Champions League: United stage stunning comeback as PSG hit six in record-breaking night
Manchester United came from 2-0 down to beat Roma 3-2, Paris Saint-Germain set a Champions League record with four goals in 17 minutes in a 6-0 win at Villarreal, and Barcelona and Bayern Munich also won on a dramatic first night of matchday four.
Manchester United produced the comeback of the Champions League season so far, Paris Saint-Germain set a competition record, and Barcelona and Bayern Munich both strengthened their grip on the top eight as matchday four of the league phase kicked off in dramatic fashion on Tuesday night.
At Old Trafford, United came from two goals down to beat Roma 3-2 in a match that had looked lost inside the first eighteen minutes. Matias Soule opened the scoring for the visitors in the 11th minute, and Donyell Malen doubled the lead from the penalty spot seven minutes later, silencing a home crowd already restless after protests by supporters before kick-off. Bruno Fernandes pulled one back from the penalty spot in the 58th minute, and then Matheus Cunha struck twice in the final eight minutes, in the 83rd and 86th minutes, to complete a remarkable turnaround. Cunha's night ended in stoppage time with a second yellow card, but the damage to Roma was already done.
Paris Saint-Germain, the holders, were even more emphatic. They scored four times inside the first seventeen minutes on their way to a 6-0 demolition of Villarreal in Spain, the fastest four goals by one team in Champions League history. Joao Neves started the blitz in the 9th minute, followed by Desire Doue, Senny Mayulu and Fabian Ruiz, who added a second after the interval, with substitute David Boly completing the scoring. The win kept PSG perfect on twelve points from four matches, three clear at the top of the league phase.
Barcelona, meanwhile, ended Aston Villa's perfect start with a 3-0 win at Camp Nou. Lamine Yamal pounced on a loose pass to open the scoring after just seven minutes, and Raphinha added a second-half double to take Barcelona level with Villa on nine points. It was a statement response from the Catalan side after their defeat in Paris in the previous round, and a reminder of their firepower when their young attack clicks.
Bayern Munich underlined their own title credentials with a 2-0 win at Atletico Madrid, at the stadium that will host the final in June. After draws with Arsenal and Viking in their previous two European matches, Bayern needed a result to protect their top-eight hopes, and second-half goals from Lennart Karl and Konrad Laimer delivered it, combining defensive discipline with clinical finishing against a stubborn home side.
Inter Milan were equally convincing in Rotterdam, beating Feyenoord 3-0 through goals from Yann Bisseck, Francesco Esposito and Piotr Zielinski, while Galatasaray beat Stuttgart 2-0 in Istanbul thanks to two early strikes from Batrakov. Sporting CP edged Shakhtar Donetsk 1-0, LASK claimed only their second-ever Champions League win with a 4-0 rout of Slovan Bratislava, and Bodo/Glimt and Lille played out a goalless draw in Norway.
The results leave the race for direct qualification to the last sixteen finely poised. PSG sit alone at the top with a perfect record, followed by a group of six teams on nine points including Barcelona and Aston Villa, while United's comeback has revived a campaign that had been drifting. With the new league-phase format rewarding the top eight with a direct route to the knockout rounds and sending the next sixteen into a play-off, every point from nights like this one carries real weight.
For United, the win may prove a turning point. Beaten twice in their previous European outings and under pressure from their own supporters, they found a way back from a position that would have broken many teams, with Cunha's late double giving them a result that could reshape their season. For Roma, who led so comfortably so early, the collapse will sting, and their coach faces difficult questions about how a two-goal lead slipped away in the final minutes.
The night also offered a snapshot of the competition's shifting balance of power. PSG's record-breaking start, Barcelona's youthful front line and Bayern's steel in Madrid all point to a title race that will run deep into the spring, while the struggles of traditional powers such as Atletico, beaten at home, show how unforgiving the expanded format has become.
Matchday four continues on Wednesday, with AEK Athens hosting Real Madrid and Fenerbahce facing Liverpool among the fixtures, and the standings will be reshuffled again before the week is out. For now, though, Tuesday belonged to the comebacks and the record-breakers: United's late heroes, PSG's history-makers, and a Barcelona side back on track.
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