Paris Saint-Germain were poor on Lionel Messi’s first start, while Barcelona’s troubles were there for all to see in their loss to Bayern Munich, Liverpool were exposed by AC Milan and Jack Grealish had a great night for Manchester City.
AFP Sport looks at the talking points from the first round of action in this season’s Champions League:
PSG’s ‘ghost-like’ galacticos
The arrival of Lionel Messi and their decision to reject Real Madrid’s advances for Kylian Mbappe have made Paris Saint-Germain the favourites to win the Champions League.
On Wednesday coach Mauricio Pochettino lined up Messi, Mbappe and Neymar together for the first time, with the Argentine making his first PSG start against Club Brugge.
It did not turn out as they hoped, as Paris were held to a 1-1 draw despite Ander Herrera giving them the lead.