Matchday 2 picked up exactly where our preview left off. Milan bounced back from their opening defeat with a 4–0 win in Salzburg, Juventus made it two wins from two, Lyon edged Crystal Palace in a five-goal thriller, while Marseille failed to respond at all.
Before kick-off, we highlighted six headline fixtures. Now we return to those same games with the archived pre-match 888STARZ 1X2 line and compare the market with what actually happened.
Salzburg 0–4 Milan
888STARZ:
3.68 / 3.78 / 2.02
In our preview, the main point was simple: after losing 2–0 at home to Benfica, Milan needed a reaction. Another dropped result would have left them buried near the bottom of the table.
They delivered one in emphatic fashion.
0–4.
Milan went into the game as favourites and never left much room for doubt.
Away win at 2.02 landed.
This was one of the clearest cases where our pre-match read, the market and the result all pointed in the same direction.
Lyon 3–2 Crystal Palace
888STARZ:
2.22 / 3.69 / 3.23
We had this down as one of the most interesting games of the round. Both sides came in on three points, and Lyon were only slight favourites.
That balance showed on the pitch.
The French side went 2–0 up, Palace fought back after the break, but Lyon held on for 3–2.
Home win at 2.22 landed.
Our preview got the shape of this one right: competitive, open and decided by fine margins rather than one side dominating.
Celta 1–2 Juventus
888STARZ:
3.63 / 3.34 / 2.19
The contrast before kick-off was obvious. Juventus arrived after a 5–0 opening win, while Celta had started their campaign with a defeat.
Our read was that Juve had the stronger hand — but proving it away from home would be harder.
That is exactly how it played out.
Celta scored first, and Juventus only found the winner in stoppage time.
Away win at 2.19 landed.
The favourites got the result, but nowhere near as comfortably as their Matchday 1 performance might have suggested.
Benfica 4–1 Celtic
888STARZ:
1.22 / 7.30 / 13.20
The most one-sided market of our six headline games.
The logic was clear before kick-off. Benfica had just won 2–0 away at Milan, while Celtic came into the round off a home defeat to Ferencvaros.
The market barely missed a beat.
4–1. Home win at 1.22.
Benfica followed up their statement win in Milan with another convincing performance and moved onto six points from six.
Celtic, meanwhile, have started with back-to-back defeats.
Marseille 0–1 Olympiacos
This was the one that went against the favourite.
888STARZ:
2.39 / 3.50 / 3.07
Despite losing 4–1 on Matchday 1, Marseille were still priced as the home favourites.
Our preview framed the key question clearly: could Marseille finally produce a response?
They could not.
Olympiacos won 0–1 and made it two victories from two.
Away win at 3.07 — the biggest winning price among our six selected games.
This was where both the favourite and the expected response failed. Marseille are still on zero points after two rounds.
Lech Poznan 0–4 Bayer Leverkusen
888STARZ:
6.40 / 5.07 / 1.45
The clearest favourite after Benfica.
In the preview, we highlighted Bayer’s favourable schedule: a 2–0 opening win against Celje followed by a trip to a Lech side that had already lost 4–0 to Crystal Palace.
Leverkusen took full advantage.
0–4. Away win at 1.45 landed.
Bayer now have six points and a 6–0 goal difference after two games.
Lech are sitting at the opposite end of the spectrum: 0–8.
Elsewhere on Matchday 2
Bournemouth comfortably beat Sturm 3–0, Sunderland came from behind to edge Torreense 2–1, Besiktas won 3–2 at Hoffenheim, while Omonia cruised past Celje 3–0.
The other results were: Sparta — Lillestrom 1–1, AZ — Hapoel Be’er Sheva 2–1, Union — Real Sociedad 1–1, Ferencvaros — Viktoria Plzen 2–1, Dinamo Zagreb — Anderlecht 1–0, Jagiellonia — Ararat-Armenia 3–1, NEC — Levski 1–1 and Rennes — OFI 2–1.
How Did Our 888STARZ Line Perform?
The picture was remarkably clean.
Milan at 2.02, Lyon at 2.22, Juventus at 2.19, Benfica at 1.22 and Bayer at 1.45 all justified their status as pre-match favourites.
That means five of the six favourites won.
The only exception was Marseille. The hosts were priced at 2.39, but lost 0–1, while Olympiacos delivered the upset at 3.07.
And that result fits the narrative from our preview perfectly: Marseille were the side under pressure to respond — and they failed to do so.
After Matchday 2
The top of the table is already crowded with perfect records. Juventus, Bayer, Benfica, Lyon, Besiktas, Omonia, Bournemouth, Ferencvaros, Olympiacos and Sunderland all have six points. But the first real trends are already taking shape.
Juventus backed up their 5–0 opener with a difficult away win. Bayer have yet to concede. Benfica followed their victory in Milan with another dominant display. Milan recovered quickly. Marseille, on the other hand, remain the biggest disappointment among the teams we highlighted before the round: two games, two defeats, zero points.
UEFA Champions League