Champions League: Rashford stars in Barcelona win as De Bruyne loses on Man City return

Marcus Rashford proved the perfect replacement for Lamine Yamal in Barcelona’s 2-1 win at Newcastle in the Champions League on Thursday and Kevin De Bruyne watched mostly from the sideline as Napoli lost 2-0 at his former club Manchester City.

With Yamal missing through injury, Rashford — a loan signing from Manchester United — got a start on his return to England and scored both of Barcelona’s goals at St. James’ Park. The second took the breath away, a piledriver from 25 meters that flew in off the crossbar.

De Bruyne was also back on English soil, at the club where he spent 10 years before an emotional farewell in May. But his Etihad Stadium return lasted 26 minutes before he was substituted following a red card for teammate Giovanni Di Lorenzo and City wound up a comfortable winner thanks to second-half goals from Erling Haaland and Jeremy Doku.

Haaland’s header put him on 50 goals in 49 Champions League appearances, with the Norway striker reaching that milestone quicker than any other player in the competition's history.

Kairat, a tournament newcomer from Kazakhstan, made what is thought to be longest ever trek for a Champions League fixture — across three time zones and more than 7,000 kilometers (4,350 miles) — and lost 4-1 at Sporting Lisbon. Sporting scored its final three goals in a four-minute span in the second half and also had a penalty saved.

The comeback of the night went to Eintracht Frankfurt, which recovered from conceding in the eighth minute to beat Galatasaray 5-1.

England coach Thomas Tuchel was in the stands of a raucous St. James’ Park to witness Rashford showcase his finishing abilities that Man United could do with right now.

His first goal was a header off Jules Koundé’s cross in the 58th to put Barcelona ahead before he created space for himself with some clever footwork and blasted a right-footed shot from outside the area off the underside of the bar in the 67th.

“100%, I’m full of excitement," Rashford said after his first goals for Barcelona. "I’m very motivated and determined. The quality we have in the team, that excites me alone. It’s so refreshing to play with these guys.”

Anthony Gordon pulled one back for Newcastle in the 89th, putting in a low cross from substitute Jacob Murphy.

Newcastle manager Eddie Howe left record signing Nick Woltemade — the replacement for Alexander Isak — on the bench until the 63rd.

Napoli's defensive reorganization following Di Lorenzo's red card for fouling Haaland as the last man meant De Bruyne was sacrificed. Ever the team player, the Belgium playmaker took the decision well, jogging off to applause from a home crowd that once cheered his every assist and goal.

“It was the only option I could do," Napoli coach Antonio Conte said. “I was really, really sorry for him.”

By the end of the game, City fans were chanting De Bruyne's name, confident the three points were safe and their former hero — perhaps the club's greatest-ever player — couldn't hurt them.

“He’s a legend of the club," City midfielder Phil Foden said. “I can’t thank him enough for what he has done.”

City's undoubted star is now Haaland and the Norway striker has started the season in red-hot form, with his clever header in the 56th from Foden's flick into the box making it 12 goals in seven matches for club and country.

“He seems to break every record going,” Foden said of Haaland. “It’s unheard of what he’s doing.”

Doku's goal was a superb solo run and finish through the goalkeeper's legs in the 65th as City eventually wore down Napoli and took the opportunity to take off key players, like Rodri and Haaland, for a big Premier League game at Arsenal on Sunday.

Club Brugge proved too hot to handle for Monaco.

The visitors were beaten 4-1 a day after their flight to Belgium was aborted because the air conditioning on the plane malfunctioned and players were forced to take their clothes off due to the excessively hot conditions.

Monaco, which ended up flying out Thursday morning instead, was blown away by a three-goal burst in a 10-minute spell late in the first half, when Nicolò Tresoldi, Raphael Onyedika and Hans Vanaken were the scorers.

Kasper Hjulmand returned to Denmark for his first Champions League match in charge of Bayer Leverkusen — and a first in over a decade — and saw his new team escape with a 2-2 draw at FC Copenhagen thanks to a stoppage-time own-goal.

Pantelis Hatzidiakos deflected the ball into his own net from substitute Claudio Echeverri's cross to gift Leverkusen a second equalizer, with the first coming from Álex Grimaldo's stunning free kick in the 82nd..

Hjulmand, the former Denmark coach, replaced Erik ten Hag at Leverkusen just three games into the season. Ten Hag only took over from Xabi Alonso in the summer.

