Champions League in a nutshell: Real’s sensational failure, PSG’s great triumph or Barcelona’s shameful disgrace

The group stage of the Champions League has reached the opening third. This block of matches was certainly not boring. There were several matches that will not be forgotten. The biggest story was written by Tiraspol of Moldova, who scored a sensational scalp of Real Madrid at the famous Santiago Bernabéu. Lionel Messi finally shone in a PSG jersey and contributed to the win against Manchester City. Barcelona are in dire straits, this time taking a beating from Benfica Lisbon. How did the other favourites fare?

Tiraspol’s shock win against Real Madrid

Money rules football. If you want to be successful, you have to have it and use it properly. However, sometimes it happens that these huge differences get erased and a big underdog can surprise. In this duel, this was clearly confirmed. That’s why football is so great.

Moldova’s journey started in the preliminaries. Knocking out Belgrade or Dynamo Zagreb is something Tiraspol didn’t count on too much. These triumphs earned them a historic qualification to the Champions League group stage. The fairytale ride could begin. The football midget was given a very difficult group and was a clear outsider. But he immediately disproved these assumptions with his triumph over Shakhtar.

Tiraspol went into the match against Real Madrid in perfect comfort, with nothing to lose. In the match itself, it looked like that. The Moldovan team played relaxed, they definitely surprised the favourite with their game concept. Tiraspol even scored the opening goal of the match after a successful action and the game suddenly took on a completely different edge. Real were expected to win smoothly, but suddenly the Spanish giant was under pressure.

Real were in spasm, the conceded goal took its toll on the team’s performance. The favourite was the better team, but Tiraspol’s defence held, and Athanasiadis, the goalkeeper, had several great chances. The efficiency of the White Ballet was pathetic. In the second half, the home side equalised, with a penalty converted by Benzema.

However, this did not break the Moldovan team, they continued to torment the big favourite. The Spanish club burned several more chances and everything was heading for a draw. But then something completely unexpected happened. In the 90th minute, the visiting Thill shot brilliantly to secure his team’s historic victory. A footballing miracle had been achieved. Sheriff Tiraspol has eliminated Real Madrid and with 6 points dominates Group D.

Paris Saint Germain teach Manchester City a lesson in efficiency

The biggest draw was the duel between Paris Saint Germain and Manchester City. A clash of giants and the two biggest favourites for the title. Pep Guardiola’s team was the slight favourite, the match was attractive and certainly did not disappoint. Messi and co. had the better start. Mbappé’s dangerous cross couldn’t be stopped by the visitors’ defence, midfielder Gueye sent an exhibition shot at Ederson and scored the opening goal of the match.

After that, the Citizens were the better team, they had territorial superiority and created several chances. However, their productivity was appalling, with Donnarumma also making some important saves. PSG, on the other hand, threatened from quick breaks, which were taken care of by Messi, Mbappé and Neymar. The game looked the same in the 2nd half. Manchester City pressed, gave the opponent’s defence a hard time, but no goals were scored.

On the contrary, the home team struck again and definitely decided the match. In the 74th minute, Messi clashed with Mbappé and with a luxurious shot into the corner of the net, he increased the score to 2:0. Messi could not have timed his first goal for PSG better. A luxurious moment, the Argentine magician once again confirmed his genius. Game over. PSG win 2: 0 and take a valuable scalp. This time, the star attack of the Parisians was unstoppable.

Another disgraceful performance by Barcelona, crushed 3: 0 by Benfica Lisbon

Pre-match predictions for this match were evenly matched. A clear proof of how much Barcelona’s squad has weakened, the quality of the team went down rapidly. Coach Koeman deployed stopper García at right-back, which did not bode well. Benfica had a huge chance to score the scalp of a European big club.

The Portuguese team made the most of this opportunity. Barcelona’s performance was chaotic. Right from the start. Nunez scored in the 3rd minute, which was a big embarrassment for coach Koeman’s team. After that, Barcelona’s play picked up, they created several chances. However, none of them found their target.

