UEFA, CC BY-SA 4.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
The Champion’s League is yet again proving to be exciting as we enter the 2nd game week which saw the anticipated matchup between Manchester City and Paris Saint-Germain, Ronaldo’s last minute drama and a big upset in Madrid. We cover this week’s highlights.
- Lionel Messi joins the party
A match best summarised by Achraf Hakimi’s post-match social media post. The English champions were left frustrated by PSG’s resilient defending and masterful counter attacks. Lionel Messi finally scored his first goal for his new club, and it was in typical Messi fashion.
PSG looked very impressive with standout performances from Donnarrumma and Gueye. The latter opened scoring for the hosts and they never really looked out of control, especially due to Donnarrumma’s imperious performance.
City dominated the ball but only managed to create one clear-cut chance, with Bernardo Silva astonishingly failing to convert in front of an empty net.
PSG were later left bewildered, wondering how Kevin De Bruyne wasn’t sent off for his challenge on Gueye. An attempt to get the ball was mistimed, and the Belgian’s studs raked into the PSG midfielder’s leg.
Its early doors in this season’s competition, but if PSG can continue to defend as they did and their star-studded front three can produce the goods, then they may finally reach the promised land.
- A new Sheriff in Madrid
This game was not on anyone’s radar because quite frankly, Real Madrid should have won against debutant Sheriff Tiraspol (from Moldova). But the Sheriffs were in town and they won 2-1.
They led through a counterattack and converted with a perfect header into the corner. Real Madrid kept knocking and were continually denied by a resilient goalkeeper for Tiraspol. Perhaps a series of saves could have been expected, but doing so to defend a lead? Maybe not. Vinicius Junior got the breakthrough after silky play – winning the team a penalty and Benzema converted from the spot.
A draw perhaps seemed fair but the impossible happened and the visitors shockingly took all of the points. A simple throw-in played in to the edge of the box was beautifully hit into the top left corner of Courtois’ goal by Sebastien Thill.
Remember the Super League idea? In that elitist structure, this fixture would not have been possible. But luckily, in the Champions League, dreams do come true for the underdogs.
- Champions of Europe defeated in Italy
Tuchel was left frustrated by his side as they lost 1-0 to Juventus, conceding the only goal of the match 11 seconds into the second half. Despite the lead, Juventus worked hard for the goal as they conceded 73% possession to Chelsea.
This was far from the usual top drawer Chelsea performances demonstrated since the Tuchel era. The desperation was on show when the manager sent on Ross Barkley to salvage a point at least, when he was on the list to go on loan. Chelsea are aiming high but with this being their 2nd defeat in the row, should alarm bells be ringing?
It might trigger a few Chelsea unwanted memories because Chelsea failed to get out of the group-stages in the 2012-13 season, when they failed to defend their Champions League title that season. But it is early days and Chelsea should still be comfortably going through.
- Benfica breakdown Barcelona
It is not often you hear of Barcelona being broken down. But in the Koeman era, it is a reality. They went down 1-0 within three minutes of the match. Barcelona’s bright light of Frenkie De Jong and Memphis Depay were doing their part, but the rest were not on the same page.
Barcelona were threatening but a woeful display in front of goal did not help them and they only managed to achieve one shot on target. Benfica kept in Barcelona by missing their own clear chances but by the 79th minute, Barcelona were 3-0 down. It got worse for them when Eric Garcia frustratingly got a red card, for his second yellow card offence.
The general consensus around the Nou Camp and its followers, is that Koeman is failing to motivate a talented squad to follow the way he wants them to play but this is also being overshadowed by the financial situation of the club.
- Ronaldo cements himself in the history books, again
Ronaldo’s last-minute goal marked their first win of this season’s campaign, against Villareal – a 2020-21 Europa League final reunion. But more significantly, Ronaldo has now made the most appearances in the Champions League – 178 times. A true champion of the competition. He came in clutch once again, doing what he does best which is score goals in the dying moments.
Nevertheless, David De Gea reminded everyone why he is one of the world’s best goalkeepers as he kept United in the game. Villareal’s left winger, Arnaut Danjuma, was causing the majority of the problems and got the better of the defence – alas the finishing of his teammates let him down, and of course De Gea worked to deny them too.
Game week three fixtures will commence from 19th-20th October 2021. By the end of it, all teams will have played each other in the group at least once and will give us a better picture of where they stand.
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