Ancelotti hails Madrid’s ‘extraordinary’ Vinicius, scrappy Arsenal beat Shakhtar

Aston Villa top Champions League group stage as they keep perfect record against Bologna, Stuttgart edge Juventus

Real Madrid manager Carlo Ancelotti praised “extraordinary” Vinicius Jr on Tuesday after the Brazilian forward scored a second-half hat-trick to help them fight back from two goals down and thrash visitors Borussia Dortmund 5-2 in the Champions League.

Ancelotti told a press conference he was convinced 24-year-old Vinicius would win the Ballon d'Or award for the best player in the world on Monday.

“What I can say is it's rare to see a player who plays a second-half as Vinicius did. Not because of the three goals but because of his character; he's extraordinary,” Ancelotti said.

“Vinicius is going to win [the Ballon d'Or], not for what he did tonight [Tuesday] but for what he did last year. These three goals are already going to count for next year's Ballon d'Or, that's for sure. He is a player who gets whistled at because he can make a difference.”

In a rematch of last season's final, Ancelotti said there was no panic in the changing room after Real went into the halftime break two goals down and his side had the maturity and experience to understand what they needed to do to come back.

“We lived it calmly [over the break]. We changed the system and came back playing more intensely.

“Talking about scoring three goals might have seemed utopian, so we talked about small details like passing well, winning duels. We had to win the dynamic of the game and from there you start to win the game.” 

In a rematch of last-season's final, Dortmund lit up the game with a two-goal blitz around the half-hour mark from Donyell Malen and Jamie Gittens to silence the Bernabeu crowd.

However, the champions were livelier after the break and broke Dortmund's resistance with Antonio Ruediger's header on the hour before Vinicius equalised with a close-range strike.

Lucas Vazquez put Real ahead in the 83rd with an unstoppable strike after a counterattack and Vinicius, with two magnificent pieces of individual brilliance, wrapped up the win to leave his side level with Dortmund on six points from three games.

Arsenal needed an own goal to seal a scrappy 1-0 win over Shakhtar Donetsk on Tuesday to make it two wins out of three in the Champions League and soften the blow of their first domestic league defeat of the season at the weekend.

The hosts missed a penalty in the second half and squandered a number of decent chances but the reality was they never found top gear and had to withstand late pressure from their Ukrainian opponents.

Arsenal made a fast start with Brazilians Gabriel Martinelli and Gabriel Jesus having good opportunities before a fortunate opener in the 29th minute. A low shot from Martinelli rebounded off the post and off the back of Shakhtar keeper Dmytro Riznyk for what turned out to be the only goal of the game.

Victory keeps Arsenal in the top eight of the new 36-team league phase with their next match away at Inter Milan.

Aston Villa beat Bologna 2-0 thanks to second-half goals from John McGinn and Jhon Duran as they extended their perfect start to their first Champions League campaign in 41 years to three victories.

Unai Emery's side had a flurry of chances before McGinn got on the scoresheet in the 55th minute, sending a free kick sailing over a sea of heads into the far corner. After a VAR check for a possible handball, the goal stood.

Duran, whose late-game heroics lifted Villa past Bayern Munich three weeks ago, doubled the lead in the 64th when Morgan Rogers lifted a cross towards the box and a lunging Duran held off defender Jhon Lucumi to flick it into the bottom corner.

Villa's win put them provisionally top of the table in Europe's elite club competition with nine points.

Paris St-Germain's weaknesses on the biggest stage were again exposed when they were held 1-1 at home by PSV Eindhoven.

The Ligue 1 leaders salvaged a point when Achraf Hakimi's second-half strike cancelled out Noa Lang's opener, leaving Luis Enrique's side on four points after three games.

Eredivisie leaders PSV, who made the most of PSG's mediocre midfield, are still winless with two points in the new format of Europe's premier club competition, which features a single table of 36 teams.

VfB Stuttgart claimed an impressive 1-0 win at Juventus thanks to El Bilal Toure's stoppage-time strike as the hosts suffered their first loss this season.

The German side, without a win in the competition so far, had been more aggressive and got their reward in the 92nd minute when substitute Toure beat Juve's backup goalkeeper Mattia Perin, who was by far the Italians' best player.