Kylian Mbappé scored a hat trick and Harry Kane netted twice as European heavyweights Real Madrid and Bayern Munich enjoyed big wins over tournament newcomers in the Champions League on Tuesday.
Madrid shrugged off any travel weariness in a 5-0 win at Kairat Almaty in Kazakhstan, and Bayern cruised to a 5-1 win at Pafos in Cyprus.
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Inter Milan's Denzel Dumfries celebrates after scoring his side's second goal during the Champions League opening phase soccer match between Inter Milan and Slavia Prague, at the San Siro stadium in Milan, Italy, Tuesday, Sept. 30, 2025. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)
Bayern's Harry Kane, right, with teammates applaud their fans after the Champions League opening phase soccer match between Pafos FC and FC Bayern Munich at Alphamega stadium in Limassol, Cyprus, Tuesday, Sept. 30, 2025. (AP Photo/Petros Karadjias)
Real Madrid's Kylian Mbappe controls the ball during the Champions League opening phase soccer match between Kairat Almaty and Real Madrid at Ortalyk stadium in Almaty, Kazakhstan, Tuesday, Sept. 30, 2025. (AP Photo/Alikhan Sariyev)
Real Madrid's Kylian Mbappe falls as he battles for the ball during the Spanish La Liga soccer match between Atletico Madrid and Real Madrid at Metropolitano stadium, in Madrid, Spain, Saturday, Sept. 27, 2025. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)
Tottenham needed a late own goal to escape Norwegian champion Bodø/Glimt with a 2-2 draw.
Liverpool lost 1-0 at Galatasaray after having an 88th-minute penalty decision reversed following a VAR review. The home players were incensed when Wilfried Singo was penalized for an apparent foul on Ibrahima Konaté, but replays showed the Ivory Coast defender touched the ball before Konaté's foot. Victor Osimhen's early penalty was enough for Galatasaray's victory.
Atlético Madrid romped to a 5-1 win over Eintracht Frankfurt with coach Diego Simeone watching from the stands following his suspension for an altercation with a Liverpool fan in the team's previous Champions League game.
José Mourinho blew a kiss to Chelsea supporters on his return to Stamford Bridge with his Benfica team. Only a Benfica player scored but it was an own goal from Richard Ríos that decided the result, 1-0 to Chelsea, which had João Pedro sent off late.
Marseille beat visiting Ajax 4-0, and Lautaro Martínez scored twice to lead Inter Milan to a 3-0 win at home over Slavia Prague.
Atalanta came from behind to beat Club Brugge 2-1.
Norway’s champion from north of the Arctic Circle was agonizingly close to claiming a victory over Tottenham in its first home game in the main stage of the competition.
Kasper Høgh skied a penalty over the bar in the 35th, but Jens Petter Hauge curled a fine shot inside the far post to send the home fans wild in the 53rd.
Hauge scored another brilliant goal in the 66th — two minutes before Micky van de Ven scored with Tottenham’s first effort on target.
It spurred a late push from the visitors that was ultimately rewarded when Archie Gray’s shot was saved before it rebounded off the retreating Jostein Gundersen and in.
The 15-time European champions traveled nearly 4,000 miles (6,500 kilometers) to play in the eastern Kazakh city of Almaty for Kairat’s first home match in the competition.
Mbappé dispatched a penalty in the 25th after goalkeeper Sherkhan Kalmurza had brought down Franco Mastantuono, and got his second after the break when goalkeeper Thibault Courtois caught the Kairat defense out with a long clearance. Mbappé lobbed the ball over Kalmurza.
Arda Güler sent Mbappé though for his third goal in the 73rd, when the France star completed his fourth hat trick in the competition. Only Robert Lewandowski (6) and Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi (8) have more.
Substitute Eduardo Camavinga scored his first-ever goal in the competition 10 minutes later, and fellow substitute Brahim Díaz completed the scoring in stoppage time.
Atlético put five goals past city rival Madrid over the weekend and followed up with another five against an overwhelmed Frankfurt team.
“It was really impressive what Atlético did,” Frankfurt coach Dino Toppmöller acknowledged.
Giacomo Raspadori opened the scoring early, Robin Le Normand got the second, and Julián Alvarez skipped past Germany defender Robin Koch to set up Antoine Griezmann before the break.
Griezmann celebrated what was his 200th goal for the club by a holding up a No. 200 jersey with the name “Grizi” to adulation from the fans.
Jonathan Burkardt pulled one back in the 58th, but Giuliano Simeone — the coach's son — headed Atlético's fourth from an Alvarez corner in the 70th. Alvarez scored the fifth with a cheekily taken penalty.
AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer
Inter Milan's Denzel Dumfries celebrates after scoring his side's second goal during the Champions League opening phase soccer match between Inter Milan and Slavia Prague, at the San Siro stadium in Milan, Italy, Tuesday, Sept. 30, 2025. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)
Bayern's Harry Kane, right, with teammates applaud their fans after the Champions League opening phase soccer match between Pafos FC and FC Bayern Munich at Alphamega stadium in Limassol, Cyprus, Tuesday, Sept. 30, 2025. (AP Photo/Petros Karadjias)
Real Madrid's Kylian Mbappe controls the ball during the Champions League opening phase soccer match between Kairat Almaty and Real Madrid at Ortalyk stadium in Almaty, Kazakhstan, Tuesday, Sept. 30, 2025. (AP Photo/Alikhan Sariyev)
Real Madrid's Kylian Mbappe falls as he battles for the ball during the Spanish La Liga soccer match between Atletico Madrid and Real Madrid at Metropolitano stadium, in Madrid, Spain, Saturday, Sept. 27, 2025. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) — Lionel Messi 's legacy was long secured when he came to Inter Miami and joined Major League Soccer. He'd won a World Cup, won dozens of trophies, was generally considered the greatest player in the sport's history.
