Champions League talking points: Martinelli shines in Arsenal win, Mbappe makes the difference for Real Madrid | OneFootball

The league phase of the 2025-26 season’s Champions League kicked off on Tuesday, with Arsenal, Tottenham Hotspur and Real Madrid all in action.

Read on as we discuss some of the major talking points from yesterday’s action.

Martinelli offers a reminder of his quality

Gabriel Martinelli is no longer a guaranteed starter for Arsenal and was omitted in favour of Eberechi Eze for Tuesday’s Champions League clash against Athletic Club.

Eze struggled to make an impact at the San Mames Stadium, so Arteta turned to Martinelli, and he repaid the faith with an excellent display.

The Brazilian scored just 36 seconds after being introduced, and then set up Leandro Trossard for another goal as the Gunners sealed a 2-0 win.

Tottenham seal a narrow win despite an unconvincing display

Tottenham Hotspur made a winning start to the new Champions League campaign, beating Villarreal 1-0 after an early own goal from Luiz Junior.

It was far from a vintage display from Spurs, who produced some poor passages of play and sloppy passes whenever they broke forward.

However, Tottenham were solid in defence, with Micky van de Ven and Rodrigo Bentancur making some crucial tackles.

Mbappe makes the difference for Madrid

Kylian Mbappe scored twice as 10-man Real Madrid fought back to defeat Marseille on Tuesday.

Los Blancos lost Trent Alexander-Arnold to injury early in the game, and Dani Carvajal was sent off in the 72nd minute after head-butting goalkeeper Geronimo Rulli.

Mbappe led his team to a 2-1 victory after twice scoring from the penalty spot. The France international also produced six key passes and had five shots on target.

Juventus and Dortmund play out an eight-goal thriller

Juventus and Borussia Dortmund drew 4-4 at the Allianz Stadium. All eight goals came in the second half, with the breakthrough coming on 51 minutes when Karim Adeyemi put the visitors ahead.

The home side twice battled back to level the game, but Dortmund were on the verge of victory after goals from Yan Couto and Ramy Bensebaini.

Dusan Vlahovic and Lloyd Kelly scored late in the game to salvage a draw for Igor Tudor’s side.

Qarabag create history after stunning comeback at Benfica

Qarabag claimed a stunning comeback win at Benfica to become the first Azerbaijani team to win a Champions League main draw match.

Gurban Gurbanov’s side were left trailing 2-0 after just 16 minutes following strikes from Enzo Barrenechea and Vangelis Pavlidis.

Qarabag battled back and completed a historic comeback when Oleksii Kashchuk came off the bench to grab the winner five minutes from time.

Stats from Sofascore.