Canadians in Champions League: Promise David scores in debut

The 2025-26 UEFA Champions League kicked off on Tuesday with a distinct Canadian flair to it. 

Promise David scored in his debut in the prestigious competition, while fellow Canadian national team members Jonathan David and Tajon Buchanan also featured in starting roles for their clubs. 

Here’s how the Canadians did on a very busy opening matchday of the Champions League. 

Promise David scores in Champions League debut 

It was a history-making day for Promise David and Royale Union Saint-Gilloise as the Belgian club earned a 3-1 road win over PSV Eindhoven of the Netherlands in its first-ever game in the Champions League.  

David, a 24-year-old from Brampton, Ont., marked his Champions League debut by scoring the opener in the ninth minute (and the first goal of this season’s competition) when he converted from the penalty spot. After teammate Christian Burgess was fouled inside the box by U.S. international Ricardo Pepi, the Canadian striker stepped up to the spot and sent goalkeeper Matěj Kovář the wrong way with his powerful attempt from 12 yards out. 

The goal was just reward for David on a night in which he proved to be a major nuisance for the reigning Dutch champions, using his size and strength to bully PSV centre back Armando Obispo while operating as a target man. David nearly added a second goal a few minutes later and came close to collecting an assist just after the half-hour mark with a perfect chipped cross to the back post for Kevin Rodríguez, whose header was saved by Kovář.  

The Canadian international also had a role to play in Anouar Ait El Hadj’s goal that made it 2-0 just before halftime by making a clever decoy run. That helped open all sorts of space for the Belgian to exploit on a fabulous solo run down the middle before he beat Kovář with a low drive from inside the penalty area.  

David was subbed off in the 66th minute after putting in a solid shift that saw him record three shots (one on target), register one key pass, win five aerial duels and make one defensive clearance. He was flagged offside a team-high four times, so his timing was a little off. But there’s no question that the Canadian, who has two goals in five caps since making his international debut this summer, made the most of his first opportunity to shine on European club soccer’s biggest stage.  

Jonathan David ineffective for Juventus 

Canadian forward Jonathan David is off to a splendid start to life in Serie A, scoring the winner in Juventus’ opening match of the campaign vs. Parma and registering an assist in a thrilling victory over bitter rivals Inter Milan last weekend. 

But David, a 25-year-old from Ottawa, failed to make any kind of impact in his Champions League debut for the Bianconeri in a thrilling 4-4 draw vs. visitors Borussia Dortmund of Germany. Notably, all eight goals were scored in the second half, seven of which came after David was subbed off following an ineffective 59 minutes in which he had just 25 touches and failed to record a single shot on target. 

David’s replacement, Dušan Vlahović, scored a brace and set up Lloyd Kelly’s dramatic injury-time equalizer with an inch-perfect cross into the box in a game that was a classic tale of two distinct halves. 

A lifeless opening 45 minutes was punctuated by David’s inability to influence matters in any significant way. Lining up on the right side of a front three, David often shifted positions with Belgian Loïs Openda and Kenan Yıldız of Turkey, but failed to effectively link up with either one. Heavy touches and misplaced passes were the order of the day early on from David as the game slowly passed him by. 

A fantastic piece of individual work by Yıldız led to a dangerous chance at the 30-minute interval, but David, who is the Canadian men’s team’s all-time top scorer with 37 goals in 69 games, ballooned his shot over the crossbar from the edge of the box. 

David had 10 goals in his previous 18 Champions League appearances with French side Lille, which included strikes against Real Madrid, Atlético de Madrid, Liverpool, Juventus and Dortmund last season. But he couldn’t get out of second gear on Tuesday night in Turin and gave way to Vlahović, who saved Juventus with a brilliant showing. One can’t help but wonder if Vlahović will start ahead of David in Juve’s next game.

A quiet night for Tajon Bucahanan in Villarreal’s loss 

Like Jonathan David, Canadian winger Tajon Buchanan (eight goals in 53 caps) put in a rather muted performance in Villarreal’s 1-0 loss to Tottenham in London. 

An early own-goal gifted the Premier League club a lead that it never relinquished against its Spanish opponents, even though Buchanan squandered a glorious chance to equalize later in the first half off a setup from Nicolas Pépé. 

Spurs were far from impressive on the night, just being able to see things out against a Villarreal side that lacked a cutting edge in the final third. Buchanan, a 26-year-old from Brampton, Ont., lasted 82 minutes before being replaced, his night ending after he failed to put a single shot on target. It was a far cry from his hat-trick performance in La Liga for the Yellow Submarine earlier this month. 

Fellow Canadian forward Tani Oluwaseyi (two goals in 17 caps) was an unused substitute for Villarreal, so the 25-year-old from Mississauga, Ont., will have to wait a little bit longer to make his Champions League debut following his recent transfer move from Minnesota United of MLS.