Paris Saint-Germain thrash Real Madrid in Champions League opener

Real Madrid's Eden Hazard in action with Paris St Germain's Marco Verratti and Idrissa Gueye
Real Madrid's Eden Hazard in action with Paris St Germain's Marco Verratti and Idrissa Gueye Copyright REUTERS
By Angela Barnes
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It was a victorious night for Paris Saint-Germain who beat Real Madrid 3-0 in their Champions League opener, as the group stage fixtures get underway.

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The UEFA Champions League group stage kicked off this week seeing some of Europe’s biggest football clubs going head to head.

Last night, it was a case of no Neymar, no Kylian Mbappe, no problem for Paris Saint-Germain (PSG), who beat Real Madrid 3-0.

Gareth Bale did hit the back of the net for the Spanish side but his goal was ruled out by VAR due to a handball.

Angel Di Maria, a Champions League winner with Madrid in 2014, scored two first-half goals for PSG - and there was a rare late strike from right-back Thomas Meunier, his sixth in 48 European matches.

PSG coach, Thomas Tuchel, had a lot of praise for Di Maria after the game:

"We can not be surprised. Since more than one year he shows that he is able to perform like that. Today he was exceptional in his quality to finish the attack with his left foot. He is really extraordinary. He has now exceptional statistics with us. Over so many games he is always decisive with a decisive pass or a goal. He is always dangerous," he said.

The win puts Paris Saint-Germain top of Group A.

Speaking after the match at a press conference, Madrid coach Zinedine Zidane, admitted their French opponents were better last night:

"They (PSG) were superior to us in everything, in the game, in the midfield, but what especially hurts me is that they were superior in intensity. In this level of the competition, it's complicated if you don't have the same intensity. We started well in the beginning, but they were superior, especially in the midfield," he said.

Mauricio Pochettino's side, Tottenham Hotspur, reached last season's final against Liverpool but only walked away with one point last night after drawing with Greece’s Olympiacos 2-2.

The London side had a slow start but then scored two goals in four minutes, but they didn't keep up the momentum enough to seal a win.

Pochettino told reporters after the match that his team were "not aggressive enough" and said his side didn't respect the plan they'd had in place.

Full results from last night's fixtures as follows:

Paris Saint-Germain 3 - 0 Real Madrid

Tottenham 2 - 2 Olympiacos

Atletico 2 - 2 Juventus

Dinamo Zagreb 4 - 0 Atalanta

Club Brugge 0 - 0 Galatasaray

Shaktar Donetsk 0 - 3 Manchester City

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Bayern Munich 3 - 0 Crvena Zvezda

Bayer Leverkusen 1 - 2 Lokomotiv

See more reaction to last night's games in the player above.

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