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A tearful Cristiano Ronaldo was controversially sent off in his Champions league debut for Juventus but his teammates claimed a hard-fought 2-0 win at Valencia.
The Portuguese forward, making his Champions League debut for Juve, appeared to grab Valencia defender Jeison Murillo’s hair as they tangled off the ball midway through the first half and referee Felix Brych consulted his assistant behind the goal before showing the five-time Champions League winner a straight red card.
Ten-man Juve rallied and took the lead on the stroke of half-time when Miralem Pjanic scored from the penalty spot, and shortly after the break, the Bosnian midfielder stroked home another spot-kick.
Valencia was then awarded a penalty in stoppage time but Juve goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny denied Daniel Parejo to preserve the Italians’ clean sheet.
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His influence on the game was growing when he tried to latch onto a cross and was blocked off by a tumbling Murillo. He gesticulated to Murillo to get up and appeared to pull the defender’s hair before turning away in frustration.
In England, Manchester City’s Champions League campaign got off to a poor start as the Premier League champions suffered a surprise defeat against Lyon at the Etihad Stadium.
Maxwel Cornet drilled the French visitors ahead after Fabian Delph failed to cut out Nabil Fekir’s cross.
City fell further behind before half-time – Lyon captain Fekir finding the net from 25 yards after Fernandinho gave the ball away inside his own half.
Bernardo Silva gave the hosts a lifeline after being picked out by Leroy Sane, but City – lacklustre for long spells – were unable to avoid a first defeat of the season.
With Group F rivals Shakhtar Donetsk and Hoffenheim drawing 2-2 in Ukraine earlier on Wednesday, City are bottom of the group.
They also became the first English side in Champions League history to lose four consecutive matches in the competition having also been beaten in last season’s last-16 second leg by Basel, as well as both legs of the quarter-final against Liverpool.
Elsewhere Paul Pogba scored twice as Manchester United opened their Champions League Group H campaign with a comfortable win over Young Boys in Bern.
Linking with Brazilian Fred, Pogba was inventive and precise for his first goal, checking on to his left foot and finding the top left corner from 18 yards.
The France midfielder then doubled his tally with a penalty after home defender Kevin Mbabu was judged to have handled Luke Shaw’s cross.
Anthony Martial, recalled at the expense of Alexis Sanchez, added the gloss midway through the second period with a strike that deflected past Young Boys goalkeeper David von Ballmoos.
Until Pogba’s intervention, the hosts had enjoyed the better of the play as Jose Mourinho’s side struggled for fluency on the Swiss side’s artificial pitch.
Buoyed by the constant singing and drumming of their passionate supporters, Young Boys’ former Paris St-Germain forward Guillaume Hoarau headed wide early on.
And United goalkeeper David de Gea also impressively tipped efforts from Mohamed Ali Camara and Christian Fassnacht over the bar.
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