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A truly dramatic inaugural round in the Champions League, featuring Juventus and Borussia Dortmund splitting eight post-interval strikes while Qarabag surprised Benfica with a comeback.

Late Heroics Seal Astonishing Result

Dusan Vlahovic and defender Kelly scored in added time to complete a stunning escape for Juventus, helping them snatch a eight-goal tie in a encounter where all eight goals came after the break.

Juventus found themselves down 4-2 when the forward fired in his brace of the evening in the 94th minute of injury time and Kelly completed the recovery two minutes later to take a split of the result.

Fast-Paced Second Period

Post goalless opening 45, Dortmund made the opening goal just after the restart following halftime as the winger blasted a precise effort into the opposite post from outside the 18-yard box. The hosts drew level in the 63rd minute through Yildiz, who controlled the pass on the fringe of the box, steadied himself and bent a superb strike into the top corner to delight the Juventus fans.

The excitement were brief, but, as Felix Nmecha reclaimed BVB’s advantage almost instantly later with a clean first-time finish from range.

The pace exhibited little indication of slowing, and in the second half the Bianconeri were level anew, Vlahovic sprinting on to a expertly placed pass to slide past the goalkeeper in BVB’s sticks.

The excitement continued in the later stage, when Couto’s powerful shot squeezed between the keeper and a upright to place the visitors ahead again. The visitors were awarded a spot-kick four minutes from full-time, after the defender was punished for handball with Bensebaini converting from the penalty spot. Late in stoppage time, number nine netted once more from a pinpoint cross before setting up for Kelly, who nodded in the equaliser to cap a second half to never forget.

Shock Win for The Visitors

The hosts surrendered an early cushion to fall 3-2 at home to the underdogs, with Kashchuk netting the Azerbaijani club’s winner four minutes from the end.

The hosts looked in charge when Enzo Barrenechea placed them ahead in the early stages with a neat nod from a corner kick and Vangelis Pavlidis fired on the turn to double the lead 10 minutes later. Leandro Andrade hammered a instant effort past Trubin, but, and the visitors nearly to equalizing when the midfielder rattled the upright and the shot-stopper made an brilliant stop from the follow-up’s second shot.

Qarabag were tied just after halftime when Durán ran on to a defence-splitting through ball from the playmaker and blasted a instant strike into the bottom corner but the underdogs were not done yet.

An ambitious punt upfield from the Qarabag goalkeeper found Oleksiy Kashchuk on the edge of the area and he played a give-and-go with Abdellah Zoubir before stroking a shot past Trubin to shock the Benfica faithful.

Other Outcomes

• USG celebrated a perfect debut in the UCL opening round by beating PSV 3-1 in a feisty regional match.
• The Gunners claimed a 2-0 victory at Athletic Bilbao.
• The North Londoners squeaked past Villarreal by a single goal.
• The Spanish giants fought back to beat Marseille 2-1.