The Champions Blog #2.4

 THE CHAMPIONS BLOG

Matchday 4 of the Champions League showed that teams can be formidable at their best and catastrophic at their worst. All across Europe on Tuesday and Wednesday nights, we were treated to huge wins and stunning victories. Some have risen to the occasion but only one team has maintained perfection. This is the Champions Blog. 

Tuesday 5th:

Slovan Bratislava vs Dinamo Zagreb (Tehelne Pole, Bratislava, Slovakia)

PSV vs Girona (Phillips Stadion, Eindhoven, Netherlands)

Borussia Dortmund vs SK Sturm Graz (Signal Iduna Park, Dortmund, Germany)

Celtic vs RB Leipzig (Celtic Park, Glasgow, Scotland)

Real Madrid vs AC Milan (Santiago Bernabeu, Madrid, Spain)

Lille vs Juventus (Stade Pierre Mauroy, Lille, France)

Liverpool vs Bayer Leverkusen (Anfield, Liverpool, England)

Sporting CP vs Manchester City (Estadio Jose Alvalade, Lisbon, Portugal)

Bologna vs Monaco (Renato Dall'Ara, Bologna, Italy)

Anfield, one of the most historic venues in Champions League history, hosted arguably the most one-sided game of the night when Liverpool hosted Bundesliga champions, Bayer Leverkusen. Liverpool is one of two teams to maintain a winning start to the competition, winning all three of their games alongside fellow Premier League side, Aston Villa. Leverkusen have also maintained an unbeaten start with two wins and a draw, as their manager, Xabi Alonso was set to make a return to Anfield, 15 years after leaving the club to join Real Madrid. He's set to return to Anfield for the first time as manager.

The first 45 minutes showed simple yet careful styles of play from both sides. They all played simple football and did not have many chances on goal. Liverpool's closest chances of the game came towards the final minutes of the first half. Mo Salah made his signature runs into the penalty box. He cut back inside from Alex Grimaldo before he struck a low shot, as Lukas Hradecky made an easy save to deny Salah. Immediately after, Leverkusen attacked. Edmond Tapsoba played a long ball to Jeremie Frimpong, who controlled the ball and drove it past Kostas Tsimikas. He struck the ball into the top left corner of the goal, but it was revealed that Frimpong controlled the ball with his hand, disallowing the goal. With Salah's missed chance and Frimpong's disallowed goal, the teams would go into the half drawing 0-0. 

The second half, however, would turn out to be completely different to the first. 15 minutes into the half, Curtis Jones played a through ball to Luis Diaz, catching the Leverkusen defence off guard, making Diaz one-on-one with Hradecky. The Colombian chipped the ball over the Finnish goalkeeper, making it 1-0 to the home side, right on the hour mark. Only two minutes later, Liverpool's lead was doubled. Salah and Diaz played the ball well with one another, going up into the penalty area. Salah, on the edge of the penalty area, crossed the ball to Cody Gakpo, and the Dutchman headed the ball towards the goal, making it 2-0 Liverpool. The flag was raised, however, disallowing the goal, and the celebrations were put on hold. However, 1 VAR check later, the goal stood, and Liverpool had a two-goal cushion. Liverpool could've had a third in the 72nd minute, but Hradecky put a strong hand behind Alexis Mac Allister's shot, and Trent Alexander Arnold was unable to provide on the follow-up, as his shot blazed over the bar. 10 minutes later, Luis Diaz found Liverpool's third after a Salah cross was controlled beautifully by the Colombian before he was able to tap it past Hradecky, making it 3-0. Leverkusen almost got a few goals back, but the brilliance of Coaimhin Kelleher came to Liverpool's rescue, frustrating the Bundesliga champions. Two minutes from time, Darwin Nunez raced forward for Liverpool, initiating a counterattack. His initial shot was blocked by Piero Hincapie, but the ball fell nicely enough for Diaz to strike and complete his first senior hat-trick. Liverpool rounded off a resounding 4-0 victory, ensuring that they will end the day top of the 36-team table. Liverpool is by far the only team to register all wins in the Champions League so far, while Leverkusen looks to pick up the pieces after Alonso's miserable return to Anfield. 

