England champions Manchester City were beaten by Ligue 1 club Lyon 2-1, with goals recorded in the first half by Maxwell Cornet and Nabil Fekir.
With coach Pep Guardiola banished to the touchline, his assistant manager Mikel Arteta admitted the English champions were handed a wake-up call in the shock home defeat to start their Champions League campaign on Wednesday.
Pep Guardiola was serving a touchline ban for being sent-off in last season’s quarter-final exit to Liverpool.
And Guardiola could only watch on in horror as Lyon punished a sloppy first 45 minutes from the pre-tournament favourites through Maxwel Cornet and Nabil Fekir.
Bernardo Silva pulled a goal back in an improved second-half performance, but couldn’t prevent City slumping to their first defeat of the season.
“When you are not at the races at the start of a game in the Champions League after, it doesn’t matter how good you are, it is too late,” said Arteta.
In contrast to their stunning domestic form, City have now lost their last four Champions League games.
And this was even more humiliating. Lyon are seventh on their domestic league.
Shakhtar Donetsk hosting Hoffenheim in the second match of the Group F, played 2-2 draw.
In Bern, Switzerland, Paul Pogba was the driving force with a brace as Manchester United recovered from a shaky start to record an ultimately convincing 3-0 win away to Young Boys in their opening Champions League game in Group H.
Skipper Pogba’s superb opening goal cut down the Swiss champions in their prime, and he then doubled the English side’s lead from a penalty just before the break.
The France star also set up the third goal for compatriot Anthony Martial in the second half, as Jose Mourinho’s side safely negotiated this fixture on the synthetic surface at the Stade de Suisse.
Seemingly a club in crisis at the end of August following their 3-0 home defeat against Tottenham Hotspur, this was United’s third straight win since then, all away from home.
In Valencia, Juventus, despite losing striker Cristiano Ronaldo to a red card, prevailed 2-0, with the goals by Miralem Pjanic, coming off penalties awarded either side of the two halves.
In Group G, Real Madrid triumphed over Roma at the Santiago Bernabeu, with goals by Isco, Gareth Bale and Mariano Diaz, giving them emphatic victory.
In the other match of the group, Viktoria Plzen were held 2-2 at home by visiting CSKA Moscow.
______
Follow us on Twitter at @thesignalng
Copyright 2018 SIGNAL. Permission to use portions of this article is granted provided appropriate credits are given to www.signalng.com and other relevant sources
