N’Golo Kante (left) of Chelsea in action in a Champions League match against Seville.
Mike Hewitt, Reuters
The new LM season starts a month later than usual due to the interruption of last year. In order for the group phase to be completed by December, it will fit six rounds within 50 days.
UEFA has allowed clubs to fill stadiums up to a maximum of 30 percent of capacity, but governments have a decisive say. Due to the unfavorable epidemiological development, many matches will continue to be played without spectators behind closed doors.
Álvaro Morata and his teammates from Juventus celebrate their shot into the net of Dynamo Kyjev.
Valentyn Ogirenko, Reuters
Juventus Turin footballers started the new year of the Champions League with a 2-0 win at Dynamo Kyiv Stadium. Group G’s match was decided by Álvaro Morata with two goals. Guest coach Andrea Pirlo made a successful coaching debut in the millionaire competition.
Juventus lacked star striker Cristiano Ronald, who contracted coronavirus. In the first half, the Italian champions searched without the Portuguese gunner and could not overcome the goalkeeper Georgija Buščan.
However, the Turin favorite ideally entered the second half and in the 46th minute he opened the score of Morat from the finish. Dynamo had pressure at the end, but six minutes before the end, Morat added fuse to Juventus again after Juan Cuadrad’s center. For the first time in his career, the Spanish striker scored two goals in the LM match.
Bruges won 2: 1 in St. Petersburg at the start of Group F. The guests missed forward Michael Krmenčík due to a positive test for covid-19. The Belgian team’s Emmanuel Dennis took the lead after 74 minutes, and Ethan Horvath equalized for Charles De Ketelaere in the third minute.
| Group F: |
| Zenit St. Petersburg – Club Bruges 1: 2 (0:0) |
| Goals: 74th own Horvath – 63rd Dennis, 90th + 3 De Ketelaere. Judges: Bastien – Haquette (both Fr.), Hassan (ISR) – Millot (video, Fr.). |
| Group G: |
| Dynamo Kyiv – Juventus Turin 0: 2 (0:0) |
| Goals: 46th and 84th Morata. Judges: Hategan – Sovre, Gheorghe (all Rum.) – Dankert (video, Germany). |
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