Julian Alvarez of Manchester City celebrates during their UEFA Champions League clash with Red Star Belgrade at Etihad Stadium in Manchester, England, September 19, 2023. /CFP
Manchester City overcame an early scare to get their Champions League defense off to a solid start on Tuesday but nine-man Celtic endured a rough night in Rotterdam.
Barcelona cruised past Antwerp and Kylian Mbappe helped Paris-Saint Germain to an opening win on a breathless beginning to the group stage of Europe's top club competition.
Newcastle returned to the high table of European football for the first time in two decades with a battling goalless draw against AC Milan at the San Siro and Lazio grabbed an equaliser deep in injury time to hold Atletico Madrid.
In Manchester, Pep Guardiola's City were stunned when Red Star's Osman Bukari opened the scoring in first half stoppage time. But Julian Alvarez continued his sparkling early season form by levelling just two minutes after the break.
The Argentine then got some help from Red Star goalkeeper Omri Glazer as he flapped at Alvarez's free-kick to allow the ball to fly into the far corner. Rodri rounded off a 3-1 win with a composed finish 17 minutes from time.
Barcelona's Joao Felix celebrates reacts after scoring his team's fifth goal during their UEFA Champions League clash with Antwerp at the Estadi Olimpic Lluis Companys in Barcelona, Spain, September 19, 2023. /CFP
In Catalonia, Joao Felix struck twice as Barcelona flexed their muscles with a crushing 5-0 win over Royal Antwerp to show their determination to be considered among Europe's elite once again.
After consecutive humiliating group stage eliminations Barcelona are desperate to go deep in this season's competition, last winning it eight years ago.
Felix shone for the Spanish champions on a stroll on a warm night in the Catalan capital, helped on their way by an own goal, with Robert Lewandowski and Gavi also scoring.
That lifted them top of Group H from Porto, 3-1 winners over Shakhtar Donetsk.
Barca's victory followed a 5-0 thrashing of Real Betis on Saturday, leading coach Xavi Hernandez to say: "I think these last two games are the best level we have shown with me as coach -- it's the path to follow."
PSG's Kylian Mbappe shoots a penalty kick during their UEFA Champions League clash with Borussia Dortmund at the Parc des Princes stadium in Paris, France, September 19, 2023. /CFP
At Parc des Princes, PSG may have lost Neymar and Lionel Messi over the summer but they held on to Mbappe who set them up for a 2-0 victory over Borussia Dortmund.
The French champions went ahead four minutes after the break when Mbappe scored a spot-kick awarded for a Niklas Suele handball.
Achraf Hakimi added a memorable second, and PSG could have won the Group F encounter by a far more handsome margin in the end.
PSG's next date is at Newcastle, whose manager Eddie Howe was proud of his side's dogged return to the competition against seven-time European kings AC Milan.
Howe was the happier of the two managers after taking a point from the clash at the San Siro as his team were mostly on the back foot against last season's losing semi-finalists.