Dortmund and Juventus Claim Champions League Playoff Wins

Serhou Guirassy played a pivotal role in Borussia Dortmund's 3-0 triumph over Sporting Lisbon in the first leg of their Champions League playoff.

The result places last season's finalists in a strong position to advance to the knockout stages.

Guirassy, the tournament's leading scorer this season, opened the scoring with a header in the 60th minute, marking his 10th goal of the competition. He then assisted Pascal Gross, who doubled the lead in the 68th minute.

Karim Adeyemi capped off the evening with a goal in the 82nd minute, finishing off a swift five-touch counterattack. This match also marked a successful European debut for Niko Kovac as Dortmund's head coach, following a disappointing league defeat to VfB Stuttgart just days earlier.

Meanwhile, Juventus edged past PSV Eindhoven with a 2-1 victory in their playoff first leg, thanks to a late goal from Samuel Mbangula. The Belgian substitute found the net in the 82nd minute, giving Juventus a narrow lead to take into the return match in the Netherlands.

Weston McKennie had initially put the hosts ahead with a powerful strike in the 34th minute, but PSV equalized shortly after halftime through Ivan Perisic, who celebrated his 36th birthday this month.