Champions League

JUDE BELLINGHAM scored on his Real Madrid Champions League bow to continue his fairytale start in Spain.On his first appearance in the famous white shirt in Europe’s top club competition, the Brummie had the final say by notching home the winner against Union Berlin from ONE YARD OUT.

Jude Bellingham scored a last-gasp winnerCredit: Reuters
It means he has scored six goals in as many gamesCredit: Getty
What had otherwise been a frustrating evening at the Bernabeu was all forgotten when the £115million midfielder scored in the fourth minute of stoppage time.
It is sixth goal from his opening six matches since arriving from Borussia Dortmund and further cemented his growing cult status among the fans.
The German outsiders, who were making their debut at this level, had proved to be obstinate opponents throughout the 90 minutes with Danish goalkeeper Frederik Ronnow producing several top-class saves.
Spanish striker Joselu – who has the dubious task this campaign of trying to replace the departed Karim Benzema – had about half a dozen chances to score.
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One of those opportunities were pushed on to a post by Ronnow while his teammate Rodrygo also saw an attempt bounce off the woodwork.
In the end, it was left to Bellingham – the sixth Englishman to play for Madrid in either the European Cup or Champions League – to come to the rescue once again.
And the England fulcrum capitalised on a rare mix-up in the Berlin defence to celebrate one of the easiest goals of his young career.
Toni Kroos played a short corner and the short from Federico Valverde ricocheted off two Berlin players before falling kindly in the path of the former Birmingham City star.
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With one stab of his right foot, he was able to break the Berlin resistance and celebrate in his signature fashion with his arm outstretched.
Fans could not believe Bellingham had come up trumps with the goods again for the Spanish giants.
Reacting to the goal, one fan wrote: “Mans living every young boys dream.”
A second commented: “He is inevitable!”
“His movement prior to that first shot is sensational. Makes it look so easy,” remarked a third.
A fourth said: “What a player man!”
While another added: “Bellingham is using witchcraft, he can’t always be on the right spot like that.”
Bellingham, named as man of the match, said: “I’m a confident lad but I really couldn’t have hoped for things to start as well as this in terms of goals.
“We’ve played five in La Liga, one in the Champions League and won all six so we can’t really complain about that.”
He added: “I’m not going to lie, I hope I keep on scoring goals in minute 94 or 95.
“Although it might do my heart, and the club, good to scorer earlier. Coming here has been much, much more than even I’ve ever dreamed of.
“Ever since I can remember watching TV I’ve been watching Madrid and now I’ve worn this shirt and scored for them.”
Bellingham is the fifth player to score on both his La Liga debut and Champions League debut for Real Madrid following Fernando Morientes (1997-98), Cristiano Ronaldo (2009-10), Isco (2013-14) and Marco Asensio (2016-17).
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He is the fifth player from England to score a Champions League goal for the Spanish giants after Steve McManaman, David Beckham, Michael Owen and Jonathan Woodgate.
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ARSENAL make their long-awaited return to the Champions League tonight as the face off against PSV Eindhoven in group B. It’s been six years since the Gunners played amongst Europe’s elite and it’s been even longer since they played PSV in the competition.
Arsenal last played PSV in the Champions league back in 2007Credit: Times Newspapers Ltd

