UEFA Champions League: Arsenal, Bayern stay perfect, Liverpool beat Real Madrid

New Delhi: Arsenal and Bayern Munchen made it four wins from four in the league phase of the 2025/26 UEFA Champions League, Liverpool beat Real Madrid and Tottenham were also victorious on Matchday 4. Mikel Merino scored twice and Max Dowman became the youngest player in Champions League history as Arsenal stayed perfect with victory in Prague.

Having gone ahead through Bukayo Saka's precise 34th-minute penalty, the visitors doubled their lead when Merino struck a minute after the restart from Leandro Trossard's cross.

Merino headed in Declan Rice's delivery in the 68th minute before Dowman, 15, came on to break Youssoufa Moukoko's record in a Gunners win that was an eighth successive clean sheet in all competitions, equalling a club record set in 1903, and left Slavia on two points.

Bayern held on to claim a statement win at Parc des Princes, maintaining their 100% record while handing Paris their first defeat.

Luis Díaz scored twice but was dismissed at the end of a first half in which Bayern were good value for a 2-0 lead. The Colombian winger struck in the fourth minute, collecting and converting after Michael Olise's poked effort was saved before adding a second 28 minutes later after dispossessing Marquinhos, but was then sent off for a stoppage-time challenge on Achraf Hakimi.

The visitors set up to defend their lead in the second half and ultimately succeeded in holding off Paris, though they faced heavy pressure after João Neves applied an acrobatic finish to Kang-in Lee's 74th-minute cross.

Liverpool claimed a second win against Real Madrid in as many campaigns thanks to Alexis Mac Allister's emphatic header as the Reds edged Madrid 1-0.

The Argentinian midfielder, who opened the scoring in last season's encounter, nodded powerfully past Thibaut Courtois shortly after the hour having been picked out by Dominik Szoboszlai's sumptuous delivery.

Courtois, the Player of the Match in the 2022 final between these sides, had been in sparkling form to deny the Reds earlier in the contest, thwarting Szoboszlai on four occasions and pulling off remarkable stops to frustrate Virgil van Dijk and Hugo Ekitike.

Meanwhile, Tottenham Hotspur maintained their unbeaten campaign with a dominant display against Copenhagen, despite a red card for Brennan Johnson, in 4-0 win.

Johnson broke the deadlock 19 minutes in, rounding Dominik Kotarski to give Spurs the lead at the break. Wilson Odobert tapped in a second after great work from Randal Kolo Muani but Johnson was dismissed shortly after.

However, the hosts wrapped things up thanks to a stunning solo goal from Micky van de Ven and a rapid counter finished off by João Palhinha.

Atletico Madrid were made to suffer before claiming a 3-1 win at home over Belgian side Union Saint-Gilloise in the Champions League.

Julian Alvarez opened the scoring for Atletico in the 39th minute after excellent work from Giuliano Simeone, who opened up space down the right for Atletico, before feeding the ball to his Argentine teammate.

Antoine Griezmann saw a goal ruled out in first-half injury time as he followed in to slide home after Nahuel Molina had hit the crossbar, but Conor Gallagher doubled Atletico's lead in the 78th minute following a powerful run from Alexander Sorloth.

Elsewhere, Dusan Vlahovic's equaliser earned Juventus a point in their first home match under new coach Luciano Spalletti as they held Sporting CP to 1-1 draw.

Maximiliano Araujo drilled in the 13th-minute opener and Sporting threatened a second when Francisco Trincão shot against the crossbar. Vlahovic's header was then brilliantly tipped away by Rui Silva before the striker poked in Khephren Thuram's cross 11 minutes before half-time.

Rui Silva pawed Jonathan David's header over the crossbar during second-half added time, ensuring the visitors reached seven points, while their opponents have three. IANS

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