Matchday 1 of the Champions League provided everything we thought that it would: drama, brilliance and disaster. In the first part of this blog, I will review the action and highlight some of the more significant things that happened. In the second part of the blog, I will break down the Matchweek 2 fixtures.
Drama
There will always be drama in the Champions League. The most dramatic result of round one absolutely had to be Liverpool’s last minute defeat of PSG, 3-2.
Liverpool came out of the gates flying, and was 2-0 up after just 36 minutes. However, PSG responded brilliantly through a sumptuous strike from defender Thomas Meunier. Wonderkid and World Cup champion Kylian Mbappe equalized in the 83’, and it looked like Liverpool had given away a sure 3 points.
However, The Reds found a moment of quality in added time, as poacher Roberto Firmino dispatched the winner and broke PSG hearts.
Brilliance
Brilliance and Lionel Messi are basically synonyms at this point. Barcelona avoided a let down against PSV in their opening match, dispatching them 4-0 at home. Messi headlined the performance with a hat trick, including a glorious free kick.
Atletico Madrid started their campaign with a win, although it took a comeback at home to get there. After going behind to AS Monaco after just 13’, Diego Costa equalized quickly and Jose Gimenez added a second in first half stoppage time. Atletico's stout defense held firm in the second half, and the final score was 2-1. Since the beginning of the 2014-2015 season, Atleti goalkeeper Jan Oblak has accumulated 72 shutouts. During that span, he has only conceded a total of 71 goals.
Lastly, Inter pulled out a thrilling come-from-behind victory over slightly-favored Tottenham. It took two goals after the 85’, but the Italians showed brilliant resilience at home to fight back.
After Christian Eriksen found the back of the net via a nasty deflection, Inter found them behind. However, it was a moment of pure class from star forward Mauro Icardi, as he volleyed home from the top of the 18 yard box to equalize. Then, Inter went on to win the game through Matias Vecino in the 90+2’.
One may put this result in the disaster category if they are viewing the situation from a Spurs perspective. While Spurs will be massively disappointed, one must recognize that Inter won this game more than Spurs lost it.
Disaster
Its not often you find Cristiano Ronaldo’s name in the same sentence as disaster. However, the all-time leading goalscorer in the Champions League left the field in a midst of controversy when he was sent off against Valencia.
Ronaldo appeared to grab at an opponent's head, attempting to yank a handful of hair. While many pundits said the sending off was harsh, as Ronaldo didn't end up with any hair, the referee saw the situation as malicious and dismissed the forward. While many say it should have been a yellow card, grabbing at a player’s head, especially when the ball is nowhere in the vicinity, is inappropriate and frankly stupid.
However, its not all bad news for Juventus. They won the game 2-0, and Ronaldo has only been suspended the minimum one game for his actions. Juve plays BSC Young Boys next, a team they should be able to handle without Ronaldo. And, maybe more importantly, Ronaldo will be eligible to return when Juve visit Old Trafford and Ronaldo’s former club Manchester United.
Serbian side Red Star Belgrade earned a point at home against Italian side Napoli. While credit must be given to Belgrade for a brilliant defensive performance, Napoli will feel extremely disappointed to drop points in this match. With freescoring Liverpool and PSG in their group, this is a massive setback for the Italians.
The award for biggest disaster of the round has to go to the English champions as they fell at home to Lyon. Manchester City, without suspended manager Pep Guardiola on the touchline, were lackluster and simply poor against the French side, who made them pay. The score was 2-1, but City did not score until late to cut into the lead; and Lyon hit the post at 2-0 which would have killed the game. Man City came into the tournament as the betting favorites (+400) to win the competition. While they will feel their group is weak enough to overcome this setback, it will mean that they cannot afford to slip up at all in the upcoming five matches.
Lastly, underdogs Club Brugge put in an impressive shift against Borussia Dortmund. They frustrated the Germans for virtually the entire match, holding onto a scoreless draw. But it would be the introduction of the young American Christian Pulisic that would prove to be the difference in the match. Pulisic was lively right from his introduction, and his high work rate allowed him to block an attempted clearance from a Brugge defender that ultimately looped over the goalkeeper, giving Dortmund an undeserved 1-0 victory. While this is truly devastating for Brugge, Dortmund comes away with the points nonetheless. They must preform better in the remaining matches if they wish to advance to the R16.
Below are the Results from Matchweek 1
Tuesday Fixtures
Wednesday Fixtures
Matchday 2—Preview
Each team has now had a gear up match. On top of that, all teams are in the thick of their domestic leagues now. Matchday 2 is the time when teams that dropped their first match start to feel the pressure to right the ship.
Manchester City will be looking at their match against newcomers Hoffenheim as virtual must-win. It won’t be easy though, as they must travel to Germany to face a side who got an impressive draw against Shakhtar Donest. City will be energized by the return of the manager Pep Guardiola and the news that their world class midfielder Kevin De Bruyne has returned to training. De Bruyne is progressive ahead of schedule, but he will not feature against Hoffenheim.
Tournament powerhouses Juventus, Bayern Munich, Real Madrid, PSG and Liverpool will all be favored in their matches this week. With that said, this is the Champions League, and it wouldn’t surprise me if one, if not more of these teams drops points.
The match that headlines this week’s fixtures has to be Barcelona traveling to play wounded Tottenham Hotspur. After Spurs' underwhelming performance and bad loss to Inter, they will feel they must get a result against the Spanish giants. In order to do so, Spurs defense must be ready to shut down flaming hot Messi. This will be even more difficult as Spurs have been without their starting goalkeeper Huge Lloris due to a leg injury. Veteran Michel Vorm and promising youngster Paulo Gazzaniga have been splitting time in Lloris' absence. No word has been given on who will start in goal for Spurs, but Lloris is doubtful to feature.
The smaller teams will try to emulate the performances of Red Star Belgrade and Viktoria Plzen as they will look to frustrate the biggest clubs. These larger clubs must be aware of the possibility of a let down and guard against it. I have predicted each game below. With that said, I realize that predicting football of any level is difficult and the Champions League is a whole different ballgame. A realistic goal is being above 50% correct.
Matchweek 2 Predictions
Tuesday 12:55 PM Kickoffs:
TSG Hoffenheim 2-4 Manchester City
Juventus 4-0 Young Boys
Tuesday, 3 PM Kickoffs:
Bayern Munich 5-1 Ajax Amsterdam
AEK Athens 1-3 Benfica
CSKA Moscow 0-4 Real Madrid
Lyon 2-2 Shahktar Donest
Manchester United 2-1 Valencia
AS Roma 3-1 Viktoria Plzen
Wednesday, 12:55PM Kickoffs:
PSG 3-1 Red Star Belgrade
Lokomotiv Moscow 0-1 Schalke 04
Wednesday, 3PM Kickoffs:
Borussia Dortmund 3-1 AS Monaco
Tottenham Hotspur 2-2 FC Barcelona
Atletico Madrid 2-0 Club Brugge
FC Porto 2-2 Galatasaray
PSV Eindhoven 1-1 Internazionale
Napoli 1-2 Liverpool
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