AS Monaco's Vanderson in action with FC Barcelona's Lamine Yamal during their Champions League match at Stade Louis II, Monaco.

MONACO-- Barcelona made a disappointing start to their Champions League campaign by losing 2-1 to AS Monaco on Thursday after suffering an early blow from defender Eric Garcia's dismissal. Barcelona had a dreadful start at the Stade Louis II stadium when Garcia was shown a straight red card 11 minutes in for a foul on Monaco's Takumi Minamino, who was clear in front of goal after a misplaced pass from goalkeeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen.

Juventus' Kenan Yildiz in action with PSV Eindhoven's Richard Ledezma during their Champions League match at Allianz Stadium, Turin.

TURIN, Italy -- Juventus made a perfect return to the Champions League as they beat Dutch champions PSV Eindhoven 3-1 at home on Tuesday, helped by two quick-fire goals from Kenan Yildiz and Weston McKennie in the first half. Yildiz and McKennie put Juve 2-0 up at the break in coach Thiago Motta's debut leading a side in European competition and Nicolas Gonzalez added a third after the break before Ismael Saibari pulled one back for PSV in stoppage time.

 MANCHESTER, England-- Inter Milan escaped Etihad Stadium with a surprise 0-0 draw against Manchester City in the Champions League on Wednesday, exacting a small measure of revenge for their narrow loss to Pep Guardiola's side in the 2023 final.

Both teams squandered numerous chances in a breathless back-and-forth affair. City were largely stalled by Inter's impressive discipline in defence, while Simone Inzaghi's Inter, who were dangerous on the break on a nervy night for both sides, were wayward with their finishing. "We faced a really difficult team," Guardiola said. "I'm still really, really satisfied for the game we played, especially with how (Inter) defended, they are masters of that, so big, they help each other unbelievably. So you cannot expect to create a lot of chances." Inzaghi was similarly pleased with his squad's night.

"I said 'well done guys', they put in a giant performance," the manager said. "I asked them to play exactly as they did. We all know Manchester City, what they are capable of, we knew we had to pull out all the stops, play a great game and we did it." City's goal machine Erling Haaland, who would have become the fastest player in history to record 100 goals for a European club had he scored, will have to wait to achieve that milestone.

The Norwegian, who has nine goals in four Premier League games this season, narrowly missed a couple of first-half chances including a header that keeper Yann Sommer jumped up to grab on the line, and a hard, low shot that rolled just wide of the post. Henrikh Mkhitaryan had City fans breathing a huge sigh of relief when he missed a late chance, launching a rocket just over the bar from about eight metres out, then holding his head in disbelief. At the other end, Ilkay Gundogan elicited huge groans from City fans after twice failing to convert with close-range headers in the dying seconds.

He launched the first one straight at the keeper, with the second one glancing just over the bar right before the final whistle. City fired 22 shots to Inter's 13, but only had one more shot on target than their visitors with five. "A very intense game against a very strong opponent," City defender Ruben Dias told TNT. "We knew what was coming, they're a top team as well, they're used to winning, and we knew we're not going to have an easy job. In the end, I think the team had a great performance, we were very close to scoring." Under the new Champions League format, teams play eight matches against eight different opponents, with the top eight sides in the 36-team league automatically advancing to the last 16, and the next 16 playing a further knockout round. "We prefer to win, but we have seven games (left to advance), we'll see what happens," Guardiola said.

It was a lacklustre performance for four-time defending English champions City, who are in a familiar spot sitting atop the Premier League table after four games with a 100% record. Inter are third in the Serie A table. One negative on the night was a potential injury to City captain Kevin De Bruyne, who appeared to pick up a knock late in the first half and did not play in the second. "I haven't spoken to the doctors yet," Guardiola said. His team face another intense contest on Sunday when they host Arsenal, who sit two points behind them in the table.

City, who edged Inter 1-0 to hoist the 2023 Champions League trophy in Istanbul as part of their treble, were eliminated by eventual winners Real Madrid in the quarter-finals of Europe's top competition last season, while Inter were ousted by Atletico Madrid in the round of 16.

Swiss, US win reprieves in America's Cup qualifiers SPAIN- - Switzerland and the United States both kept their America's Cup hopes alive on Monday with dramatic semi-final race wins over Britain and Italy respectively in the qualifier series.

The Swiss and U.S. teams had both been on the brink of elimination from the first-to-five Louis Vuitton Cup semi-finals off Barcelona, with the British and Italians, with four wins apiece, each only needing to win to meet in the final. But in light and tricky wind conditions, the less-experienced crew staged a stunning comeback against Britain, just completing the race within the time allowed as they left Ben Ainslie's AC75 monohull wallowing in the doldrums. Britain had established what appeared to be an unassailable lead over the Swiss, but came off their hydrofoils during a tack at a key moment, only to watch their opponents foil past them.

The Swiss too dropped into 'displacement' mode -- when the hull is in the water rather than lifted above it -- but managed to maintain enough momentum to complete a shortened course. Italy against the U.S. began as an incredibly close tactical 'match race' which was effectively handed to the U.S. team when the Italians, who were in the mix despite a series of penalties, tried to outmanoeuvre their opponents and get them penalised.

The gambit failed spectacularly when the Italian boat dropped off its foils, leaving the U.S. to disappear into the distance and claim a crucial victory in the series. Racing was then abandoned for the day, with the next races now scheduled to take place on Wednesday as the crews battle it out for the right to challenge America's Cup defenders New Zealand in October.