Oleksandr Zinchenko did not help the Gunners due to injury.
In the matches of the first round of the main stage of the Champions League of the 2024/25 season, Portuguese Benfica beat Serbian Crvena Zvezda away (1:2), and London Arsenal drew away with Italian Atalanta (0:0).
Bruno Lage's men took the lead in the 9th minute thanks to Kerem Akturkoglu, and in the 29th minute Orkun Kekcu doubled the Eagles' advantage with a free kick.
Towards the end of the match, the Serbian club reduced the deficit – Felicio Milson scored in the 86th minute, but the hosts could not do more.
Benfica's Ukrainian goalkeeper Anatoliy Trubin played the full match.
In the second round, Benfica will host Atletico Madrid on October 2, and Crvena Zvezda will play Inter Milan away the day before.
Review of the match “Crvena Zvezda” – “Benfica”
In another match of the game day, “Arsenal” and “Atalanta” did not score any goals, and the “Bergamaschi” did not convert a penalty in the 51st minute – David Raya parried a penalty from Mateo Retegui, and then also managed to get it.
Ukrainian defender of the “Arsenal” Oleksandr Zinchenko was not included in the application for this match due to a calf injury.
In the second round, Arsenal will host PSG on October 1. A day later, Atalanta will play an away match against Donetsk Shakhtar.
Review of the match “Arsenal” – “Atalanta”
In the updated format of the Champions League, each team will play eight matches with different opponents in the main round (four at home and four away). All tournament participants received 2 opponents from 4 different baskets.
The eight best teams from the main stage of the Champions League will reach the 1/8 finals. The clubs that take 9th to 24th places in the overall standings will play paired play-off matches for a place in the 1/8 finals. The rest will finish their performance in European competitions.