Matchweek 3 is upon us. Now we are into the meat and potatoes of the Group Stage. Its very rare a team has won the group by the midway point, but its certainly possible for a team to have been eliminated.
This blog will focus on where teams currently sit in the table, and what they can do to either ensure success through the to end of the Group Stage or turn it around if things aren't going well.
There are currently five teams out the 32 that are perfect. All-be-it only two games have been played, this really proves how difficult the Champions League is. The teams that have taken the maximum amount of points from their games so far are...
Borussia Dortmund—Group A
Atletico Madrid—Group A
Barcelona—Group B
Internazionale—Group B
Juventus—Group H
You may have noticed that 80% these teams come from two groups. The two perfect teams will face off against each other in matchweek 3, meaning both cannot remain perfect. These games are massive, for if a team is sitting at 9 points after 3 games, their chances of at least advancing as a runner-up are immense. Juventus are in prime position to secure advancement. They will face Manchester United, who are by no means a walk-over, but they have been struggling mightily of late. It does not help that their manager has been surrounded by massive amounts of controversy.
This round of matches seems to have a theme of pinning teams of a relatively even skill level against each other, for the most part. There will always be a couple of matches that have a significant favorite and a significant underdog, but this matchweek seems to have a minimal amount of those.
The headlining match has to be the Barcelona-Inter match. Fighting for the top of Group B, this match pins two teams with very different expectations entering the tournament, that are both rolling, against each other.
Barcelona are doing extremely well in the league and have had no trouble in their first two matches, even against Premier League contenders Tottenham. They were and always are expected to excel in the Champions League, and anything less than winning the group will be viewed as a disappointment by supporters. Unfortunately, five-time Ballon d'Or winner Lionel Messi left Barca's last league match with an arm injury that will keep him sidelined for 3-4 weeks. Not only will Messi miss this Champions League tie, but he will also miss the team's historic La Liga match against rivals Real Madrid, commonly referred to as El Clásico.
Inter Milan will be looking to pull the upset in this match. They will be viewed as the underdogs, largely because the match is in Barcelona. Inter usually isn't mentioned in the same breath as Barca, but maybe they should be. They have been playing extremely well, headlined by a 2-1 comeback victory over Tottenham on matchweek 1. Inter have not only been turning it on for the Champions League, they sit 3rd in the Serie A table, ahead of their Champions League counterparts AS Roma.
Another big match in this round is the Dortmund-Atletico match. These two teams sit atop Group A, and both will be heavily favored to advanced based on the current form of the group. With that said, both these teams are so often overlooked as real challengers to win the Champions League. They will both be looking to shock some people once the R16 arrives, and both sides will look to win this match in order to secure a match-up against a "weaker", runner-up side in the elimination round. In order to win, Atletico's world class defense will have to stop arguably the hottest player in Europe, BVB striker Paco Alcacer.
There is a lot on the line when Manchester United host Juventus in Group H as well. If Juventus can win this match on the road, it will set them up to most certainly advance, and likely win the group. It will also offer a massive opportunity for Valencia, who face off against bottom-feeders Young Boys, to challenge United for the runner-up spot.
Spurs absolutely must get a win away against PSV or their Champions League dreams will be all but dead. Another quietly important match that will be played in Rome as struggling Roma host surprise side CSKA Moscow in Group G. CSKA sit atop the group after a shock win against Real Madrid, while Roma sit in 3rd in the group and sit in an underwhelming 7th in their domestic league. If Moscow can get even a point, it will be a massive confidence boast for them going into the second half of group play. Roma will feel they must win, as they are playing at home.
It is bound to be eventful, as it always is. Yet again I will attempt to see the future and pick these games.
Matchday 3 Predictions
Tuesday, 12:55 PM Kickoffs
AEK Athens 0-3 Bayern Munich
BSC Young Boys 0-1 Valencia
Tuesday, 3 PM Kickoffs
Ajax 2-2 SL Benfica
Shakhtar Donetsk 1-2 Manchester City
TSG Hoffenheim 1899 2-1 Olympique Lyonnais
Real Madrid 6-0 FC Viktoria Plzen
AS Roma 2-1 CSKA Moscow
Manchester United 2-2 FC Juventus FC
Wednesday, 12:55 PM Kickoffs
Club Brugge 1-3 AS Monaco
PSV Eindhoven 1-2 Tottenham Hotspur
Wednesday, 3 PM Kickoffs
Borussia Dortmund 1-1 Atletico Madrid
FC Barcelona 3-1 Internazionale
Liverpool 5-1 Red Star Belgrade
Paris St Germain 3-2 SSC Napoli
Galatasaray SK 3-1 FC Schalke 04
Lokomotiv Moscow 2-2 FC Porto
(Home teams are listed first)
Season totals thus far:
Correct Results and Correct Score: 2
Correct Result but Wrong Score: 7
Completely Wrong: 7
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