CL: Sloppy City punished while Man U, Madrid register victories

Manchester: Manchester City assistant manager Mikel Arteta admitted the English champions were handed a wake-up call in a shock 2-1 home defeat by Lyon to start their Champions League campaign on Wednesday.

Arteta took charge for the evening with Pep Guardiola serving a touchline ban for being sent-off in last season's quarter-final exit to Liverpool.

And Guardiola could only watch on in horror as Lyon punished a sloppy first 45 minutes from the pre-tournament favourites through Maxwel Cornet and Nabil Fekir.

Bernardo Silva pulled a goal back in an improved second-half performance, but couldn't prevent City slumping to their first defeat of the season. "When you are not at the races at the start of a game in the Champions League after, it doesn't matter how good you are, it is too late," said Arteta.

In contrast to their stunning domestic form, City have now lost their last four Champions League games.

A decade into their stewardship, winning the competition for the first time may remain the holy grail for City's Abu Dhabi owners.

But it seems City's fans still need to be convinced with plenty of empty seats dotted around the Etihad and the Champions League anthem again booed before kick-off.

Meanwhile, rivals Manchester United won 3-0 in Bern in their opening Champions League game on Wednesday. Paul Pogba's brilliant opening goal was the catalyst as Manchester United overcame a difficult start to beat Young Boys

Skipper Pogba struck to cut down the Swiss champions in their prime before he then doubled United's lead from a penalty just before the break.

The France star also set up the third goal for compatriot Anthony Martial in the second half, as Jose Mourinho's side safely negotiated this fixture on the synthetic surface at the Stade de Suisse.

"I can understand the reasons why we didn't start the game very well, why we took 20 to 25 minutes to be in control," said Mourinho.

"They know how difficult it is for opponents to play on this pitch, so they force a little bit and they create some problems, but the goal changed everything and after that we were totally in control and it was nice to start with the victory."

Of Pogba's performance, the manager added: "If he starts arriving in possible scoring positions that can be a plus for the team, so I am happy with that."

Seemingly a club in crisis at the end of August following their 3-0 home defeat against Tottenham Hotspur, this was United's third straight win since then, all away from home.

In other openers, Gareth Bale scored as Real Madrid moved on from the departures of Cristiano Ronaldo and Zinedine Zidane with a 3-0 win over Roma on Wednesday to confidently launch their pursuit of a fourth successive Champions League title.

Isco curled in a terrific free-kick just before half-time at the Santiago Bernabeu, with Bale powering in a second and Mariano Diaz striking late as Real made a convincing start to their Group G campaign.

"I thought the performance was very good tonight; the only disappointment was that we didn't score more," said Bale, who struck for the fourth time in five matches.

"Real Madrid will always be Real Madrid, no matter who leaves. We keep on trying to win, keep on trying to score goals."

Julen Lopetegui fielded 10 of the 11 players who began the 3-1 victory over Liverpool in last season's final, with Bale -- the two-goal hero after coming off the bench in Kiev -- taking the place of the departed Ronaldo.