Man City and Inter Milan draw 0-0 in goal-shy Champions League. PSG scores late to beat Girona

GENEVA (AP) — Where did all the goals go?

The 0-0 draws between Manchester City and Inter Milan in their rematch of the 2023 final, after Bologna and Shakhtar Donetsk also could not find a goal, capped an untypically goal-shy evening for the Champions League on Wednesday.

Just 13 were scored in six games one day after 28 were fired in Tuesday, including nine by Bayern Munich alone.

How unusual was this? Two 0-0 draws after just 12 of 144 games to be played in the new league phase is already halfway to the total of four in 96 games one year ago in the group-stage format that is now abolished. The entire competition averaged three goals per game last season.

Paris Saint-Germain and Girona also were heading for a blank until a horrible 90th-minute error by the Spanish debutant's goalkeeper, Paulo Gazzaniga — spilling a cross by Nuno Mendes through his own legs — gifted a 1-0 win.

Borussia Dortmund needed late goals from substitutes Jamie Gittens, twice, and Serhou Guirassy with a stoppage-time penalty to win 3-0 at Club Brugge.

The new format has welcomed new faces and long-absent friends in European soccer’s marquee competition.

Sparta Prague rose to the challenge of its first game for 19 years at this stage of the Champions League by beating Salzburg 3-0.

Bologna waited 60 years to return and deserved more for its attacking ambition against Champions League veteran Shakhtar. The Ukrainian champion had a penalty saved in the fourth minute by Bologna goalkeeper Lukasz Skorupski.

Slovan Bratislava was overmatched in its first game since 1992-93, the first season of the Champions League rebrand from the old European Cup, and with Georgia defender Guram Kashia making his competition debut at age 37.

They could not keep out Celtic, which won 5-1 in Glasgow. Ireland internationals Liam Scales and Adam Idah, Japan forwards Kyogo Furuhashi and Daizen Maeda, and Arne Engels of Belgium scored for the champion of Scotland.

A rare Thursday slate of Champions League games will see Barcelona go to Monaco, Atalanta host Arsenal and Bayer Leverkusen visit Feyenoord.

Six games on each of three straight nights are launching the new format. Now, 36 teams each play eight different opponents through January and are ranked in a single league table to decide which teams advance to the knockout phase.

There was nothing to separate the champions of England and Italy, 15 months after Man City beat Inter 1-0 in Istanbul to lift the European Cup trophy for the first time.

Ilkay Gundogan wasted two late chances for manager Pep Guardiola's team, failing to convert two headed chances.

It was the first time City had failed to score at home in Europe’s elite tournament since being held 0-0 by Sporting Lisbon in March 2022, and just the second time at home in all competitions since then. The other was a 0-0 draw with Arsenal in the Premier League in March.

But the result saw City extend its six-year unbeaten home run in European games to 32, dating to a 2-1 loss to Lyon.

Dortmund's defense had a Champions League-best six clean sheets last season on its way to the final, where Real Madrid found two late goals to take the title.

Somehow, goalkeeper Gregor Kobel kept out Brugge despite 18 goal attempts including a close-range shot by Hugo Vetlesen that rattled the cross bar in the 12th minute. Vetlesen's effort ended a manic series of four shots in a matter of seconds from a corner including a diving save by Kobel.

The Switzerland ‘keeper’s five saves meant Dortmund did not pay for its own wastefulness in front of goal until taking the lead in the 76th from a Gittens shot that deflected off two defenders before looping past Simon Mignolet into the Brugge net.

Few clubs will play more international games this season than Salzburg, under its new coach Pep Lijnders, the former long-time assistant to Jürgen Klopp at Liverpool.

Salzburg had to advance through two Champions League qualifying rounds in August — because its 10-year title run in Austria was ended by Sturm Graz — and will play at least three more games in June at the Club World Cup in the United States.

Salzburg qualified among 12 European teams going to the relaunched FIFA club event because of its consistent results in the past four Champions League seasons, but was upstaged in Prague.

Sparta came through three qualifying rounds, and six games already, to reach this stage and made a sharp start Wednesday scoring within two minutes to set the tone for an easy win.

AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer

Dortmund's Jamie Gittens celebrates after he scored his second goal during the Champions League opening phase soccer match between Club Brugge and Borussia Dortmund at Jan Breydelstadion in Bruges, Belgium, Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Omar Havana)

PSG players celebrate after a goal during the Champions League opening phase soccer match between Paris Saint-Germain and Girona at the Parc des Princes stadium in Paris, France, Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena)

PSG's head coach Luis Enrique gives instructions during the Champions League opening phase soccer match between Paris Saint-Germain and Girona at the Parc des Princes stadium in Paris, France, Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena)

Brugge's Joaquin Seys, Dortmund's Karim Adeyemi and Brugge's goalkeeper Simon Mignolet, from left, challenge for the ball during the Champions League opening phase soccer match between Club Brugge and Borussia Dortmund at Jan Breydelstadion in Bruges, Belgium, Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Omar Havana)

Bologna's Santiago Castro, third left, and Bologna's Nikola Moro, top, during the Champions League opening phase soccer match between FC Bologna and Shakhtar Donetsk in Bologna, Italy, Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024. (Massimo Paolone/LaPresse via AP)

Bologna's goalkeeper Lukasz Skorupski in action during the Champions League opening phase soccer match between FC Bologna and Shakhtar Donetsk in Bologna, Italy, Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024. (Massimo Paolone/LaPresse via AP)

Shakhtar Donetsk's Georgiy Sudakov, front, misses a penalty kick during the Champions League opening phase soccer match between FC Bologna and Shakhtar Donetsk in Bologna, Italy, Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024. (Massimo Paolone/LaPresse via AP)

Salzburg's ead coach Pepijn Lijnders shuts from the touchline during the Champions League opening phase soccer match between Sparta Prague and Salzburg in Prague, Czech Republic, Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Petr David Josek)

Sparta's Qazim Laci, center right, is about toscore his sides third goal past Salzburg's goalkeeper Janis Blaswich, left, during the Champions League opening phase soccer match between Sparta Prague and Salzburg in Prague, Czech Republic, Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Petr David Josek)

Sparta's Victor Olatunji scores his side's second goal during the Champions League opening phase soccer match between Sparta Prague and Salzburg in Prague, Czech Republic, Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Petr David Josek)

Manchester City's Ruben Dias, center, reacts as referee Glenn Nyberg, right, shows him a yellow card after he fouled Inter Milan's Piotr Zielinski, left, during the Champions League opening phase soccer match between Manchester City and Inter Milan at the Etihad Stadium, in Manchester, England, Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Dave Thompson)

Manchester City's Erling Haaland, right, and Inter Milan's Alessandro Bastoni, left, challenge for the ball during the Champions League opening phase soccer match between Manchester City and Inter Milan in Manchester, England, Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024. (Nick Potts/PA via AP)

Dortmund's Jamie Gittens, center, scores the opening goal during the Champions League opening phase soccer match between Club Brugge and Borussia Dortmund at Jan Breydelstadion in Bruges, Belgium, Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Omar Havana)

Sparta's Victor Olatunji scores his side's second goal during the Champions League opening phase soccer match between Sparta Prague and Salzburg in Prague, Czech Republic, Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Petr David Josek)

Girona's Bryan Gil, left, and PSG's Achraf Hakimi fight for the ball during the Champions League opening phase soccer match between Paris Saint-Germain and Girona at the Parc des Princes stadium in Paris, France, Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena)

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola, left, and Inter Milan manager Simone Inzaghi, right, during the Champions League opening phase soccer match between Manchester City and Inter Milan in Manchester, England, Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024. (Martin Rickett/PA via AP)

Manchester City's Kevin De Bruyne, right, shoots during the Champions League opening phase soccer match between Manchester City and Inter Milan in Manchester, England, Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024. (Nick Potts/PA via AP)

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — U.S. President Donald Trump said Iran wants to negotiate with Washington after his threat to strike the Islamic Republic over its bloody crackdown on protesters, a move coming as activists said Monday the death toll in the nationwide demonstrations rose to at least 544.

