Champions League

SAINT PETERSBURG, Russia — Club Brugge made a perfect start to their Champions League Group F campaign after a stoppage time goal by Charles De Ketelaere gave them a 2-1 win at Zenit St Petersburg on Tuesday.

After a drab first half, Emmanuel Bonaventure fired the visitors ahead in the 63rd minute when he swept in a rebound from two metres after Yaroslav Rakitskyy twice cleared close-range efforts by De Ketelaere off the line.

Champions League and Europa League prize money will be cut over the next five seasons as Europe's soccer governing body UEFA grapples with the financial impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, The Times has reported.

UEFA has informed its member associations that they lost 514 million pounds ($666.40 million) following the reduction in both television and sponsorship income after delays in the knockout stages last season, the report said.

Manchester United and Liverpool are in talks with Europe's elite clubs to join a new FIFA-backed tournament that would reshape the sport's global soccer landscape, Sky News reported on Tuesday.

Manchester United declined to comment on the report, Liverpool did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Barcelona coach Ronald Koeman believes his side are not among the favorites to win this season’s Champions League with the Catalans having made a stuttering start to the new season.

Speaking ahead of Tuesday's visit of Hungarians Ferencvaros in their Champions League Group G opener, Koeman played down media talk that the Catalans could be European champions.

“When you’re at Barcelona you always want to be there fighting for trophies, be it in LaLiga or Europe. We aren’t the favorites, but we can go far,” he told a news conference.

Edinson Cavani's hopes of making his Manchester United debut against former club Paris St Germain in the Champions League were dashed after the Uruguayan striker was left out of the traveling squad on Monday.

United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer confirmed Cavani as well as captain Harry Maguire, Mason Greenwood, Eric Bailly and Jesse Lingard have missed the trip to the French capital for Tuesday's opening group stage match. Solskjaer confirmed Cavani still needs to work on his fitness levels, while Maguire has sustained a minor knock.

NYON, Switzerland — Seven-time European champion AC Milan, winners of a marathon 24-penalty shootout against Rio Ave on Thursday, were rewarded by being drawn against Celtic and Lille in their Europa League Group on Thursday.

Milan, banned from the competition last season for breaching UEFA's break-even Financial Fair Play rule, scraped through 9-8 on penalties after snatching a last-gasp 2-2 draw with the Portuguese side.

Europa League Group Stage Draw 2020

The 2020/21 group stage is set 

The clubs competing in the 2020-21 UEFA Champions League group stage have been announced and boy oh boy do we have some great games to look forward to. Let’s skip the chit-chat and show you the full look of the groups and the takeaways.

The official result of the #UCLdraw!

Most exciting group stage match? pic.twitter.com/d7ynuEjPq3

SALONIKA, Greece — Danish side Midtjylland qualified for the Champions League group stage for the first time in stunning fashion on Wednesday after scoring three goals in the last seven minutes to beat more fancied Slavia Prague 4-1 on aggregate in their playoff tie.

They were joined by Russians Krasnodar, who ground down PAOK Salonika 2-1 in the return leg in Greece after beating them by the same score last week, while Salzburg eased to a 3-1 win over Maccabi Tel Aviv for a 5-2 overall victory.

In Champions League playoff action, Ukraine's Dynamo Kyiv will take on Belgian side Gent on Tuesday in the second leg of their tie. 

Hello @DynamoKyiv #dyngnt #UCL pic.twitter.com/shCYEGhHai

BUDAPEST — Bayern Munich beat Sevilla 2-1 after extra time on Thursday to lift the UEFA Super Cup and complete a quadruple under coach Hansi Flick, in the first European game played with fans in the stands since the sport returned amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

Substitute Javi Martinez headed in the winner in the 104th minute after Europa League winners Sevilla had taken a 13th-minute lead through Lucas Ocampos's penalty and Bayern levelled through Leon Goretzka in the 34th.