High-scoring matches, undesirable records and unlikely winning streaks - it all seemed to be in place at the UEFA Champions League final on Tuesday. But while some of the world's strongest teams have given it their all this season, many of the tournament's underdogs were left licking their wounds after suffering defeat. CNN Sport brings you highlights from another action-packed evening across Europe. Manchester City matches 'unbeaten' record Manchester City has set a number of records in the English Premier League over the past few seasons, and it looks like that dominance is now extending to the Champions League.
City's 4-0 win over Slovan Bratislava on Tuesday meant they are now unbeaten in their last 25 matches, matching their unbeaten record in the competition, according to Opta. Pep Guardiola's team now has 17 wins and eight draws, equalling the record set by local rivals Manchester United in May 2009. That period includes the season in which City win their first European Championship title in 2023. City have a chance to break the record on October 23 against Sparta Prague. "It's an honour to be the coach of this team. I love her and I adore her," Guardiola said. However, this record comes with a small limitation. Despite technically not losing in 25 games, City were eliminated from the competition. Last season's elimination came after two draws with Real Madrid in the quarter-finals and an eventual penalty shootout defeat. Celtic suffer a horror defeat Meanwhile, Borussia Dortmund gave Celtic a night to forget with a stunning 7-1 win over the opposition. The Scottish side were unbeaten this season before the match, having also won their opening Champions League match 5-1 last month. But Dortmund, a superior team that could have scored more goals, taught the English a bitter lesson. According to Opta, the game was over after 45 minutes, and Celtic became the first English team since the 1997/98 season to concede five goals in the first half of a major European match.
Dortmund took the lead after nine minutes with a penalty from Emre Can, before the visitors equalised with a goal from Daizen Maeda. But Celtic's determination did not last long, and a hat-trick from Karim Adeyemi and a further penalty from Serhou Girassy left them trailing 5-1 at half-time. Girassy scored again in the second half and Felix N'Meka sealed the win. "There are hard lessons at this level," Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers said after the match, "if you're not in the right position, a bad pass will be punished." "It's a big learning curve for the players and they have to carry it into their next game at this level." Unequal playing field The introduction of a new format means this season's competition will be very different to previous years. Teams no longer compete in eight groups of four in the group phase. Instead, 36 teams now take part in one league, with each club playing eight matches against eight different teams. UEFA said the change would expose teams to a wider range of opponents, and that they believe the new format would see top clubs "play each other more frequently and earlier". But recent fixtures have proven very shaky, with Europe's top teams winning very comfortably against less established teams. City and Dortmund both had comfortable wins on Tuesday, but Barcelona also beat Young Boys 5-0 and Internazionale beat Red Star Belgrade 4-0. Perhaps it's too early to tell if the new format has anything to do with the uneven matches, or the disparity in financial resources between clubs in modern football. Brest continues to impress One team that doesn't fit the current trend is Brest. The French team got off to a perfect start to the new Champions League season with a 4-0 win over Red Bull Salzburg on Tuesday. Brest will be playing in Europe for the first time after finishing third in Ligue 1 last year. The newcomers impressed with a 2-1 win in their opening match against Austria's Sturm Graz last month, before following that up with a composed performance away to Salzburg. A brace from Abdallah Sima and goals from Mahdi Kamara and Mathias Pereira Rage earned Brest a comfortable win that moved them up to second in the UCL standings. The French club will be looking to continue their winning streak when they face a tough match against German champions Bayer Leverkusen, who beat AC Milan 1-0 on Tuesday night, later this month.
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