Iran had no immediate reaction to the news, which came after the foreign minister of Oman — long an interlocutor between Washington and Tehran — traveled to Iran this weekend. It also remains unclear just what Iran could promise, particularly as Trump has set strict demands over its nuclear program and its ballistic missile arsenal, which Tehran insists is crucial for its national defense.

Meanwhile Monday, Iran called for pro-government demonstrators to head to the streets in support of the theocracy, a show of force after days of protests directly challenging the rule of 86-year-old Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Iranian state television aired chants from the crowd, who shouted “Death to America!” and “Death to Israel!”

Trump and his national security team have been weighing a range of potential responses against Iran including cyberattacks and direct strikes by the U.S. or Israel, according to two people familiar with internal White House discussions who were not authorized to comment publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.

“The military is looking at it, and we’re looking at some very strong options,” Trump told reporters on Air Force One on Sunday night. Asked about Iran’s threats of retaliation, he said: “If they do that, we will hit them at levels that they’ve never been hit before.”

Trump said that his administration was in talks to set up a meeting with Tehran, but cautioned that he may have to act first as reports of the death toll in Iran mount and the government continues to arrest protesters.

“I think they’re tired of being beat up by the United States,” Trump said. “Iran wants to negotiate.”

He added: “The meeting is being set up, but we may have to act because of what’s happening before the meeting. But a meeting is being set up. Iran called, they want to negotiate.”

Iran through country's parliamentary speaker warned Sunday that the U.S. military and Israel would be “legitimate targets” if America uses force to protect demonstrators.

More than 10,600 people also have been detained over the two weeks of protests, said the U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency, which has been accurate in previous unrest in recent years and gave the death toll. It relies on supporters in Iran crosschecking information. It said 496 of the dead were protesters and 48 were with security forces.

With the internet down in Iran and phone lines cut off, gauging the demonstrations from abroad has grown more difficult. The Associated Press has been unable to independently assess the toll. Iran’s government has not offered overall casualty figures.

Those abroad fear the information blackout is emboldening hard-liners within Iran’s security services to launch a bloody crackdown. Protesters flooded the streets in the country’s capital and its second-largest city on Saturday night into Sunday morning. Online videos purported to show more demonstrations Sunday night into Monday, with a Tehran official acknowledging them in state media.

In Tehran, a witness told the AP that the streets of the capital empty at the sunset call to prayers each night. By the Isha, or nighttime prayer, the streets are deserted.

Part of that stems from the fear of getting caught in the crackdown. Police sent the public a text message that warned: “Given the presence of terrorist groups and armed individuals in some gatherings last night and their plans to cause death, and the firm decision to not tolerate any appeasement and to deal decisively with the rioters, families are strongly advised to take care of their youth and teenagers.”

Another text, which claimed to come from the intelligence arm of the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, also directly warned people not to take part in demonstrations.

“Dear parents, in view of the enemy’s plan to increase the level of naked violence and the decision to kill people, ... refrain from being on the streets and gathering in places involved in violence, and inform your children about the consequences of cooperating with terrorist mercenaries, which is an example of treason against the country,” the text warned.

The witness spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity due to the ongoing crackdown.

The demonstrations began Dec. 28 over the collapse of the Iranian rial currency, which trades at over 1.4 million to $1, as the country’s economy is squeezed by international sanctions in part levied over its nuclear program. The protests intensified and grew into calls directly challenging Iran’s theocracy.

Nikhinson reported from aboard Air Force One.

In this frame grab from video obtained by the AP outside Iran, a masked demonstrator holds a picture of Iran's Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi during a protest in Tehran, Iran, Friday, January. 9, 2026. (UGC via AP)

In this frame grab from footage circulating on social media from Iran shows protesters taking to the streets despite an intensifying crackdown as the Islamic Republic remains cut off from the rest of the world in Tehran, Iran, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026.(UGC via AP)

In this frame grab from footage circulating on social media from Iran showed protesters once again taking to the streets of Tehran despite an intensifying crackdown as the Islamic Republic remains cut off from the rest of the world in Tehran, Iran, Saturday Jan. 10, 2026. (UGC via AP)