PARIS: Victor Osimhen’s early penalty gave Galatasaray victory over Liverpool in the Champions League on Tuesday, while Chelsea edged out Jose Mourinho’s Benfica.

Liverpool lost 1-0 at Galatasaray after having an 88th-minute penalty decision reversed following a VAR review. The home players were incensed when Wilfried Singo was penalised for an apparent foul on Ibrahima Konate but replays showed the Ivory Coast defender touched the ball before Konate’s foot.

Mourinho blew a kiss to Chelsea supporters on his return to Stamford Bridge with his Benfica team. Only a Benfica player scored but it was an own goal from Richard Ríos that decided the result, 1-0 to Chelsea, who had Joao Pedro sent off late.

Elsewhere in the second round of matches in the league phase of Europe’s elite club competition, Kylian Mbappe scored a hat-trick and Harry Kane netted twice as heavyweights Real Madrid and Bayern Munich enjoyed big wins over tournament newcomers.

Real shrugged off any travel weariness in a 5-0 win at Kairat Almaty in Kazakhstan, and Bayern cruised to a 5-1 win at Pafos in Cyprus.

Real and Bayern are joined on a maximum six points by last year’s finalists Inter Milan, who beat Slavia Prague 3-0, with Lautaro Martinez also scoring twice, either side of a Denzel Dumfries goal at San Siro.

Atletico Madrid followed up their 5-2 La Liga win over Real with another five-goal display, a 5-1 rout of Eintracht Frankfurt with Antoine Griezmann netting his 200th goal for the club as coach Diego Simeone watched from the stands following his suspension for an altercation with a Liverpool fan in the team’s previous Champions League game.

Tottenham Hotspur needed a late own goal to escape Norwegian champions Bodo/Glimt with a 2-2 draw.

Igor Paixao scored twice inside 12 minutes to set Olympique de Marseille on course for a 4-0 demolition of Ajax Ams­terdam, Mason Greenwood and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang were also on target.

Mario Pasalic scored an 87th-minute winner as Atalanta came from behind to beat Club Brugge 2-1, after a Lazar Samardzic penalty had cancelled out a Christos Tzolis opener for the Belgians.

MOUNTING PROBLEMS

Liverpool started the season with seven straight wins as they threatened to sweep all before them but consecutive defeats underscore pressing issues that Arne Slot must address.

The Reds travelled to Istanbul on Tuesday eager to bounce back from their defeat at Crystal Palace at the weekend, which ended their perfect record in the Premier League.

But after Osimhen converted a penalty following Dominik Szoboszlai’s foul on Baris Alper Ylmaz, Liverpool were unable to reply despite dominating possession and having 16 shots in Istanbul.

There is no reason for Slot to panic — Liverpool are still two points clear at the top of the Premier League and won their opening game in the Champions League league phase.

But a series of dramatic late winners have masked unconvincing performances since an expensive rebuild of the squad that strolled to the Premier League title last season, Slot’s first as manager of the club since replacing Jurgen Klopp.

Captain Virgil van Dijk ssid “there shouldn’t be panic” and it would be absurd to suggest Liverpool are in crisis after such a short blip.

But Slot certainly has food for thought as he faces his first major challenge on the pitch since he arrived at Anfield.

“The margins were very small last season but then we were a lot of times on the right side of the score,” Slot said. “Today again the margins were really small, but for the second time in a row on the wrong side.”

‘SPECIAL ONE’

Liverpool will now hope to bounce back on Saturday away to Chelsea, who themselves got back to winning ways with success against Benfica as the Portuguese giants’ new coach Mourinho — the self-declared “Special One” — came back to Stamford Bridge.

Rios turned an Alejandro Garnacho cross into his own net for the only goal of the game in the 18th minute, with Benfica unable to recover as Mourinho returned to face the club he coached over two separate spells.

Chelsea had substitute Joao Pedro sent off in stoppage time but Enzo Maresca’s side were delighted to get the win after losing their opening European game of the campaign at Bayern.

“Sometimes you need to learn to win in another way,” Maresca said of Chelsea’s improved defensive performance. “At least we learned how to win a game with a red card.”

Asked after the defeat if he still had the drive of the early days of his career, Mourinho, who has seen big offers dry up in the recent past, insisted he felt more motivated.

“If I am in a job it’s because I like to put myself on the line every day,” he told reporters. “I am desperate to win the next match.”

MBAPPE HAT-TRICK

Debutants Kairat were not intimidated by mighty Real, the 15-time European champions, and threatened in the opening two minutes when Dastan Satpayev headed into the arms of Thibaut Courtois and Jorginho then aimed wide.

Real took the lead from a 25th-minute penalty by Mbappe, who had already scored twice from the spot in the opening 2-1 win over Marseille, after goalkeeper Sherkhan Kalmurza fouled Franco Mastantuono.

Mbappe chipped over Kalmurza for 2-0 in the 52nd minute and completed his hat trick in the 73rd with a low drive. Eduardo Camavinga headed in the fourth in the 83rd, and Brahim Diaz wrapped up the scoring in stoppage time with a finish into the far corner.

“We came here with a clear goal, which is to win the match. It’s a different competition from the league, and we wanted to start on a good note,” coach Xabi Alonso said.

KANE ON TARGET

Bayern earned their ninth win in nine season games at Pafos, with Kane opening the scoring in the 15th minute into the far corner after being denied by the post with an overhead kick minutes earlier.

Chelsea loanee Nicolas Jackson set up Raphael Guerreiro and then scored his first Bayern goal to make it 3-0 in the 31st. Kane netted three minutes later, and Michael Olise finished in the 68th minute to add two assists. Mislav Orsic scored a consolation goal shortly before halftime.

“We came out with real intensity. We got early goals, which is important in a game like this. Overall, we deserved the win and to keep up the momentum. It’s nice to get a couple of goals today and help the team,” Kane said.

ANOTHER FIVE-STAR DISPLAY

Giacomo Raspadori opened the scoring early for Atletico, Robin Le Normand got the second, and Julian Alvarez skipped past Germany defender Robin Koch to set up Antoine Griezmann before the break.

Griezmann celebrated what was his 200th goal for the club by a holding up a No. 200 jersey with the name “Grizi” to adulation from the fans.

Jonathan Burkardt pulled one back in the 58th, but Giuliano Simeone — the coach’s son — headed Atletico’s fourth from an Alvarez corner in the 70th. Alvarez scored the fifth with a cheekily taken penalty.

“It was really impressive what Atletico did,” Frankfurt coach Dino Toppmöller acknowledged.

MEMORABLE HOME DEBUT

Norway’s champions from north of the Arctic Circle were agonisingly close to claiming a victory over Tottenham in their first home game in the main stage of the competition.

Kasper Hogh missed a penalty for the hosts before a brilliant second-half brace from Jens Petter Hauge had them two goals in front.

However, Micky van de Ven pulled one back on 68 minutes for last season’s Europa League winners, and Spurs then got a lucky 89th-minute equaliser when a Nikita Haikin save smashed into the stomach of Jostein Gundersen from close range and trickled over the line.

Published in Dawn, October 2nd, 2025