This season's Champions League is turning out to be a classic edition of the renowned tournament and matchday three did not fail to disapoint. Liverpool quashed the demons of two years ago by defeating Diego Simeone's Atleti, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer oversaw a wonderful comeback against an attack minded Atalanta and Ajax sent Dortmund packing from the Amsterdam Arena in total shock plus much, much more.
here are our highlights from another exciting round of fixtures.
Liverpool 3-2 Atletico Madrid
Liverpool fought off a resilient Atletico side to claim all three points in a hotly contested game in Madrid which had it all. Seven minutes into the game, Mohammed Salah made one of the best defences in the world look amateurish as he put Liverpool in front. The Egyptian talisman made a spectacular run from the wing, rounding three players before taking a strike on goal. His effort fromthe edge of the box took a deflection off Geoffrey Kondogbia and wrong foot Jan Oblak in the Atleti goal.
Just five minutes later, Naby Keita scored a fantastic outside of the boot volley from the edge of the area to double the Merseysider's advantage - a truly special goal.
Atletico then began to pile on the pressure, seeking for a way back into the game. Antoine Griezmann supplied the goods as he poked home a wayward Yannick Carrasco shot, giving the Wanda Metropolitano Stadium an electric atmosphere. Having been allowed back into the game, Atletico could smell blood.
Griezmann got his second of the game after a sublime bit of skill from Joao Felix, dragging four players away from their positions before supplying Griezmann with the ball. The French stars touch took Virgil Van Dijk out of the game before he buried a driven shot past Alisson, sending the teams level going into the break after a stunning first half of football.
With Atletico in pole position to carry on their attacking exploits, things turned sour for the red side of Madrid. Griezmann had been a thorn in Liverpool's side all night, but the Frenchmen got sent off for a high foot on Roberto Firmino which stiffled the Spanish side's threat.
With ten men, Atletico began to struggle with Liverpool’s constant pressure and this became evident when Mario Hermoso brought down Liverpool’s Diogo Jota in the box. Mohammed Salah stepped up and converted the penalty to restore Liverpool’s lead.
Atletico had calls for a penalty of their own, with referee Daniel Siebert originally awarding the spot kick, before being overturned with assistance from VAR. Atletico Madrid manager, Diego Simeone, was not happy with the refereeing and left for the tunnel almost instantly when the whistle had been blown, not shaking Jurgen Klopp’s hand.
Liverpool sit top of Group B with nine points, five points ahead of Atletico Madrid and FC Porto. AC Milan sit bottom of their group with zero points, losing all three of their games so far.
Manchester United 3-2 Atalanta
Cristiano Ronaldo scored the winner for Manchester United as they completed a dream comeback to win 3-2 against Italian side Atalanta. The Italian side went into the break 2-0 up as Mario Palasic and Merih Demiral scored for the away side.
Two ex-Chelsea players combined to open the scoring for Atalanta with Davide Zappacosta playing a brilliant ball across the box for Palasic to slot into the net. Atalanta soon doubled their lead with a corner being turned in by the Turkish centre back Demiral. United looked lost in the first half but they had chances to score with Rashford coming closest, clipping the bar as the half was coming to an end.
Demiral was substituted at half time with what appeared to be a hamstring injury, which meant Atalanta would be playing with five first team players out of the side injured. Manchester United looked a different side in the second half, leaving Atalanta not being able to cope with their quality and strength in depth, with Jadon Sancho, Paul Pogba and Edison Cavani all coming off the bench in the second half.
Rashford started the comeback for United as he finished from a well worked assist by Bruno Fernandes, making the game 2-1. Maguire then equalised for the home side as he pounced on a loose ball and buried the ball into the back of the net.
In classic CR7 fashion, Ronaldo then won the game for United as he headed the ball past Juan Musso. and steal all the three points for United. A defeat would have sent United bottom of their group, but Ronaldo’s effort puts them top on six points with Atalanta in second spot on four points.
