Paris Saint-Germain traveled to Sammy Ofer Stadium in Israel on Wednesday to play an entirely overmatched Maccabi Haifa in the Champions League, giving locals a chance to gaze upon a PSG starting XI that included Lionel Messi, Kylian Mbappé, Neymar and Sergio Ramos.

But as the teams lined up for the traditional prematch playing of the Champions League anthem, it was clear that all the children who'd accompanied the players out onto the pitch were there for one man and one man only: Messi.

Another match, another $10 million added to Rafael Leão's constantly rising market value.

On Wednesday in AC Milan's Champions League group stage encounter with Dinamo Zagreb at the San Siro, Leão was again the Rossoneri's catalyst in a 3-1 victory. The 23-year-old drew the foul that led to Olivier Giroud's opener from the spot, and then he burst past his marker and clipped a cross into the area that was met by Alexis Saelemaekers for Milan's second.

In what looked to be an unassuming clash between Italian giant Juventus and newly promoted Salernitana, VAR got all the headlines for all the wrong reasons. A 2-2 draw saw both sides take a point away from the match, but the Turin-based club will feel hard done after new images came out revealing the officiating crew made an appalling mistake, costing Juve two points.

Last week, an American seldom known by even the most astute USMNT fans made his debut in the UEFA Champions League. Josh Cohen played all 90 minutes between the posts for Israeli side Maccabi Haifa during the club's 2-0 defeat to Benfica.

MUNICH - Barcelona coach Xavi Hernández laughed off the notion that playing at Bayern Munich is like visiting the "house of horrors" ahead of Tuesday's mouthwatering Champions League Group C clash.

They met in last season's group stage, with the Germans twice winning 3-0, although Barça are now a very different side and spearheaded by striker Robert Lewandowski, who moved to the Nou Camp from the Bavarians in the close season.

The new "semi-automated offside technology" that's going to be used at the 2022 World Cup made its Champions League debut this week, and guess what, controversy and existential questions regarding humankind's dwindling agency in its own game — at the hands of the robots! — reigned supreme.

After a long summer, Europe’s premier club competition is back and did not disappoint. From Lisbon to Amsterdam, some fantastic goals were scored in the opening week of the Champions League, so let's take a look at the top five.