Elsewhere, it was an encounter between the champions of Portugal and England, specifically, Sporting CP and Manchester City. It's only the third-ever encounter in the Champions League between these two sides, having previously met in the Round of 16 in the 2021/22 season when City routed Sporting 5-0 in Lisbon before sealing a place in the quarter-finals with a 0-0 draw in Manchester. It was the final Champions League game for Ruben Amorim for Sporting as he's set to join City's arch-rivals, Manchester United after the November international break, as he looks to send off on a high note. 

Sporting started the game off slowly, which unfortunately cost them the ball, allowing City to attack. Hidesima Morita received the ball from Zeno Debast but the Japanese midfielder was able to react quickly enough and Phil Foden was able to intercept and attack forward. He reached the edge of the penalty area and after a few steps inside the penalty area, he struck it past Franco Israel, catching him off guard and dispatching the ball past him, making it 1-0 inside 4 minutes to the visitors. Sporting looked to equalize things sooner when Pedro Goncalves played a through ball to Viktor Gyokeres, leaving the Swede one-on-one with Ederson. He attempted to chip the ball over him, but the Brazilian keeper caught it safely, wasting a huge chance for Sporting. The other Scandinavian striker, Erling Haaland was the closest person to score later with three chances going begging for City after Israel was forced to make saves. Eventually, City would pay for their missed chances. In the 38th minute, Geovany Quenda played a smart ball to Sporting's main man, Viktor Gyokeres, who controlled the ball and made a darting run to the Man City penalty area, with Manuel Akanji on his tail. The Swede managed to brush off the Swiss defender and clip the ball over Ederson, sending the ball into the back of the net. Sporting managed to hold on for the rest of the half and take a 1-1 draw into the second half. 

The second half kicked off, and the first five minutes were enough to surprise anyone in the stadium. Within the first 20 seconds of the half, Sporting unleashed a deadly counterattack, as the ball was passed and played beautifully in the back before Pedro Goncalves could play Maximillian Araujo through on goal. Araujo goes behind the ball and strikes a simple first-time finish into Ederson's net, making it 2-1 with the first 20 seconds of the half. Things would only get better for Sporting CP when they won a penalty just moments after Araujo's goal. After Gvardiol pushed down Trincao in the penalty area, the referee had no choice but to point to the spot. Gyokeres stepped up and thundered his shot into the bottom right, making it 3-1. City eventually started attacking but couldn't find an end product. In the 66th minute, City were finally given a glimmer of hope when the referee pointed to the spot after Ousmane Diomande's arm hit the ball inside the Sporting penalty area. Haaland stepped up for City, but his strike kissed the crossbar before going out of play for a Sporting goal kick. Sporting had another penalty awarded in the 80th minute, when Leny Catamo was brought down by Matheus Nunes, awarding Sporting a penalty. Gyokeres made no mistake from 12 yards out as he became the coolest man inside the Estadio Jose Alvadale, as he converted his spot kick, making it a hat-trick to himself and routing the Premier League champions. Sporting capped off a famous and emphatic 4-1 victory, with Ruben Amorim leaving the club with reason to smile, as he's set to take on the Premier League. 

Pictures Above: Liverpool midfielder, Curtis Jones, attempting to pass the ball with Bayer Leverkusen midfielder, Aleix Garcia attempting to block. Sporting CP striker, Viktor Gyokeres, taking a penalty against Manchester City.

Across Europe that day, Dinamo Zagreb travelled to the Slovakian capital to face the reigning Slovakian champions, Slovan Bratislava, who are also the competition strugglers, having scored only once in the competition while conceding 11 goals prior to their meeting with Dinamo. Their season would only get worse. David Strelec's early strike for Slovan gave the home side hope, but a quick equalizer by Dario Spikic, followed by goals from Petar Sucic and a brace from Sandro Kulenovic, gave the Croatians all three points, adding more sorrow to Slovan's Champions League debut. 

Other Champions League debutants, Girona travelled to Eindhoven to face the Eredivisie champions, PSV in hopes of potentially reviving their campaign after their win against Slovan Bratislava last matchday. PSV haven't made a big impression, having lost their opening game before drawing their next two games. However, Peter Bozs's men turned into a machine against Girona, as the Dutch champions scored 4 times, from Ryan Flamingo, Malik Tillman, Johan Bakayoko, and an own goal from Ladislav Krejci, awarding PSV their first win in the Champions League this season.

Dortmund hosted SK Sturm Graz at the Signal Iduna Park, in what would be the first-ever encounter between these two sides. After Dortmund's catastrophic defeat at the Bernabeu, they looked to bounce back and try to get their campaign back on track, against a Sturm Graz side, who are yet to register a single point so far this season. Sturm Graz's European woes would unfortunately continue as substitute, Donyell Malen broke the Austrian side's hearts with his strike 5 minutes from time. 

Celtic hosted RB Leipzig in Celtic Park, in their second meeting in three years. Leipzig looks to get their first points on the board while Celtic look to bounce back after dropping points against Borussia Dortmund and RB Leipzig. The visitors looked in control when Christoph Baumgartner's diving header beat Kasper Schmeichel, but a quick-fire brace from Nicolas-Gerrit Kuhn quickly cancelled out the visitor's hopes. Celtic sealed the win with a Peter Gulasci blunder, leaving Reo Hatate to capitalize and seal all three points for Celtic. 

The Bernabeu hosted a mouth-watering encounter between the top two champions of the competition, namely, Real Madrid and AC Milan. Real bounced back after their slumped defeat to Lille on Matchday 2 last time out, hammering Borussia Dortmund 5-2. Milan, on the other hand, has had a rough start to the competition, having lost against Liverpool and Bayer Leverkusen in their opening 2 games, however, bounced back after a 3-1 win against Club Brugge. The visitors took control early on when Malick Thiaw's thumping header smashed into the Real goal, giving the lead for the Rossineri inside 12 minutes. Vinicius Jr and Real Madrid replied 10 minutes through a cheeky penalty, but Alvaro Morata netted against his former club 6 minutes from the first half's conclusion. Tijani Reijnders sealed the win in the 73rd minute and Real's European woes continued. 

Juventus took a trip to northern France to face runaways, Lille, who have got some quite demanding wins against both Real and Atletico Madrid. Juventus started off strong but to no avail, as Teun Koopmeiner's strike was disallowed by VAR. Jonathan David made the disallowed goal look horrible as he scored just 3 minutes later. 15 minutes into the second half, the visitors equalized in the 60th minute via a Dusan Vlahovic penalty. However, the next 30 minutes wouldn't see any goals, and the spoils were shared in the Stade Pierre-Mauroy. 

Meanwhile, Bologna hosted Monaco, knowing that their campaign would be in danger if they were to lose again. It looked as though the teams would end with a point each, with the scores tied at 0-0. However, in the 86th minute, a Monaco corner was swung in, and Monaco captain, Thilo Kerher got the touch that mattered and poked the ball into the net, winning the points for Monaco, while adding more worries to a Bologna side who were now in danger of an early elimination. 

Pictures Above: Borussia Dortmund forward, Donyell Malen celebrating after scoring the winner against Sturm Graz. Celtic forward, Nicolas-Gerrit Kuhn celebrates after scoring against RB Leipzig. AC Milan defender, Malick Thiaw scoring a header against Real Madrid. Juventus forward, Dusan Vlahovic hyping Juventus fans after scoring his penalty.

Wednesday 6th:

Shakhtar Donetsk vs Young Boys (Veltins-Arena, Gelsenkirchen, Germany)

Club Brugge vs Aston Villa (Jan Breydal Stadium, Brugge, Belgium)

Feyenoord vs RB Salzburg (De Kuip, Rotterdam, Netherlands)

PSG vs Atletico Madrid (Parc de Princes, Paris, France)

Sparta Praha vs Brest (epet ARENA, Prague, Czech Republic)

Crvena Zvezda vs Barcelona (Rajko Mitic Stadium, Belgrade, Serbia)

Inter Milan vs Arsenal (San Siro, Milan, Italy)

VfB Stuttgart vs Atalanta (MHPArena, Stuttgart, Germany)

Bayern Munich vs Benfica (Allianz Arena, Munich, Germany)

The next day in the city of lights, French champions, PSG took on Diego Simeone's Atletico Madrid. For the first-ever time in the competition, PSG and Atletico Madrid are taking on each other in the Champions League. PSG's start to the season has been far from convincing, as their only win came from the opening matchday, barely scraping past Girona, 1-0 through an own goal from Paulo Gazzaniga. Atletico started off strong against Leipzig but then suffered catastrophic defeats to Benfica and Lille. Both teams look to revive their campaigns and make a statement win here in Paris.