Ajax 4-0 Dortmund
Ajax showed once again why you can never write them off. After their iconic Champions League run in the 2018/19 season, a lot of their star players left the club for higher aspirations, such as Frenkie De Jong to Barcelona and Matthijs De Ligt to Juventus.
The club failed to replicate their success in the seasons after as they transitioned into a new squad, but their 4-0 hammering of Dortmund suggest they are a frightening prospect once again.
They dominated a team consisting of Erling Haaland, Marco Reus and Mats Hummels, not something that’s done easily. An own goal from Marco Reus opened the flood gates for Ajax as Daley Blind, Antony and Sebastian Haller all scored for the Dutch side. Haller's goal puts him on six goals and two assists in the current Champions League competition.
Ajax have won all of their games in the Champions League so far this season and have a goal difference of ten, scoring eleven and only conceding one in a group consisting of Borussia Dortmund, Sporting Lisbon and Besiktas - frightening form.
They will surely be considered dark horses for the elusive Champions League trophy and hopefully the Dutch side can keep their fantastic form going when they reach the knockout stages.
PSG 3-2 RB Leipzig
Lionel Messi put RB Leipzig to the sword as his brace saved his new club from an embarrsing home to defeat to the German outfit. Kylian Mbappe opened the scoring before Leipzig’s Andre Silva and Nordi Mukiele put their side ahead.
Step up Leo Messi, whou brought his side back from the edge of defeat to win the game. His match winning goal was a nonchalant panenka over Peter Gulasci that left the Parisian crownd salivating. PSG did also miss anoth penalty in added, as Messi gave Mbappe the penalty to take but the French striker missed.
Barcelona 1-0 Dynamo Kyiv
Barcelona got their first Champions League win courtesy of Gerard Pique. The veteran defender scored the only goal as Barcelona largely dominated the game at the Nouc Camp, making over 700 passes. The tie also saw the return of Sergio Aguero, who has been injured since joining the Catalan side. Barcelona share a group with Benfica and Bayern Munich and are currently third with no guarantee of the Spanish side making the knockout stages.
Porto 1-0 AC Milan
A Luis Diaz second half strike separated the two sides in Portugal as AC Milan flew home empty handed for their efforts. Hard to separate, the game was largely disrupted by a succession of fouls by both teams, as Porto racked up 14 fouls, whilst Milan had 18.
Porto winning puts them level on points with Atletico Madrid, only behind the Spanish champions on goal difference.
Manchester City 5-1 Club Brugge
Riyad Mahrez led City to a cruising victory over the Belgian side as the Algerian bagged a brace. Joao Cancelo, Kyle Walker and City academy graduate, Cole Palmer - getting his first professional goal - rounded off the scoring. Hans Vanaken got a consolation goal for Brugge who face RB Leipzig in their next game.
City sit second in their group on six points, behind group leaders and Champions League favourites Paris Saint-Germain. Brugge are exceeding expectations as they look to get a Europa League spot with four points.
Bayern Munich 4-0 Benfica
Bayern's late flurry of goals gave the Bavarian side an empthatic win over Benfica. Leroy Sane scored two goals, opening the scoring with a special free kick to put the German giants ahead before scoring the final goal. Brazilian winger Everton scored an own goal before Robert Lewandowski tapped in their third.
Elsewhere, Juventus beat Zenit St Petersburg with an eight-sixth minute Mattia Di Sciglio strike. Chelsea thrashed Malmo FF 4-0 with Jorginho scoring two penalties. Lille and Sevilla played out a 0-0 draw.
Villareal scored four as they beat Young Boys 4-1, with Alberto and Gerard Moreno both scored as well as Spanish wonderkid Yeremi Pino and Samuel Chukweuze scored their final goal in added time. Young Boys got a consolation through Meschak Elia.
RB Salzburg beat Wolfsburg 3-1 with German talent Karim Adeyemi opening the scoring. Lukas Nmecha scored the equalizer before Noah Okafor scored a brace to win the game for the Austrian side.