The Champions League provided plenty of entertainment on Tuesday night with 28 goals from eight matches, nine of those arriving from Bayern Munich’s demolition of Tottenham.
Real Madrid mounted a second-half fightback to secure a 2-2 draw with Club Brugge while Shakhtar Donetsk left it late to snatch all three points at Serie A side Atalanta.
An exciting set of results made for some lively group stage action, yet it was a night where individual performances stole the show across Europe.
We take a look at three of the best performing players from the first round of matches from the second matchday.
Serge Gnabry | Bayern Munich
The Bayern Munich winger ripped Tottenham to shreds with a dynamite display in north London, much to the pleasure of his former employer’s supporters.
The ex-Arsenal man scored four second-half goals, each with unerring accuracy as the 24-year-old Germany international showed why he is so highly rated.
Gnabry was sold to Werder Bremen by the Gunners in 2016 for £5 million and after a season which saw him score 11 goals in 27 appearances, Bayern activated his release clause of €8m. It’s proving money well spent.
Gnabry was menacing the entire night and caused panic among the Spurs backline every time he cut in from his left-wing berth.
Gonzalo Higuain | Juventus
Photo by Pier Marco Tacca/Getty Images
Gonzalo Higuain is reborn at Juventus under the manager who has extracted the best out of him during his career.
Maurizio Sarri claimed his first Champions League win as Juve boss and one of his favourite players from his Napoli days was at the heart of it, scoring one and assisting another during their 3-0 over Bayer Leverkusen.
Higuain opened the scoring as he rolled back the years with an instinctive, driven finish from just outside the box in the 17th minute.
The Argentine worked tireless throughout, linking midfield and attack, creating plenty of chances.
He then rounded off a scintillating team move to cross expertly for Federico Bernardeschi to net Juve’s second.
If Tuesday was anything to go by, Higuain looks back his best.
Emmanuel Dennis | Club Brugge
Photo by Gonzalo Arroyo Moreno/Getty Images
Emmanuel Dennis stunned the Bernabeu with his peculiar first-half double.
Dennis was somewhat fortunate to put the Belgian side in front as he bounced the ball off both feet from close range after Percy Tau managed to keep himself just onside to square to the Brugge forward.
While the first finish was slightly bizarre, the second one was simply sublime.
Dennis capitalised on a dawdling Luka Modric in midfield and raced through to delightfully lift the ball over Thibaut Courtois.
He then celebrated with Cristiano Ronaldo’s trademark celebration to rub extra salt into the wounds. It was a dream outing for the Nigerian who will now have a permanent memory of his trip to Madrid after promising to get a tattoo pre-match if he scored…he might need two now.