The home team, on the other hand, was very effective. The guests had hopes of scoring until the 69th minute, then everything fell apart like a house of cards. Benfica managed to score a goal to make it 2:0, which was a KO for Barcelona. Then it was a great exhibition by the Portuguese. A few minutes later they increased to 3::0, Barcelona stopper Garcia was sent off late in the game. Benfica Lisbon thus scored a very valuable scalp of a famous opponent.

A well-deserved victory for the home team. Excellent productivity, great performance of the whole team, they clearly outplayed the opponent. They jumped to 2nd place in the table and have a pretty solid chance to qualify for the 8th round. Barcelona’s hopes of qualification look very poor. 2 games, 0 points, score 0::6. In the current state of affairs, their progress from the group is not very realistic.

Defending champion falters, Chelsea falls to Juventus

The duel between Juventus and Chelsea was one of the most interesting matches of the week. Juventus were missing the attacking duo Morata-Dybala, Chelsea were missing Kante. The Blues were the clear favourites. However, the match did not offer much attraction, it was a big chess game between two tactically advanced teams.

Chelsea had the territorial advantage throughout the game. However, they created a minimum of chances and the Juventus defence showed a top defensive performance. The Turin club threatened from dangerous breaks, and one of them was excellent. At the beginning of the second half, Chiesa came through after a quick action. Chelsea tried to turn the game around, but Juventus’ excellent defending did not allow them to do so. Lukaku was virtually useless in the match.

Juventus brought the game to a victorious end and scored an extremely valuable victory. Tactical magician Allegri prepared his team perfectly. The home team’s defensive performance was heroic. However, efficiency was the decisive factor and Juventus were simply better. The Blues’ productivity was pathetic. Juventus remain 100% and are heading for relegation.

Ronaldo’s big turnaround for Manchester United

Wednesday’s Champions League programme also featured a clash between Manchester United and Villareal. It was a replay of the recent Europa League final, which was won by the Spanish side. The Red Devils had to deal with major defensive losses, Maguire and Shaw could not start due to injuries.

The final in May was decided by penalty kicks, and this time the clash was very even. There were plenty of chances on both sides, Villarreal were even the better team at times, but were brought down by poor efficiency. However, the Spanish side did score early in the second half, with Alcácer scoring in the 53rd minute. This was a big complication for the favourite.

They could not afford another defeat in the group. The home team’s reaction came soon enough, with Telles’ shot finding its target and the game was level after an hour. The match seemed to be heading for a draw. Manchester United managed to complete the turnaround after all. And once again, Cristiano Ronaldo was there. In the 95th minute, he scored the decisive goal of the match and showed his greatness once again. Manchester United thus scored an important win and made amends for the previous loss to Young Boys Bern.

Teams such as Dortmund, Liverpool and Bayern Munich won again and are on their way to promotion. Brugge’s unexpected win at Leipzig in Germany is also worth mentioning. The Belgian club is making a mess of the attractive Group A. Leipzig’s promotion hopes are slim.

Interesting:

• Mohamed Salah is the third African player to break the 30-goal mark in the Champions League (Drogba 44 goals, Eto 30 goals).
• Liverpool have scored 3 or more goals in 6 games in a row, the last time they did it was in 2009.
• Lionel Messi is extremely successful in games against English teams. He has scored 27 goals in 35 matches.
• Manchester City lost in the Champions League group for the first time since September 2018 (losing 2: 1 to Lyon), the English team pulled an 18-match unbeaten streak.
• Sheriff Tiraspol is another team that won their opening matches in the Champions League, before them it was managed by the British Leicester.
• The Moldovan side are one of the teams that have managed to score at least 2 goals at the Santiago Bernabéu, the last time Manchester City did it was in February 2020.
• Chelsea have lost all away matches on the ground of Italian teams (only the Champions League).
• Barcelona has not scored a single goal in its first two Champions League matches, the first time this has happened in the club’s history

Line-up of the week according to whoscored.com::

Source: Twitter, OptaJoe, Whoscored.com