Just halfway through the second round of fixtures, and Champions League Matchday 2 has already served up more drama than the first round. Tuesday’s slate served up 32 goals across the nine matches, with 2+ goals in all but one. 

Here the Faculty does a quick roundup of Tuesday’s highlights.

The woes are piling up in Manchester

Any United fans hoping that the troubles on the blue side of Manchester would hide their own poor performances will be clutching at straws after a night in Madrid that started and ended poorly. Conceding within the first minute on a shot that snuck through a defender’s legs, United were fortunate to not be down by more before half, as American Johnny Cardoso had a goal chalked off by the VAR for a marginal handball in the buildup. Alex Grimaldi put a free kick off the crossbar and Julian Alvarez hit the post before the night turned from bad to worse, as Leny Yoro was sent off for denying a clear goalscoring opportunity. Ademola Lookman finished off a counterattack in the 79th minute, as Josh’s 2-0 prediction was born out.

The night went from bad to bizarre, however, with Lisandro Martinez’s post match interview. Martinez called out United hierarchy for their lack of investment in the team, telling Amazon Prime, “We had a fantastic season last season, and now we expect more from the top, from upstairs, to bring in more players to compete because many teams have brought in many players as well.” Perhaps facing off against his compatriot and frequent center half partner, Cuti Romero – no stranger to calling out the owners of an English club – had Martinez feeling verbose. Given his poor effort to prevent Dominic Solanke from equalizing in extra time on the weekend, United supporters will be hoping Martinez focuses on bringing more effort himself.

While Manchester City’s breaches will likely dominate their clash on Wednesday, Michael Carrick’s list of issues grows ever closer to that of Enzo Maresca.

Arsenal cruise at the Emirates

After needing to come behind against a spirited Leeds side on the weekend, Arsenal easily cruised to a second consecutive shutout win to start the European campaign. Second half goals in a span of 7 minutes from Jurrien Timber, Eberechi Eze, and Bukayo Saka put Lille in the rearview mirror and will leave Arsenal brimming with confidence for their MD3 visit to Munich. Lille did not manage a shot on target, let alone earn any corners on the night, and remain winless after letting their lead slip against Betis in MD1.

Bayern held to shock draw with Viking

The six-time champions of Europe are not supposed to struggle with Norwegian opponents not named Erling Haaland, but Bayern walked away from Stavanger with just a point Tuesday. Australian center back Gianni Stensness, who has not represented his country since 2023, opened the scoring with a strong header from a corner just 2 minutes in. Peter Christiansen gave the hosts a second in the 37th minute, beating Nathaniel Brown on a break and neatly slotting home. 

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Bayern had plenty of game time to go, and Harry Kane did what he normally does, coolly slotting home a penalty in the 54’ before heading home just six minutes later to draw the match level. He then set up the goa ahead goal, with a sumptuous ball over the top that Konrad Laimer laid off for Luis Diaz to tap home in the 71’. 

Anyone expecting Bayern to tack on a few more was shocked to see Michael Olise sent off just minutes later. The winger, fresh off a strong international break (4G, 2A) for Zidane’s France, received a pair of yellows on the same play, tugging back a Viking player before throwing the ball into a Viking player’s face. 

10-men Bayern looked to see off Viking and hold on, but substitute Herman Haugen, at Viking since age 13, leapt over Alphonso Davies in the 90’ to level the score and send Viking fans into raptures.

Elsewhere around the grounds

• Sabah FK earned their first ever UCL win in just their second match, defeating Slavia Praha 2-0 at home. The Azeri side will host stronger opposition when Dortmund visit next week.
• Napoli’s struggles in Europe continue for a second consecutive season, even without Antonio Conte. A middling Villareal side easily overcame an early 1-0 deficit, with tidy goals from Georges Mikautadze and Santiage Mourino putting them up and half before Tani Oluwaseyi smashed home a nice team effort late for a 3-1 victory for the home side. 
• It was a bad day for goalkeepers. Jakub Markovic gifted Sabah their second goal, losing the ball in possession near the halfway line. Later in the day, Inter’s Josep Martinez could only look back in agony as he let the ball slip through his legs outside the box for an easy Club Brugge finish.
• Lamine Yamal did Lamine Yamal things on the road in Turkey, leading Barcelona to a 4-1 victory over Galatasaray with a pair of fine assists.
• 22-year-old Nicolo Tresoldi continued his hot start to the 2026-27 campaign, scoring a hat trick at the San Siro to lead Club Brugge to a 4-3 victory. Tresoldi has represented Germany at the U21 level but is also eligible to suit up for Italy, the country of his birth.