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Although it is premature to draw conclusions from the new format of the Champions League, What has been disputed, a date and a half, has already delivered a trend: numerous wins. Large results, victories by a wide margin, which have the seasoning of goals, yes, but they lower the category of the matches due to the lack of equivalences. Several matches are resolved well before 90 minutes, it only remains to be known how exaggerated the victory will be. The inequalities are visible.
The quota expanded to 36 teams, all included in the same league, plus the distribution made by the algorithm so that each one plays eight matches – different rivals, without home and away – as a previous step to the play-offs, It gave rise to clashes in which the difference in level is very obvious.
In the scheme that was left aside, with eight zones of four teams, there were also wins, but this renewed model seems to accentuate the gap between the most powerful on the continent and the weak. Already on the opening date, Bayern Munich left with a 9-2 about Dinamo Zagreb. Celtic swept Bratislava 5-1, Bayer Leverkusen (4-0) had no problems on the visit to Feyenoord and Borussia Dortmund came back with a 3-0 victory over Bruges.
This Tuesday, 9 of the 18 matches of the second day were played, which will be completed on Wednesday. The debut trend deepened. They were counted 32 goals, with an average of 3,55 per match. The first place on the podium in overwhelming triumphs was occupied Borussia Dortmund, with a 7-1 to Celtic, who went through the opposite of what had been their debut. The Germans, finalists in the last tournament that Real Madrid won, are already the highest scorers (10) and have the best difference (+9).
Karim Adeyemi had a great time hat-trick between 11 and 42 minutes of the first half, to be replaced at the beginning of the second stage, when when he fell after a jump he gave all the symptoms of having suffered a tear in his posterior thigh. Before, he had left three left-footed shots that hit the crossbar and the posts. Great goals from this winger born in Munich, son of a Nigerian and a Romanian woman. He was hired two years ago, for 30 million euros, to replace Erling Haalandtransferred to Manchester City. Borussia Dortmund went to look for Adeyemi in Salzburg, as they had done with Haaland years before.
The new Champions League was harshly questioned from one of the most emblematic headers of European stadiums: the yellow wall of Signal Iduna Park, where Borussia Dortmund fans displayed a huge curtain with the inscription “UEFA Mafia”, and a flag below that acted as subtitles: “They don’t care about sport, all they care about is money.”
As against Manchester City, Simone Inzaghi preserved the Lautaro Martínez, He did not include it among the headlines. El Toro entered 18 minutes into the second half and scored with a left-footed cross in the 4-0 of Inter on Red Star (Belgrade). With this goal, the Inter captain scored for the sixth consecutive season in the Champions League. The victory opened with a formidable free kick from Hakan Calhanoglu.
The player from Bahia has had a good week after the drought at the beginning of the season, without scoring in the first four dates of the season. soccer. He regained his effectiveness last Saturday, with two goals against Udinese. At the end of the game, Martínez greeted each other warmly and chatted animatedly with Diego Milito on the side of the field. When Racing transferred Lautaro to Inter in 2018, Milito was in charge of the football department of the Academy, to which he intends to return as president in the end-of-year elections.
Barcelona, After the defeat in the debut in Monaco, he recovered with a 5-0 about Young Boys (Switzerland). Robert Lewandowski (2), Raphinha, Iñigo Martínez and Camara (against) scored. In Slovakia, Manchester City had the aim they lacked on the opening day against Inter: they won by 4-0 to Bratislava, with goals from Ilkay Gündoğan, Phil Foden, Erling Haaland and James Mactee. The other big result of the day was the 4-0 of the debutante Brest about Salzburg.
The match with the most coverage of the day was played in London, with the 2-0 of Arsenal ante Paris Saint Germain, who did not have Ousmane Dembélé, excluded by Luis Enrique for disciplinary reasons. Mikel Arteta’s team took advantage of a weak start Gianluigi Donnarumma for 1-0 with a header from Kai Havertz. Then it increased Bukayo Sakawith a crossed free kick.
With the departure of Kylian Mbappé, PSG left the stage of figures behind, the average age of the team lowered (23 years old as of this Tuesday). The Ecuadorian William Pacho (22) appears in defense and Desiré Doué (19), Lee Kang-In (23) and Bradley Barcolá (22) are up front. After the end, Luis Enrique had one of his usual provocative exchanges with the press: “No, I have no intention of explaining the tactics to you because surely you’re not going to understand it. We have to try to correct many things as a team, but I have no intention of explaining anything.”
The other results from this Tuesday: Stuttgart 1 vs. Sparta Prague1, Bayer Leverkusen 1 vs. Milan 0 and PSV Eindhoven 1 vs. Sporting Lisbon 1. The second date is completed this Wednesday, with Benfica against Atlético de Madrid as the featured match. And the expectation is also to know if the rain of goals continues in the rest of the programming: Girona vs. Feyenoord, Shakhtar Donetsk vs. Atalanta, Aston Villa vs. Bayern Munich, Dinamo Zagreb vs. Monaco, Lille vs. Real Madrid, Liverpool vs. Bologna, Leipzig vs. Juventus, Sturm Graz vs. Witches.
THE NATION
