Champions League — Mourinho and Benfica achieve first UCL victory this season; Union beats Galatasaray with ten men

An early goal from full-back Samuel Dahl and a second goal on the stroke of full-time from Leandro Barreiro gave Benfica, under manager Jose Mourinho, their first win of the season in the Champions League when they defeated Ajax Amsterdam 2-0 on Tuesday.

Both clubs kept the 36-team table afloat after each losing their first four games of the season, but Benfica climbed seven places in the standings while crisis-hit Ajax remained rooted to the bottom.

Dahl whipped in a powerful shot from the edge of the penalty area in the sixth minute after home goalkeeper Vitezslav Jaros parried away striker Richard Rios’ header.

Barreiro set up the second goal with a fine takedown on the halfway line after a defensive clearance before playing a one-two with Fredrik Aursnes and then outsmarting the Ajax defense to hammer home a powerful shot in the 90th minute.

Ajax’s best chances came from captain Davy Klaassen, whose first chance was well saved in the 33rd minute and who then misdirected his shot early in the second half, leaving only the goalkeeper to beat.

Benfica next host Napoli on December 10, while Ajax, who suffered a fourth consecutive defeat in all competitions, are away to Qarabag in Azerbaijan on the same evening.

Toothless Galatasaray falls to Union Saint-Gilloise

Galatasaray’s three-match winning streak in the Champions League came to an end in a 0-1 defeat in Istanbul against Union Saint-Gilloise on Tuesday, with Promise David netting the winner for the Belgian side.

It was the Turkish side’s first home defeat since August 2024 and remains ninth in the standings with nine points, while Union is recovering from three consecutive Champions League defeats to sit in 18th place with six points.

Galatasaray and Union sit at the top of the table in their respective domestic leagues but came into battle on Tuesday in contrasting Champions League form. However, the visitor came away with a deserved victory against a Turkish side that lacked their main goal threats.

All eight Galatasaray goals in the Champions League came from two players, Victor Osimhen with six and Yunus Akgun, and with both injured the hosts struggled to break the visitor’s disciplined defence.

Both sides hit the woodwork in a scoreless opening half. Galatasaray’s Gabriel Sara had a fierce long-range effort returned from the upright, and Union defender Ross Sykes hit the crossbar with a header from a corner.

The only goal came in the 57th minute when Raul Florucz’s clever reverse pass found Adem Zorgane’s point, and his pullback from the byline was side-footed into the net by David from the edge of the six-yard box.

Galatasaray piled on the pressure and Union cleared Abdulkerim Bardakci’s header off the line before the hosts had Arda Unyay belatedly sent off for a second yellow card and the Belgian side held on to get the campaign back on track.

Published on November 26, 2025