PSG attacked a lot within the first 15 minutes of the game and managed to come agonizingly close within the first minute. Achraf Hakimi had the ball laid to him on a platter when Conor Gallagher sliced a clearance to the Morrocan. His volley would only narrowly miss the goal, however. PSG would then score the opening goal 13 minutes later, due to some clumsy defending from the Atletico Madrid defence. Clement Lenglet held the ball within his penalty area for too long, causing Ousmane Dembele to intercept the ball and pass to Warren Zaire-Emery, who dummied Jan Oblak before chipping the ball into an open net, opening the scoring for the Parisian side. Atletico only took three minutes to find the equalizer. After Giuliano Simeone's shot was saved by Gianluigi Donnarumma, Nuno Mendes's failed clearance gave Atleti a second chance. Simeone played great football with Molina and Alvarez. Molina got the ball from a half-blocked pass by Simeone and blazed the shot into the net, giving Atletico the equalizer. The next 25 minutes of the half would lack proper chances and moments that could've changed the game as the teams would go into the half drawing 1 a piece, with all to play for in the second half.

PSG's attack mode completely switched on in the second half, with hopes of finding the goal and a potential winner. Despite all these great chances, they just couldn't make them count. Arguably, PSG's best chance of the half came in the 57th minute, when Bradley Barcola made a darting run past Axel Witsel before shooting it on goal. His shot was initially saved by Oblak, but the ball fell to Hakimi, however, he didn't do much with the chance and the shot went blazing over the bar. PSG came close in the 76th minute when Marquinhos played a superb through ball behind the Atletico defence, setting Hakimi one-on-one with Oblak. The Moroccan looked to find the bottom right but the Slovenian denied him, by making a great save with his legs, keeping the score at 1-1. 15 minutes later, with the scores still tied and thirty seconds left, Atletico had one last throw of the dice in their final attack. Antoine Griezmann played a long ball to Angel Correa, who controlled it well before striking it goalwards. His shot got a hand from Donnarumma but it wasn't enough to keep the ball out, and Atletico got the winner with virtually the last kick of the game, sealing Atletico's return to winning ways. 

In the Serbian capital, nearly 2000 km away, highly fancied, Barcelona took on the champions of Serbia, Crvena Zvezda. It was a contest of contrasts between the 5-time champions, who annihilated Bayern Munich and Young Boys in Catalonia, and the Serbian champions, who are yet to register a single point this season. 

The visitors, to no one's surprise, took an early lead within 13 minutes, when the Blaugrana won a free-kick. Raphina took the kick as his cross swung into the penalty area. Inigo Martinez rose the highest among everyone and headed the ball into the back of the net, making it 1-0 to Barcelona with less than 15 minutes on the clock. Barca came close on goal only 5 minutes later through a corner, whipped in the ferocity from Raphina, but his strike hit the outside of the post, awarding a goal kick for the home side. Crvena Zvezda surprised everyone and played some beautiful football and with some quick passing, they found the equalizer through Silas, as his second touch struck the ball past Inaki Pena, making it 1-1 in Belgrade. Barca didn't let this goal defy them and their attack mode completely switched on from that moment onward. Eventually, just two minutes from half-time. As Barca worked the ball well within the penalty area, Raphina took a shot but it hit the post; however, it rebounded to Robert Lewandowski who was able to tap it into an open net, restoring their lead and giving them the lead into half-time.

However, despite their comeback, Barca wouldn't end the evening off there, as they continued to be an attacking menace in the early stages of the second half, with two incredibly close chances on goal, with everyone going begging. However, after a darting run by Lamine Yamal towards the edge of the Zvezda penalty area, and after some quick passing with Jules Kounde, the French full-back managed to square the ball to Lewandowski who tapped it into an open net. That goal brought Lewandowski up to 99 Champions League career goals, as the Polish striker is one goal away from becoming a Champions League centurion. Only two minutes later, Raphina joined the party when his cool finish into the bottom of the right corner looked as though Barcelona would seal three consecutive victories. 20 minutes after normal play and a ton of substitutions, Barcelona got their fifth goal from Fermin Lopez, who showed great skill with the ball before firing it into the bottom corner, to make it 5-1. Jules Kounde racked up his third assist of the game through Lopez's goal. The hosts eventually got a consolation goal from Milson after poor defensive play from Barca in the final three, but it didn't stop an emphatic victory from the La Liga leaders, who continue to rack up goals in this season's Champions League. 

