Germain also began their European season with a 2-1 win over Juventus at the Parc des Princes, with Kylian Mbappe scoring both goals for the French champions.

RESULTS

• Dinamo Zagreb 1-0 Chelsea
• Benfica 2-0 Maccabi Haifa
• Sevilla 0-4 Manchester City
• Celtic 0-3 Real Madrid
• RB Salzburg 1-1 AC Milan
• RB Leipzig 1-4 Shakhtar Donetsk
• PSG 2-1 Juventus
• Borussia Dortmund 3-0 FC Copenhagen