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Frankfurt's Arthur Theate celebrates after winning the Champions League opening phase soccer match between Eintracht Frankfurt and Galatasaray Istanbul in Frankfurt, Germany, Thursday, Sept. 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Martin Meissner)

Kairat players applaud their supporters at the end of the Champions League opening phase soccer match between Sporting CP and Kairat Almaty at the Alvalade stadium in Lisbon, Thursday, Sept. 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Ana Brigida)

Napoli's Kevin De Bruyne applauds as he leaves the pitch during a substitution at the Champions League opening phase soccer match between Manchester City and Napoli at the Etihad Stadium in Manchester, England, Thursday, Sept. 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Dave Thompson)

Manchester City's Erling Haaland celebrates after scoring the opening goal during the Champions League opening phase soccer match between Manchester City and Napoli at the Etihad Stadium in Manchester, England, Thursday, Sept. 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Dave Thompson)

Barcelona's Marcus Rashford, left, celebrates after scoring his side second goal with Jules Kounde during the Champions League, opening phase soccer match between Newcastle and Barcelona in Newcastle, England, Thursday, Sept. 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Jon Super)

Bayer Leverkusen's Alejandro Grimaldo celebrates after scoring their side's first goal of the game during the UEFA Champions League first round soccer match between FC Copenhagen and Bayer 04 Leverkusen at Parken in Copenhagen, Denmark, Thursday, Sept. 18, 2025. (Liselotte Sabroe/Ritzau Scanpix via AP)

Brugge's Mamadou Diakhon, left, celebrates after scoring his sides fourth goal during the Champions League opening phase soccer match between Club Brugge and Monaco at the Jan Breydel Stadium in Bruges, Belgium, Thursday, Sept. 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Omar Havana)

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Madison Keys planned to walk into the player tunnel at Rod Laver Arena in a quiet moment when nobody was watching, and take a photo of her name listed with the other champions at the Australian Open.

After beating top-ranked Aryna Sabalenka in last year's final at Melbourne Park to win her first Grand Slam title, Keys pictured the moment she'd return to the stadium for the first time as defending champion.

“I’ve always kind of remembered walking through that tunnel and seeing all the names,” she said Friday, two days before the first major of the year starts. “It was a little bit of a pinch-me moment where I was like, ‘Wow, I’m going to be up there.’

“I have not seen my name in the tunnel yet. I hope I can go in there when there’s no one else so I can take a picture and send it to my mom."

Before facing the media in Melbourne, she couldn't help but notice other evidence at the venue of her breakthrough triumph.

“There’s a really cool photo of me holding the trophy," Keys said. “Getting to see those, it’s something you dream of in your career.”

The 30-year-old American said it was easy to look back almost 12 months and think everything worked to perfection, but "also you think about, ‘Wow, I almost lost.’

"I was match point down. So many three-set matches. There were some ugly matches. I think it kind of just makes everything a little bit better just because it wasn’t issue-free.”

Keys won a tune-up tournament in Adelaide in 2025 before ending Sabalenka's 20-match winning streak at the Australian Open. At 29, she was the tournament's oldest first-time women's champion. She also set a record as the player with the longest gap between their first two Grand Slam finals — her first was the 2017 U.S. Open.

The Australian Open victory launched her into a Top 5 ranking the following month. After the breakthrough, though, she was ousted in the French Open quarterfinals, the third round at Wimbledon and had a nervy first-round exit at the U.S. Open. At the season-ending WTA Finals, she lost two group-stage matches.

Sabalenka, meanwhile, admitted Friday that the loss here to Keys last year was tough.

“She played incredible and overplayed me. Took me a little time to recover,” she said. “We had matches after that. I worked on my mistake on those matches.

“Going to this AO, I’m not really focusing on that last year result but of course I would like to do just a little bit better than I did last year!”

Sabalenka, who beat Keys in the quarterfinals last week en route to the Brisbane International title, plays her first-round match Sunday night against Tiantsoa Rakotomanga Rajaonah, a wild-card entry from France.

Keys also lost in the quarterfinals in her title defense in Adelaide earlier this week. But she's taking it in her stride as she prepares for another career first: defending a major title.

“Even though I’ve been on tour for a long time, this is also still my first experience as that,” she said. “I’m really just trying to soak in all of the really cool fun parts."

Seeded ninth and on the other side of the draw from Sabalenka, Keys is scheduled to open against Oleksandra Oliynykova of Ukraine.

“Yes, I’m sure going on court I’m going to be very nervous," she said, "but I don’t think I’ve ever walked on court first round of a Grand Slam and not been nervous.”

Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus waves to the crowd after winning the women's final match against Marta Kostyuk of Ukraine 6-4, 6-3, at the Brisbane International tennis tournament in Brisbane, Australia, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Tertius Pickard)

Madison Keyes of the United States reacts during press conference ahead of the Australian Open tennis championship in Melbourne, Australia, Friday, Jan. 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila)