Luke Shaw suffered an horrific suspected broken leg as Manchester United‘s return to the Champions League ended in a disappointing 2-1 defeat to PSV Eindhoven.
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Luciano Narsingh and Hector Moreno found the net as the Dutch champions recorded a narrow triumph over United on their first Champions League match in 17 months.
But Moreno should have not been on the pitch to head PSV level after Memphis Depay’s opener.
With 15 minutes gone, the Mexican slid in with a late two-footed challenge on Shaw in the box.
The England defender was carried off on a stretcher while receiving oxygen eight minutes later. Disturbing replays showed Shaw’s right foot bent at a 45-degree angle, which meant he had surely broken it.
Thank you everyone for your messages , words can’t describe how gutted I am , my road to recovery starts now, I will come back stronger.
— Luke Shaw (@LukeShaw23) September 15, 2015
Incredibly, referee Nicola Rizzoli did not award a penalty and Moreno was allowed to equalise Depay’s stunning solo opener with a header.
Then, just before the hour, Narsingh took advantage of some slack marking from Shaw’s replacement Marcos Rojo to finish off a counter and give the hosts an historic win that gives them an early advantage in Group B.
Even though Anthony Martial impressed on his full debut, manager Louis van Gaal will be disappointed that United’s return to Europe’s biggest club competition ended in a loss.
Manchester City suffered familiar European wobbles as they surrendered a lead to lose their Champions League Group D opener 2-1 to Juventus.
City looked in control at the Etihad Stadium after taking a controversial 57th-minute lead when Giorgio Chiellini turned the ball into his own net under pressure from Vincent Kompany.
But Manuel Pellegrini’s men paid the price for failing to convert a series of other chances as Juve hit back with a Mario Mandzukic finish and a stunner from Alvaro Morata.
It was yet another example of City failing to deliver on the biggest stage, and was actually a surprise given the form of the two sides coming into the game.
Cristiano Ronaldo hit a second-half hat-trick as Real Madrid opened their Champions League campaign with a 4-0 victory over 10-man Shakhtar Donetsk in Tuesday’s Group A showdown at the Santiago Bernabeu stadium.
Karim Benzema put the hosts ahead in the 30th minute, while Shakhtar had midfielder Taras Stepanenko sent off for a second yellow card five minutes after the re-start.
Hat trick for Ronaldo! With three today, @Cristiano becomes 1st player to reach 80 goals in Champions League play. pic.twitter.com/ivUCYubU83
— ESPN (@espn) September 15, 2015
Real, helped by a dubious penalty, doubled their lead through Ronaldo five minutes later and the Portugal international scored his second when he converted another spot-kick in the 63rd minute after Marcio Azevedo’s clear handball.
Ronaldo capped off a wonderful evening for the home side when he headed his third of the night 10 minutes from time.
Angel Di Maria opened his account for Paris St Germain as they began their Champions League Group A campaign with a 2-0 victory over Malmo.
The former Manchester United winger’s last club goal came at Huish Park in an FA Cup tie against Yeovil on January 4 but he ended that eight-month wait to find the net just four minutes into this game in the French capital.
Edinson Cavani then headed in his fifth goal in his past three games to give the French giants a winning start in a group that also contains 10-times European champions Real Madrid.
Benfica opened their Champions League campaign with a 2-0 victory over group stage new boys Astana in Lisbon.
Astana – a club only founded six years ago – became the first Kazakh side to reach the group stages after beating Cypriot side APOEL in last month’s play-off round and refused to be overawed at the Estadio da Luz.
They provided resilient opposition in the first half and striker Aleksei Schetkin struck a post from six yards out within seconds of the re-start.
But second-half goals from Nicolas Gaitan and Kostas Mitroglou gave Benfica a winning start to their Group C campaign ahead of expected tougher tests against Galatasaray and Atletico Madrid.
Griezmann, Atlético: “It was important to get off to a good start, and we’re very happy with the three points.” #UCL
— Champions League (@ChampionsLeague) September 15, 2015
Elsewhere, a Julian Draxler goal saw new side Wolfsburg past CSKA Moscow 1-0 in Germany while Antoine Griezmann struck twice as 2013 finalists Atletico Madrid beat Galatasaray 2-0 away from home.
Sevilla, meanwhile, ensured a perfect start for Spain’s three clubs in action with a 3-0 win over Borussia Monchengladbach. Penalties from Kevin Gameiro and Ever Banega began the rout before Yevhen Konoplyanka applied the icing to the cake.
