MESSI AND PSG HELD BY BRUGGE; CITY, LIVERPOOL, MADRID WIN

GENEVA: Lionel Messi, Kylian Mbappé and Neymar lined up together in the near-perfect attack for Paris Saint-Germain and still could not score or deliver a win in the Champions League.

Instead, it was low-key midfielder Ander Herrera who got PSG’s goal in a 1-1 draw at underrated Belgian champion Club Brugge.

Though Messi saw a first-half shot strike the crossbar, he was later shown a yellow card for a foul and Mbappé went off because of an injured left ankle.

French forwards flourished elsewhere with Sébastien Haller scoring four for Ajax in a 5-1 rout at Sporting Lisbon and Christopher Nkunku netting all of Leipzig’s goals in a 6-3 loss to Manchester City.

The English clubs in action combined for two wins in matches involving 14 goals as Liverpool beat AC Milan 3-2 in the Italians’ return to the competition after a seven-season gap. There was just one goal in the games involving the Madrid clubs, and Rodrygo’s 89th-minute strike won it for Real Madrid at Inter Milan.

Three-time European champion Messi was added to PSG’s already stellar squad last month to drive the Qatar-owned club’s quest to win soccer’s most coveted club prize.

The Jan Breydel Stadium in Belgium was a modest venue for the Messi-Mbappé-Neymar forward line to be unveiled for the first time. They lasted just 50 minutes together, though Mbappé did create Herrera’s opening goal from a sharp firsttime shot in the 15th minute.

Club Brugge rose to the moment and captain Hans Vanaken leveled in the 27th.