There were far fewer goals but still plenty of drama on the second Champions League night of the season.
Managers surveyed the charred wreckages of defenses across the continent on Tuesday night after 28 goals in just six games and said: “No thanks.”
There were only 13 scored in six games on Wednesday, but that didn’t dilute the intrigue or the storylines.
So, what have we got for you?
Well, one of the big favorites in Manchester City got their campaign underway, three clubs made their Champions League debut and one former Manchester United player had a night to forget…
Is De Bruyne a doubt for Man City’s big Premier League clash with Arsenal?
It was a pretty frustrating night for Manchester City as they drew 0-0 at home to Inter Milan, which shouldn’t be a huge surprise given they were playing last season’s runaway Italian champions, but Pep Guardiola’s mood won’t have been improved by the sight of Kevin De Bruyne limping off.
The Belgian hobbled away from a pretty innocent moment when he had just seen a shot blocked by Inter keeper Yann Sommer just before half-time.
(Simon Stacpoole/Offside/Offside via Getty Images)
He didn’t reappear after the break (Guardiola brought on Ilkay Gundogan and Phil Foden at half-time, not bad) and with City facing a mountainous schedule of fixtures this season, any injury is going to be bad news.
Now, De Bruyne being sidelined is nothing new – his injury list is longer than Wile E. Coyote’s – but with City playing Arsenal in a huge Premier League clash on Sunday, Watford in the Carabao Cup on Tuesday and then Newcastle away the following Saturday at 12.30pm and then they’re away in Bratislava the Tuesday after, well, they’d sorely miss De Bruyne’s influence should he be out for a while (Guardiola said afterwards he hadn’t spoken to the doctors yet). His absence would be especially felt against the Gunners, the team that pushed them all the way in the Premier League last season, finishing two points behind the champions.
(PAUL ELLIS/AFP via Getty Images)
City’s schedule is daunting, but it will be all season – they could play up to 75 matches before 2024-25 is done, almost double a Premier League campaign, owing to the newly expanded Club World Cup in the US next June/July.
The jam-packed fixture list, which if you include international games means some players are scheduled to feature in up to 85 matches in 11 months (which works out as a game every four days) led to star man Rodri saying players are close to launching strike action to protect themselves. The Spanish midfielder said anything above 50 games a season inevitably meant that performance levels dropped off due to fatigue.
(Carl Recine/Getty Images)
“It’s too much,” he said. “We have to take care of ourselves. Someone has to take care of ourselves because we are the main characters of this sport or business or whatever you want to call it.
“Not everything is money or marketing, it is also the quality of the show. When I am not tired, I perform better and if the people want to see a better football, we need to rest.”
Bernardo Silva labeled the schedule as “completely crazy” two weeks earlier when told that there would only be one day between the Arsenal and Watford matches.
It is an issue that won’t go away anytime soon, but is also very unlikely to be fixed anytime soon.
Girona goalkeeper’s late blunder gifts PSG three points
It wasn’t the most high-profile blunder from a former Premier League player this evening (more on that later), but ex-Tottenham Hotspur and Fulham goalkeeper Paulo Gazzaniga endured a bit of a nightmare as Champions League debutants Girona threw away what would have been a very notable point away at PSG.
PSG, now Kylian Mbappe-less, amassed 26 shots at goal as they tried and failed to break the stubborn Girona defense.
In the end, their winning goal didn’t even need to come from a shot; Nuno Mendes’ low cross slipped through Gazzaniga’s fingers and his legs.
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There were three clubs making their Champions League bows; only one of them scored and that was in a 5-1 thrashing as Slovan Bratislava took a walloping away at cock-a-hoop Celtic.
Brendan Rodgers had only won two of his previous 18 Champions League group games as a manager, but said in the build-up that it felt like “the most ready” he had been going into a Celtic European campaign. He was right and Celtic Park duly went wild as they scored five in the competition for the first time.
Bologna did at least get a point in their first ever Champions League match. It was a tale of two keepers in a soaking wet northern Italy (the stands are uncovered there, so everyone got drenched) with Bologna’s Lukasz Skorupski saving a very early fourth-minute penalty from Shakhtar Donetsk’s Heorhiy Sudakov.
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In a cagey match, Shakhtar keeper Dmytro Riznyk saved from 21-year-old Italian midfielder Giovanni Fabbian from just four yards out in the second half and 0-0 it finished.
Borussia Dortmund are old hands at this Champions League lark and last season’s beaten finalists showed the newbies how it was done with a 3-0 win away at Club Bruges, with young English forward Jamie Gittens (very much one to watch) scoring twice, the second coming after a couple of flashy stepovers. Very nice.
Cristiano Ronaldo celebrates and revenge for Sparta Prague
They aren’t a debutant but Sparta Prague probably felt like one, having last featured in the Champions League proper in 2005-06. They didn’t win a group game then and, despite claiming 11 Czech league titles since then, have failed at the qualification hurdle every single time.
This year they battled their way through three qualification rounds and are finally back.