Mikel Arteta’s side face the Dutch side tonight in their return to the Champions LeagueCredit: Getty
Arsenal last faced PSV in the Champions League back in 2007 with the North London outfit drawing 1-1 in last-16 clash.
And the draw saw an end to their run in the competition that year as they had lost the away leg 1-0 and ultimately crashed out losing 2-1 on aggregate.
Back in the days of Arsene Wenger’s reign at the Emirates Stadium, Arsenal lined up with star players littered throughout their 11 and had a club legend sat on the bench.
But despite the impressive starting line-up it wasn’t enough to secure them a place in the quarter finals.
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Cesc Fabregas sat in the middle of the park for Arsenal that evening alongside Brazilian Denilson meaning Arsenal pinned their hopes on a 20-year-old and a 19-year-old to win the midfield battle.
Cesc Fabregas started for Arsenal last time they played PSV in the Champions LeagueCredit: Getty
Thierry Henry came off the benchCredit: Times Newspapers Ltd
Meanwhile club legend Thierry Henry started the game on the bench before coming on for Julio Baptista in the 66th minute.
But even with Henry playing alongside fellow invincible Freddie Ljungberg and a firing Emmanuel Adebayor, Arsenal failed to find the back of the net themselves with their only goal coming from an own goal by former Chelsea star Alex.
In fact it was the Brazilian defender who bagged PSV’s equaliser up the other end too, making good for turning it into his own net earlier in the game.
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Alex scored the equalising goal for PSV which ultimately knocked Arsenal outCredit: News Group Newspapers Ltd
Emmanuel Adebayor was unable to help his team progresCredit: Times Newspapers Ltd
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Wenger even tried to roll the dice by bringing on an 18-year-old Theo Walcott with just five minutes to play, but the Gunners ultimately fell short.
And perhaps they can point at their makeshift back line that evening as their reason for not progressing.
They lined up with midfielder Gilberto Silva starting at centre-back alongside William Gallas whilst Kolo Toure was forced out to right-back despite normally turning out as a centre half.
Arsene Wenger was in charge of Arsenal on the nightCredit: Rex Features
An 18-year-old Theo Walcott was thrust into actionCredit: Times Newspapers Ltd
It was Gael Clichy who was the final piece of the puzzle for their back four as the Frenchman slotted in to his usual position at left-back.
Now in a new era under the watchful eye of Mikel Arteta, Arsenal will be hoping they can change their fortunes.
A new crop of players are dying to etch their name into Arsenal’s Champions League history with the likes of Bukayo Saka, Martin Odegaard and Declan Rice ready to step up.
Bukayo Saka and Martin Odegaard will be hoping to do better than the Arsenal team of 2007Credit: Getty
Declan Rice will be making his Champions League debutCredit: Getty More

FANS have joked that Harry Kane is “going Steve McClaren” following his latest press conference.The England captain quit Tottenham last month for a new life in Germany with Bayern Munich.
Harry Kane has spoken to the press ahead of Bayern’s clash with Man UnitedCredit: EPA
Steve McClaren famously spoke with a Dutch twang at FC TwenteCredit: Reuters
Kane, 30, has scored four goals in his first four Bundesliga matches since joining the German champions.
Tonight he will face an English side for the first time since leaving Spurs, with Bayern hosting Manchester United in the Champions League.
Ahead of the match, Kane was complimentary of United, calling them a “great club”.
Fans noticed that, as is often customary for players from overseas, the striker referred to them as “Manchester”, rather than “United”.
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Writer Michael Cox noticed the quirk, tweeting: “Calling them just “Manchester” as soon as he starts playing abroad! Good to see he’s adjusting to the culture.”
A fan subsequently joked: “Need to look out for ‘Champions League’ without the definite article, then we know he’s going McClaren.”
Former England boss McClaren famously spoke English with a Dutch accent while managing FC Twente in the Eredivisie, while Joey Barton adopted a French twang when he was at Marseille in 2012.
On the similarities, one fan tweeted: “Noticed Harold Kane is already starting to try and give a German twist with some words in his interviews.
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“He’s gonna be doing a Schteve McClaren and Barton in no time.”
While a second asked: “Is Kane speaking with a bit of a German twang? Echos of Steve McClaren at Twente.”
Another joked: “How long until Harry Kane starts ‘doing a Steve McClaren? I give him by next Tuesday. He’ll be doing a Joey Barton by tonight.”
Chatting to the press ahead of tonight’s game, Kane said: “Obviously over the summer I know there were some talks between a few clubs in the background, but Bayern was a team I was really interested by and really excited by, so there weren’t many other discussions.
“Once they came in, it was between them and Tottenham to talk, and the deal got done.
“My focus is on here, obviously Manchester are a great club, a really big club as well, but I decided to come here and I’m really happy I have.”
His boss Thomas Tuchel, meanwhile, claimed that English pundits create “noise” around the Red Devils.
The former Chelsea manager said: “There is always a lot of noise around Manchester United.
“A lot of pundits in the UK are from Manchester United. You have a legacy from Alex Ferguson which creates expectations around the club.
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“All of us, me in Bayern and my colleague at Man Utd, want to achieve the same things.
“It is pretty common at Man Utd that little things become a bit bigger or the talking is a bit noisier.”
Thomas Tuchel is ready to face Man United this eveningCredit: AFP More