Drama 1-st Round of the UEFA Champions League: Monaco Defeats Barcelona 2-1, Arsenal Draws with Atalanta

French club Monaco upset a 10-man Barcelona side with a 2-1 win in the Champions League on Thursday, while a stunning double save from David Raya earned Arsenal a nil-nil draw away to Europa League winner Atalanta.

‘Barça started the season with a perfect record after five La Liga matches, but suffered a defeat in the French Riviera after receiving a red card in the 11th minute for Erik Garcia.

Magnes Ackliusch put the French team ahead five minutes after Garcia was dismissed for a last-gasp tackle on Takumi Minamino.

Teenage sensation Lamine Yamal equalised in the 28th minute with an arrow after he shot from the right onto his favoured left foot, but George Ilenihan secured the win for Monaco in the final 20 minutes.

Earlier, Shakhtar Donetsk started with a 0-0 draw in the new UEFA Champions League draw against Bologna.

As reported, this time UEFA has cancelled the traditional approach of eight groups of four, which fans are used to, to allow more clubs to compete. Now, there will be a 36-team league phase where all teams will compete against each other on the ‘same turf’. The clubs will play eight matches in the new league phase against eight different teams, evenly split between home and away games.