09/17/25 02:01:00
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09/17 13:59 CDT Champions League newcomers Bodo/Glimt and Pafos get hard-won
points. PSG starts title defense
Champions League newcomers Bodo/Glimt and Pafos get hard-won points. PSG starts
title defense
By GRAHAM DUNBAR
AP Sports Writer
Champions League newcomers Bodo/Glimt of Norway and Pafos from Cyprus got
hard-earned points in debut-making draws Wednesday, playing before Paris
Saint-Germain started its title defense.
Bodo/Glimt had a second-half penalty kick saved and then trailed by two goals
at Slavia Prague, before rallying with goals in the 78th and 90th minutes.
Substitute Sondre Brunstad Fet got the late leveler.
Slavia had led with a goal in each half from Senegalese defender Youssoupha
Mbodji, making his first start for the club. Bodo/Glimt needed a stunning save
from goalkeeper Nikita Haikin in the 11th minute of stoppage time.
Pafos grinded out a 0-0 draw at Olympiakos after playing with 10 men from the
26th minute. Journeyman Brazilian midfielder Bruno Felipe was sent off for a
second yellow-card foul.
The 38-year-old David Luiz, once a World Cup star for Brazil, lasted just 33
minutes before going off injured in his first start for Pafos.
Russian-owned Pafos is the first Cypriot team in the Champions League main
phase since 2017, and Bodo/Glimt ended Norway's 18-year absence.
Both play in home stadiums that can hold fewer than 10,000 fans, though Pafos
will borrow a slightly bigger UEFA-standard stadium at Limassol when it hosts
Bayern Munich in two weeks' time.
Bodo/Glimt next hosts Tottenham on its artificial turf field inside the Arctic
Circle.
PSG's return
Paris Saint-Germain was starting its defense of the title in one of the four
later games which include two rematches of past finals and six-time European
champion Liverpool opening at Anfield against Atletico Madrid. Liverpool gave a
first start to Alexander Isak, its British transfer record signing from
Newcastle.
PSG resumes against more Italian opposition, hosting Atalanta at Parc des
Princes for its first game in the competition since demolishing Inter Milan 5-0
in Munich.
Finals rematches
That was three-time European champion Inter's fourth loss in a final. The
second defeat, in 1972, was against Ajax which now hosts Inter in Amsterdam.
Both Ajax's John Heitinga and Inter's Cristian Chivu will be coaching their
first career games in the Champions League with teams they once played for in
the competition.
Bayern Munich hosts Chelsea in the stadium where the English club won the first
of its two Champions League titles in 2012 against the German team.
The Champions League stretches into a third day for the opening round which is
completed Thursday with six more games, including 2023 winner Manchester City
welcoming back Kevin De Bruyne with Napoli.
A stoppage-time comeback by Juventus to draw 4-4 with Borussia Dortmund was the
standout game of the first six played Tuesday while Kylian Mbapp converted two
penalties and 10-man Real Madrid came back to beat visiting Marseille 2-1.
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