He didn't need an MLS Cup.
But he wanted one — and got it.
Messi and Inter Miami have completed their ascent, beating the Vancouver Whitecaps 3-1 on Saturday in the MLS Cup final for the franchise's first championship. It came 2 1/2 years after the legend arrived in South Florida, a move that stunned plenty of onlookers at the time.
“They said soccer would never make it in America,” MLS Commissioner Don Garber said during the trophy ceremony. “Inter Miami fans, has soccer made it?”
It has in South Florida, thanks to Messi. He set up the title-clinching goal with a 72nd-minute assist to Rodrigo De Paul, a play where Messi stole the ball and threaded a pass through a tiny gap in a wall of Vancouver defenders. De Paul got it in stride, pushed it into the far corner of the net — and Messi went airborne to hop into his arms a few seconds later, all smiles.
And as the final minutes ticked away, Inter Miami's pink-clad fans — most wearing Messi's No. 10 on their backs — stood and stomped and cheered. South Florida has seen NFL and NBA and Major League Baseball and NHL titles in the past.
It's a soccer town now, too. Messi made that happen. Tadeo Allende scored in the sixth minute of stoppage time — off another Messi assist, of course — to make it 3-1. And when Messi lifted the trophy surrounded by his teammates, confetti rained down and fireworks boomed.
Inter Miami became the 16th franchise in the league's 30-year history to win an MLS title. And this extends a run of parity for MLS, which has seen five different franchises win championships in the last five years and eight franchises claim a title in the last nine seasons — only Columbus has won twice in that span.
It was also the culmination of a 12-year odyssey for David Beckham, part of Inter Miami’s ownership group.
He retired as a player in 2013 and his MLS contract said he could start a franchise at a discounted rate when his career ended. Beckham chose Miami and it took him years to finally make it happen; it wasn’t until January 2018 when the franchise was formally born, after he partnered with Miami businessmen Jorge Mas and Jose Mas, and even then the team didn’t have a stadium plan.
The team started play in 2020, and Messi arrived halfway through the 2023 season. Inter Miami was in last place in MLS at the time.
And then Messi arrived. The last-place team then now runs the league.
“It’s been an incredible journey,” Beckham said.
The trophy is Messi’s 47th for club and country, extending his global men’s soccer record, and some say it's actually 48 because MLS awards a trophy for winning conference titles as well. He’s now won at least 21 titles in one-match final situations, many of them with the core of this team — Sergio Busquets, Jordi Alba, Luis Suarez and Javier Mascherano, his longtime Barcelona teammates.
Busquets and Alba are retiring and got to go out as champions. Suarez’s future is uncertain. Mascherano is the coach now, one who changed Inter Miami’s lineup and tactics halfway through the season — his first one leading the club — with this moment in mind.
And the 38-year-old Messi, the 2024 MLS MVP who seems like a lock to win the award again this season, still is like none other in the biggest moments with a contract that could have him playing with Miami into his early 40s. When next season starts, the team will be playing in a new stadium near Miami International Airport with a back-to-back title in mind.
“He’s not just here to enjoy living in Miami,” Beckham said. “His wife and the kids love Miami, but he’s come here to win, and that’s really what Leo is all about. He wants to win. He’s got that dedication, the loyalty that he shows to his teammates, to the city, to the club. Leo is a winner. It’s simple as that.”
Inter Miami went up 1-0 on an own goal in the eighth minute, before Vancouver tied it in the 60th on a score by Ali Ahmed. Another Vancouver shot hit both posts about two minutes later but stayed out, and Inter Miami got the lead for good when Messi found De Paul.
And not long after the final whistle, Messi went over to the Inter Miami supporters section and threw both his hands in the air. It was a moment 2 1/2 years in the making.
AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer
Inter Miami forward Tadeo Allende (21) celebrates his goal during the second half of the MLS Cup final soccer match against the Vancouver Whitecaps Saturday, Dec. 6, 2025, in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)
Inter Miami forward Tadeo Allende (21) kicks the ball for a goal during the second half of the MLS Cup final soccer match against the Vancouver Whitecaps Saturday, Dec. 6, 2025, in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)
Inter Miami midfielder Rodrigo de Paul (7) reacts at the end of the second half of the MLS Cup final soccer match against the Vancouver Whitecaps Saturday, Dec. 6, 2025, in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)
Inter Miami forward Lionel Messi (10) and his teammates celebrate after Inter Miami forward Tadeo Allende (21) scores a goal during the second half of the MLS Cup final soccer match against the Vancouver Whitecaps Saturday, Dec. 6, 2025, in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)
Vancouver Whitecaps' Ali Ahmed (right) celebrates his goal against Inter Miami with Andres Cubas during the second half of the MLS Cup final soccer match, in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., on Saturday, Dec. 6, 2025. (Darryl Dyck/The Canadian Press via AP)
Inter Miami forward Lionel Messi (10) kicks a corner kicks during the first half of the MLS Cup final soccer match against the Vancouver Whitecaps Saturday, Dec. 6, 2025, in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)
Inter Miami forwards Lionel Messi (10) and Tadeo Allende (21) celebrate after Vancouver Whitecaps defender Édier Ocampo scored an own goal during the first half of the MLS Cup final soccer match Saturday, Dec. 6, 2025, in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)
Inter Miami midfielder Rodrigo de Paul (7) celebrates a goal with forward Lionel Messi (10) and defender Jordi Alba (18) during the second half of the MLS Cup final soccer match against the Vancouver Whitecaps Saturday, Dec. 6, 2025, in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)
