Anfield was rocking as Liverpool won a five-goal thriller against PSG (photo credit: PA Wire).
Champions League Ups and Downs; Liverpool, Ronaldo, City
By Ryan Conway
The UEFA Champions League made its triumphant group stage return onto our television screens midweek. The awe-inspiring music that bellows from the stadium and speakers at the start signals the beginning of a hopeful journey for all 32 teams. The opening fixtures saw some teams enhance their credentials, while others saw theirs hindered. Let’s see who is going up, and whose midweek was one to forget:
Up: Liverpool
Their opener was a doozey against Ligue 1 giants Paris Saint-Germain.
Jurgen Klopp’s squad face a tricky Group C which is also occupied by Carlo Ancelotti’s Napoli and 1991 European Cup winners Red Star Belgrade. Daniel Sturridge opened the scoring and Roberto Firmino, who returned from what could have been a nasty eye injury against Tottenham, scored the winner in injury-time with a brilliant quick-footed effort. Coupled with their five wins from five Premier League games, they are the team to beat in England.
Down: Cristiano Ronaldo
Ronaldo’s start to life with Juventus has got off to an inauspicious start.
The Portuguese forward failed to register a goal in his first three Serie A games for his new club until his brace against Sassuolo. His difficult start to the season was compounded with a straight red card against Valencia not even half an hour into his Champions League debut with The Old Lady.
Ronaldo was shocked and then devastated by the decision, after he had kicked out at Valencia defender Jeison Murillo. The kick was more petulant than angry, but still the 33-year-old faces the prospect of missing out on a return to his much-loved former club Manchester United.
Up: Jadon Sancho
The 18-year-old became the youngest English player to make his Champions League debut for a foreign club.
A lot of buzz currently surrounds the winger, turning heads with his progress at Borussia Dortmund and at international level. Following on from his Under 17 World Cup triumph with England in 2017, Sancho has gone on to score his first professional goal at club level in a 4-0 route against Bayer Leverkusen. His promise is obvious and his promising debut in the Champions League will keep him in Gareth Southgate’s thoughts.
Guardiola looked on powerless as his Man City side are beaten at home by Lyon (photo credit: Manchester Evening News).
Down: Manchester City
City’s search for their first Champions League triumph got off to a rough start. A suspended Pep Guardiola could only watch on as his team committed several errors on their way to a 2-1 home defeat by Lyon.
Sergio Aguero was only fit enough for the bench following a small ankle problem but was forced into action with his side facing a two-goal deficit. The loss puts City in a tricky spot within Group F which features Shakhtar Donetsk, a team they have also fallen to at this stage of the competition. They lost 2-1 in Ukraine on Matchday six of last year’s group stage. Guardiola has a less than ideal injury list at present and a side whose players featured heavily at the World Cup, creating a small headache for the Catalan.
Also See: Manchester City’s depth to be tested
Up: Paul Pogba
The France midfielder scored twice and set up a third as Manchester United got their Champions League campaign off to the perfect start with a convincing 3-0 win at Young Boys.
Pogba opened the scoring with a superb left-foot strike, bending it into the top corner. The former Juventus playmaker added a goal from the penalty spot before assisting Anthony Martial to cap off a devastating counterattack. The subject to transfer speculation recently, as well as his relationship with manager Jose Mourinho under the microscope, the all-action performance from the midfielder will be encouraging with three games in ten days around the corner.
Down: Tottenham
Mauricio Pochettino has endured a miserable week. First comfortably beaten 2-1 at home by Liverpool, Spurs collapsed in Italy losing by the same score line.
Christian Eriksen opened the scoring in the second half but Mauro Icardi hit a fantastic volley five minutes from full-time and Matias Vecino headed home the winner in the second minute of stoppage time. In a week when Hugo Lloris faced heavy criticism for admitting to a drink-driving charge and questions around Harry Kane’s fitness, or lack of, simply won’t vanish, the last thing London side needed was an Champions League loss in a group which will see them square off twice against Barcelona. A difficult week for the Argentine manager.
