Manchester United humiliated as Arsenal deny Bayern in Champions League

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Como's Nico Paz (L) scores past Manchester United goalkeeper Senne Lammens during their UEFA Champions League first-round match at Stadio Giuseppe Sinigaglia in Como, Italy, on October 21, 2026. —Reuters
Como's Nico Paz (L) scores past Manchester United goalkeeper Senne Lammens during their UEFA Champions League first-round match at Stadio Giuseppe Sinigaglia in Como, Italy, on October 21, 2026. —Reuters

Manchester United were hammered 4-1 by Como in the Champions League on Wednesday as the pressure increased on beleaguered manager Michael Carrick, while a late Declan Rice equaliser earned Arsenal a 2-2 draw away to Bayern Munich.

Elsewhere, Real Madrid thumped RB Leipzig 4-1, and there were also notable victories for Inter Milan, Aston Villa and Real Betis.

The most remarkable scoreline, though, came in driving rain on the banks of Lake Como, where United suffered their joint-heaviest loss in the Champions League in the last 30 years.

Nico Paz scored twice for Cesc Fabregas’s Como, with Tasos Douvikas and Jacobo Ramon getting their other goals. This was a second 4-1 home win in this season’s competition for the tournament debutants.

Joshua Zirkzee pulled one back at the death for United, but they are now seven games without a win in all competitions.

The Red Devils have just one win in the Premier League this season and have now suffered back-to-back losses in Europe. Carrick’s position risks becoming untenable.

“I have not given my own position any thought,” Carrick said. “For us to play in that way, it’s not acceptable. It wasn’t a good performance at all,” he admitted.

Last season’s beaten finalists Arsenal have seven points from a possible nine after Rice struck in the 82nd minute to earn a draw in Munich.

Arsenal’s Declan Rice scores (R) scores past Bayern Munich goalkeeper Manuel Neuer during their UEFA Champions League first-round match at the Allianz Arena in Munich, Germany, on October 21, 2026. —Reuters
Arsenal’s Declan Rice scores (R) scores past Bayern Munich goalkeeper Manuel Neuer during their UEFA Champions League first-round match at the Allianz Arena in Munich, Germany, on October 21, 2026. —Reuters

Bukayo Saka went off injured early on, but his replacement Eberechi Eze fired Arsenal into the lead, only for Alphonso Davies to level before the interval.

Harry Kane set up that goal with a magnificent pass and then gave Bayern the lead from a second-half penalty, his 10th strike this season in all competitions.

But Arsenal hit back as Bayern registered a second straight Champions League stalemate.

“We looked dangerous, we got the goal, and we had a moment there where we could have killed off the game,” Kane told broadcaster DAZN.

“Probably a draw was a fair result overall… There’s a lot of games, and we’ve got players with injuries, players missing tonight, so we take the point and move on.”

Real three from three

Jose Mourinho’s Real are one of five teams with three wins from three in this season’s Champions League, as goals either side of half-time from Bernardo Silva and Arda Guler set them on their way at the Bernabeu.

Kylian Mbappe made it 12 goals in 12 games this season for Real before Tidiam Gomis pulled one back, but Yan Diomande completed Real’s victory with a spectacular volley against his former club.

Real Madrid’s Kylian Mbappe in action during the UEFA Champions League first-round match against RB Leipzig at Santiago Bernabeu in Madrid, Spain, on October 21, 2026. —AFP
Real Madrid’s Kylian Mbappe in action during the UEFA Champions League first-round match against RB Leipzig at Santiago Bernabeu in Madrid, Spain, on October 21, 2026. —AFP

“We know every point is important to get into the top eight; we know we have to win as many games as possible — we’ve won three, and there are five to go,” Mbappe told Movistar.

Villa also have a perfect record after three games, as they won 3-1 at home to Viking Stavanger with Ross Barkley’s opener being followed by Emiliano Buendia’s penalty and Henrik Heggheim’s own goal.

Peter Christiansen got one back for the Norwegian champions, who are still looking for their first win.

Inter had Alessandro Bastoni sent off midway through the second half before Carlos Augusto’s late goal secured a 1-0 win at home to Shakhtar Donetsk, as the Italian champions got their first points.

Inter Milan’s Carlos Augusto (R) celebrates after scoring against Shakhtar Donetsk during their UEFA Champions League first-round match at San Siro in Milan, Italy, on October 21, 2026. —AFP
Inter Milan’s Carlos Augusto (R) celebrates after scoring against Shakhtar Donetsk during their UEFA Champions League first-round match at San Siro in Milan, Italy, on October 21, 2026. —AFP

Betis have maximum points as an Isco penalty handed them a 1-0 win over Feyenoord in Seville.

Club Brugge defeated RC Lens 3-0 in Belgium as Hans Vanaken, Joaquin Seys and Carlos Forbs all found the net.

Victor Osimhen sealed a 4-2 victory for Galatasaray away to his old side Lille in France, after earlier efforts from Yunus Akgun and Aleksey Batrakov and a Nabil Bentaleb own goal.

Teenager Soriba Diaoune got both goals for Lille, who have lost three out of three.

LASK of Austria have their first points after a fine 3-2 victory over Sporting in Lisbon.

Luis Suarez scored twice for Sporting, including an early penalty, but Christoph Lang, Sasa Kalajdzic and Krystof Danek all netted in between for the visitors.

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