How did they mark their long-awaited return, against Red Bull Salzburg? Well, in style. By the 42nd minute Sparta Prague couldn’t have been anymore Champions League – Victor Olatunji did the Cristiano Ronaldo “Siuuuu” after making it 2-0 and they were singing along to Freed from Desire by Gala in the stands. Proper CL. The only thing missing was Luis Figo watching on it a suit. The chaaaaampions!
(Sebastian Frej/MB Media/Getty Images)
Salzburg were a bit of a shambles, as evidenced by Sparta Prague’s third when Olatunji nicked the ball off a dozing Kamil Piatkowski, before squaring to Qazim Laci who downed not one, not two but three players onto their bums as he sumptuously feinted before scoring. Sore.
It capped a perfect night in the Czech capital.
The last you time thought about Sparta Prague (maybe?) would probably have been in March when they were thrashed 11-2 on aggregate by Liverpool in the Europa League.
And who was Liverpool’s assistant manager that night? Pep Lijnders, the new manager of Red Bull Salzburg.
Revenge comes in many forms.
A reminder of how this new format works… and is losing now really that costly?
In turn, Red Bull Salzburg would love to take their revenge on Sparta Prague in a return fixture, but in case you weren’t aware, there’ll be no such thing in this newfangled Champions League format.
Instead of groups of four teams playing each other twice, home and away, the new format sees teams have eight fixtures against eight different teams.
Those eight fixtures represent varying degrees of difficulty, with two teams from each of the four seeding pots, in theory ensuring a fairer crack of the whip. And everyone’s results go into one big fat 36-team table. The top eight qualify, the bottom 12 are out, the middle 16 play against each other in a play-off round.
So if you’re Red Bull Salzburg, or Girona, or Club Bruges, or even poor Dinamo Zagreb from Tuesday night, how many defeats can you realistically take before your chances of qualification are severely damaged? And how many points do you need to get through?
In the old six-team group-stage format, a points total of around eight, nine or 10 would have you right in the qualification conversation for a top two finish.
Now? You’re probably looking at needing 15 points from eight games to finish in those top eight automatic qualification spots. But that’s your cream of the crop, your Manchester Citys, your Real Madrids, your Bayern Munichs, the teams who will probably coast through.
In terms of finishing 24th and above, ie getting into the play-off round for the knockout stages, again, only nine points from eight games will more than likely see you in with a very good chance, according to predicted data from Opta.
When analyzing the opening round of fixtures, it’s important to look at the quality of opposition in comparison to your remaining seven fixtures.
For example, PSG’s victory over Girona feels pretty crucial for their prospects of a top-eight finish when you factor in that they still have to play Arsenal (away), Atletico Madrid (home), Bayern Munich (away) and Manchester City (away) ) in their next seven fixtures. Even Stuttgart (away) to finish looks tough when you see how they troubled Real Madrid on Tuesday night.
A slip-up against Girona would have been damaged. Gazzaniga, you won’t have to buy a red wine in Paris anytime soon.
This is how the table looks right now…
But keep in mind this lot play on Thursday to complete the first round of matches.
- Feyenoord vs Bayer Leverkusen (5.45pm BST/12.45pm ET)
- Red Star Belgrade vs Benfica (5.45pm BST/12.45pm ET)
- Atalanta vs Arsenal (8pm BST/3pm ET)
- Atletico Madrid vs RB Leipzig (8pm BST/3pm ET)
- Brest vs Sturm Graz (8pm BST/3pm ET)
- Monaco vs Barcelona (8pm BST/3pm ET)
And finally, why didn’t Matteo Darmian just shoot?!
For a 0-0 it was a pretty decent game between Manchester City and Inter at the Etihad, featuring 35 shots, loads of chances and the biggest brain fade of the season so far.
For a start, Man City looked resplendent in their new fourth kit, which has been co-designed by Oasis’ Noel Gallagher. The names on the back of the shirt are in his handwriting. Very rock n roll (star).
They should have won it in the dying seconds when Gundogan sent a diving header over the bar from six yards, while Foden and Josko Gvardiol also went close.
Inter, though, were excellent, enlisting a textbook Simone Inzaghi tactical plan of keeping it robust and tight at the back and then counter attacking with verve and swagger.
They did this to great effect on numerous occasions, with Marcus Thuram, Carlos Augusto, Lautaro Martinez and Henrikh Mkhitaryan – the latter blazing over from 12 yards – all spurning decent chances.
Their best opportunity came early in the second half when they blitzed forward into the City box via a gorgeous pass from Mehdi Taremi.
Former Manchester United defender Matteo Darmian, of all people, was in on goal.
He lustily eyed up Ederson, with the goal at his mercy.
This was the big chance…
Would Darmian go near post or far? Blast it in or place it through the keeper’s legs?
No, mystery option C, a weird backheeled pass instead, straight to Jack Grealish.
Guti, he ain’t. Inzaghi’s face was a picture. The only thing missing was Darmian having a nosebleed.
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Wednesday’s results
- Bologna 0 Shakhtar Donetsk 0
- Sparta Prague 3 Red Bull Salzburg 0
- Celtic 5 Slovakian Bratislava 1
- Club Brugge 0 Borussia Dortmund 3
- Manchester City 0 Inter Milan 0
- Paris Saint-Germain 1 Girona 0
(Photo: FRANCK FIFE/AFP via Getty Images)
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