Uruguayans in the 2026/2027 Champions League: Goals, a Backheel Assist and Player-of-the-Match Honors in Week One

The 2026/2027 Champions League is underway, and once again the same story is playing out: no matter which match you tune into, there's a Uruguayan involved in the key moment. This opening week of the League Phase delivered goals, a backheel assist for the ages, and several player-of-the-match awards handed out to Uruguayan footballers. It's been a start well worth revisiting.

Tuesday already gave us a chapter worth highlighting. Federico Valverde scored Real Madrid's second goal in the win over Inter, an unusual goal given how the play unfolded. The Uruguayan, who is the Merengues' first-choice captain, ended up being named Man of the Match. Oddly enough, he himself wasn't entirely on board with the award: both Valverde and his manager, Jose Mourinho, said publicly that the honor should have gone to goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois. As if that weren't enough, Valverde also produced a bizarre moment in the match, flooring Yann Bisseck with a stray shot.

That same day, though with a different outcome, Santiago Mourino scored his first-ever Champions League goal. The celebration, however, was bittersweet: his team, Villarreal, fell on the road to Borussia Dortmund. The player himself summed it up this way:

It was a night of mixed feelings.Santiago Mourino

Zalazar, Torreira and a Stunning Free Kick

Wednesday belonged to Sporting Lisbon, who thrashed Galatasaray 3-1 with two Uruguayans in the starting lineup: Rodrigo Zalazar and Maxi Araujo. Zalazar was the standout of the night, scoring a stunning free kick and taking home the Man of the Match award. On the other side, Lucas Torreira also started for Galatasaray and had a hand in his team's lone goal.

At Anfield, meanwhile, Ronald Araujo played all 90 minutes in Liverpool's 2-1 win over Atletico Madrid. His night wasn't just about defending, he delivered a gorgeous backheel assist for Dominik Szoboszlai's equalizer. The Reds' fans didn't hesitate, voting him Man of the Match, a rare honor for a center back.

Uruguayans also had their share of debuts. Facundo Bernal made his first Champions League start in Betis's 3-2 win over Lille. Meanwhile, Mathias Olivera started at left back for Napoli, who weren't as fortunate, falling 1-0 at home to Arsenal.

Not every Uruguayan called up for this edition got on the field. Manuel Ugarte is still working his way back from injury at Manchester United and has yet to debut in the competition, while Alan Matturro wasn't even registered by Shakhtar Donetsk for this phase. Still, the week's balance sheet paints a picture that's hard to argue with: few countries in the world can say they had this much representation in Europe's elite competition in a single week.