Manchester City had a slow start to their Champions League campaign, ending in a 0-0 draw against Inter Milan on Wednesday. Despite their dominance in the Premier League, Pep Guardiola's team struggled to find the back of the net against the Italian champions, reminiscent of their final clash in 2023. The loss of Kevin De Bruyne to injury at halftime further hindered City's efforts, with Phil Foden's shot being saved by Inter's goalkeeper Yann Sommer. Erling Haaland was also unable to mark his 100th goal for the club on a frustrating night for City. Meanwhile, Paris Saint-Germain narrowly secured a victory against Girona with a last-minute goal, highlighting the unpredictability of the Champions League.
"It was a very intense game against a strong opponent. We knew what was coming, they are a top team as well and they are used to winning, so we were not going to have an easy job," City defender Ruben Dias told TNT Sports.
Henrikh Mkhitaryan could have won it for Inter when he blazed over 15 minutes from time, allowing City to extend their unbeaten run in the competition to 24 matches -- one off the record set by Manchester United between 2007 and 2009.
It is just the second time in 42 home Champions League games under Guardiola that City have failed to score.
"Our plan was to show that we're not scared to play here," said Inter midfielder Hakan Calhanoglu.
PSG looked as if they would also have to settle for a point against European debutants Girona, who are backed by the City Football Group and ran Real Madrid close for several months in Spain last season before coming third.
However, a goalkeeping blunder from Paulo Gazzaniga in the 90th minute resulted in Nuno Mendes' cross squirming through his grasp and handed the French champions victory.
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"It was a difficult game, they're a team that plays well with the ball," Mendes told Canal Plus.
"I was surprised (by the goal). The goalkeeper was there and it got through."
Super-sub Gittens propels Dortmund
Last season's runners-up Borussia Dortmund, beaten by Madrid in the final, had English winger Jamie Gittens to thank as the 20-year-old came off the bench and scored twice in a 3-0 win at Club Brugge.
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Serhou Guirassy added a stoppage-time penalty for his first Dortmund goal since arriving in the summer from Stuttgart.
Celtic began in style by thrashing Slovan Bratislava 5-1 in Glasgow, winning their opening game in the Champions League for the first time in 13 attempts.
Liam Scales' powerful header put Celtic ahead and the hosts struck again through Kyogo Furuhashi early in the second half before Arne Engels converted a penalty for 3-0.
Kevin Wimmer pulled one back with a fine strike for the Slovak champions, who came through four rounds of qualifying, but Celtic pulled away with further goals from Daizen Maeda and Adam Idah.
"It's a fantastic night," Celtic captain Callum McGregor told TNT Sports.
"I hope the supporters enjoyed it because the managers and players did. This is the next level for the group in terms of growth and development."
Bologna drew 0-0 at home to Shakhtar Donetsk in the Italian team's first ever Champions League match. Lukasz Skorupski saved an early penalty from Shakhtar's Georgiy Sudakov.
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Sparta Prague swept Red Bull Salzburg aside 3-0 with goals from Kaan Kairinen, Victor Olatunji and Qazim Laci, as the Czech champions won for the first time in the competition proper since 2003.
(This story has not been edited by staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)