Champions League Tuesday wrap-up: Man City shocker, Arsenal on top, and Real Madrid win back the fans

The Champions League returned for its first set of games in 2026, and there was no shortage of goals and excitement as Matchday 7 kicked off across Europe.

In action on Tuesday were the runaway leaders, the tournament's most successful side and a suddenly flailing English giant.

Here are some of the bigger talking points from Tuesday's Champions League action.

Man City wilt in Artic defeat

As if the loss to Manchester United on the weekend wasn't bad enough, Man City followed that up with a 3-1 loss to Bodo/Glimt.

The game was over before the quarter-hour mark as Kasper Hogh's first-half brace gave the home side a two-goal lead that proved insurmountable, and the Norwegian side went up by three goals eatrly in the second half before Rayan Cherki gave the English giants a glimmer of hope.

That was ripped away just minutes later when Rodri was shown his second yellow card of the match, forcing the Sky Blues to chase the game with one fewer player. In the end, Man City could have had two or three extra players on the pitch and it may not have made a difference as Bodo/Glimt played smart and held on for a famous victory.

Pep Guardiola lamented a number of key absences, but a squad the size (and cost) of Man City's should be able to handle a bit of rotation and still get a result against their unfancied opposition.

Arsenal still perfect

Speaking of squad rotation, the Gunners used a very different lineup than usual in their 3-1 win at Inter Milan and there was no drop-off in quality as the North Londoners extended their perfect run through the league phase of the competition.

Given how listless Arsenal have looked in recent weeks, with back-to-back scoreless draws in the Premier League immediately ahead of Tuesday's match, Mikel Arteta will be happy with how his side responded to the changes, with stalwarts Declan Rice, Martin Odegaard, Gabriel and Viktor Gyokeres starting on the bench. All but Odegaard got into the game in the second half as Arsenal breezed past an at-times combative Inter side to protect their spotless record in this year's tournament.

Could the likes of Gabriel Jesus, Eberechi Eze, Mikel Merino, Cristhian Mosquera and Myles Lewis-Skelly see more of the pitch in upcoming matches for the Gunners after this display?

Vinicius Jr. earn cheers in big victory

The La Liga giants have come under fire from their own fans for recent performances, most notably their loss to second division club Albecete in the Copa del Rey last week, leading to jeers from the Santiago Bernabeu faithful in their most recent match (a 2-0 win over Levante).

The main target of the supporters' ire has been Vinicius Jr., who was showered with boos in that Levante match, but other Real Madrid players shared in the fans' scorn in the wake of Xabi Alonso's recent dismissal as manager.

However, Vini and the Real Madrid players appeared to win the fans back — at least some of them — thanks to their 6-1 destruction of visiting Monaco. The Brazilian assisted on Kylian Mbappé's second of two goals in the game and got a hug from his teammate for the effort, which drew some applause.

Then Vini himself scored in the 63rd minute and was cheered by most of the fans in attendance, after some had booed a poor touch of his in the first half.

It may take a while for Vini and the rest of the team to get all of their fans back on board, but more performances like Tuesday's certainly won't hurt. The result puts Real Madrid into second place, although Bayern Munich would overtake them with a victory on Wednesday.

How to watch the Champions League on DAZN

• Canada: Watch every Champions League game with a DAZN subscription

• U.S.: Watch three exclusive Champions League games every match week, in Spanish language, with a DAZN subscription

• New Zealand:  Watch every Champions League game with a DAZN subscription

Click here for pricing and details in your country