Pictures Above: Atletico Madrid players in a swarm after Angel Correa's last-minute winner. Barcelona forward, Raphina dribbling the ball.

Across Europe, Young Boys travelled to Gelsenkirchen to face Shakhtar Donetsk in hopes of a potential revival. They started off strong, scoring in the 27th minute through Kastroit Imeri, but quickfire goals in the space of 10 minutes from Oleksandr Zubkov and Heorhiy Sudakov denied the Swiss their first Champions League win since 2021. 

In Brugge, undefeated Aston Villa took on Belgian champions, Club Brugge at the Jan Breydal Stadium in Brugge. It was a night to forget for Villa defender, Tyrone Mings as he made a catastrophic error after he picked up the ball from a goal kick, awarding the home side a penalty. Hans Vanaken made no mistake from 12 yards out and sent Emiliano Martinez, sealing the win for Brugge while clearing out Villa's winning start to the season. 

De Kiup hosted an encounter between the runners-up of the Dutch and Austrian leagues, Feyenoord and RB Salzburg. The Austrians, after three consecutive losses finally managed to grab their first points of the season after grabbing a 3-1 victory through a brace from Karim Konate and a thunderous strike by Daouda Guindo.

 Brest took a trip to visit the only Czech team in the competition, Czech champions Sparta Praha. The hosts haven't had much luck recently, having drawn and lost on trips to Stuttgart and Manchester. Their only game at home resulted in a 3-0 win against RB Salzburg. Brest continued their incredible start to their Champions League debut, wrapping up another victory, this time 2-1 with goals from Edmilison Fernandes and an own goal from Kaan Kairenen sealing another three points for the French side. 

In what would be a mouth-watering prospect of a game, Arsenal travelled to the San Siro to face off against Serie A champions, Inter Milan, who have both made unbeaten starts to the competition and are both level on points. Hakan Calhanoglu's penalty three minutes into added time at the end of the first time was enough to seal the three points and end Arsenal's unbeaten start to the season. 

The MHPArena hosted an encounter between VfB Stuttgart and Europa League champions, Atalanta. Stuttgart's return to the Champions League wasn't convincing to a large extent after slumping results against Real Madrid and Sparta Praha but got some redemption by defeating Juventus in Turin. Atalanta have defeated Shakhtar Donetsk 3-0 but slumped 0-0 draws twice at home to Arsenal and Celtic. Amodela Lookman opened the scoring just a couple minutes after the start of the second half before Nicolo Zaniolo sealed the win in the 88th minute.

Bayern hosted Benfica in the Allianz Arena, the venue of this season's Champions League final. After their emphatic 9-2 victory on opening day, Bayern haven't been able to enjoy Champions League football after defeats against Aston Villa and Barcelona leaves them in a tough place. Benfica started off well with wins against Crvena Zvezda and Atletico Madrid but lost last time out against Feyenoord. Their losing streak unfortunately continued as Jamal Musiala's header was enough to return Bayern to winning ways, even without the most convincing win. 

 

Pictures Above: Club Brugge forward, Hans Vanaken scoring a penalty against Aston Villa. Inter Milan players celebrating after scoring a penalty. Atalanta forward, Amodela Lookman taping the ball into an open net against VfB Stuttgart. Bayern Munich forward, Leroy Sane dribbling the ball past Benfica defender, Alvaro Carerras. 

Another matchday of the Champions League proved once again why this is the best club competition in the world. It was flying goals everywhere, all the way from England to the Czech Republic. Some teams have proven that they can be deadly when they're at their best while some teams have dropped and bit and have work to do. We're halfway through the league phase and some teams look like they're going to make the last 16. The Champions Blog will return soon for Matchday 5 as the first few teams come closer en route to set to seal their place in the last 16.