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Hello Rank Squad!
It's the return of Champions League Takeaway for a new season - your midnight feast of all the action from the Champions League. As the competition returned, we were treated to a classic at the Bernabeu, with Jose Mourinho playing host to the side with which he won the tournament in this very stadium, and then beat them 2-1 in a classic encounter between Real Madrid and Inter.
Manchester City's impressive form continued with a 2-0 win away at Porto, who looked like tricky opposition on paper and proved it on pitch, whilst Aston Villa got their first goal and win of the season in any competition as they beat Club Brugge 3-2, in a topsy turvy encounter that was a heap of fun to watch.
For the second time in the space of five days, Troy Parrott was Real Betis' hero, scoring the winner as Los Verdiblancos announced their return to this competition with a victory over Lille, in another great game that was somewhat spoiled by the sending off of Ethan Mbappé for the hosts; Borussia Dortmund just about shaded an all-yellow encounter with Villarreal which saw Serhou Guirassy notch a brace and join some pretty illustrious company; and AEK Athens beat LASK 1-0 thanks to an absolutely gorgeous free-kick from Răzvan Marin.
Two more of these to come this week gang as we analyse all the action from the return of the big one, so we'll see you again tomorrow! It's Ranks!
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"Champions League Takeaway: Madrid Best Inter at the Bernabeu, Haaland Puts Away Porto, Troy the Betico Boy & Everything Else!" is an episode of Ranks FC - A Football Podcast. Runtime 41 min. Published September 8, 2026. Hit play above to stream it here, or open the free Spot Sports app for background play and offline downloads.