English giants, Liverpool came from one-goal down to win their UEFA Champions League Group B opener in a 5-goal thriller against AC Milan at Anfield. Liverpool beat Milan UCL by 3-2 the hosts were dominant throughout the match and they took a deserved early lead when former Chelsea defender Fikayo Tomori deflected a cross from Liverpool right-back Trent Alexander-Arnold into his own net.
Liverpool missed a string of glorious scoring opportunities to double their advantage including a penalty save by the Milan goalkeeper Mike Maignan of Mohamed Salah’s spot-kick. With halftime approaching, Milan stunned the hosts against the run of play as Ante Rebic and Brahim Diaz struck twice in the space of seconds.
Jurgen Klopp’s men laid siege to Milan’s goal and the intense pressure cracked Milan’s defence as Salah made amends for his penalty miss with an equaliser after 48 minutes after Divock Origi’s superb assist.
The packed Anfield spurred their team on as Liverpool continued to dominate the proceedings. Home captain Jordan Henderson hit the winner in the 69th minute with his first Champions League goal in seven years.
Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp left talismanic defender Virgil van Dijk and winger Sadio Mane on the bench as he aims to use the squad depth available throughout the season.
In other matches, English champions Manchester City thrashed their German opponents RB Leipzig by 6-3 as new signing Jack Grealish rifled home a world-class goal on his Champions League debut. Dutch champions Ajax thumped Primeira Liga winners Sporting CP 5-1 while Club Bruges held the star-studded Paris-Saint Germain at home to a 1-1 draw despite fielding the much-anticipated front trio consisting of Neymar, Lionel Messi, and Kylian Mbappe for the first time.
German club Bourussia Dortmund beat Turkish side Besiktas by 2-1. Spanish powerhouse Real Madrid beat Italian champions Inter Milan by 1-0 whereas La Liga holders Atletico Madrid and FC Porto played out a goalless draw. Moldovan qualifiers Sheriff Tiraspol stunned the Ukrainian giants Shakhtar Donetsk with an impressive 2-0 home win.
The group stage fixtures will resume on September 28.
