Sadness. That’s the picture of the performance of the top teams in the opening day of the Champions League group phase this season. In the matches that took place in the middle of this week, many top teams failed to win full points. On the contrary, the grim situation of the heroes became a surprise season for the under-seeded teams. Arguably, the opening day of the Champions League group phase this time was quite lively, because it immediately opened with a surprise parade.
The surprise parade opened in group F, which is said to be a difficult group. Although both games played together ended in a draw, the more favored teams almost collapsed At Giuseppe Meazza, Inter Milan had to wait until the second half injury time, to grab the equalizer when forced to draw 1-1 versus Slavia Prague (Czech Republic). Meanwhile in Germany, Barcelona was able to steal points at home to Dortmund, thanks to the brilliant action of goalkeeper Marc Andre Ter Stegen under the bar, including his success thwarting Marco Reus’s penalty kick in the second half, in a match that ended in a goalless draw.
Another surprising result happened to the top teams. In Paris, Real Madrid were forced to defeat 0-3 of PSG without Kylian Mbappe (injured) and Neymar (suspension). In this match, Angel Di Maria scored two goals against his former club. El Real’s suffering is more complete, because Keylor Navas, their former goalkeeper, also performed well under the rule of PSG. A loss is also experienced by defending champions Liverpool, who were beaten 0-2 at home to Napoli. Dries Mertens and Fernando Llorente’s goals forced the Red home empty-handed.
In London, Rodrigo’s single goal against Chelsea successfully silenced the Stamford Bridge . The defeat by Valencia was oppressive for The Blues, because Ross Barkley failed to execute a penalty at the end of the second half. Uniquely, there is a pair of games that ended with a score of 2-2, after the visitors had won 2 goals first. The two matches are Olympiacos (Greece) vs. Tottenham Hotspur (finalists last season), and Atletico Madrid vs. Juventus. In the City of Piraeus (Greece), the goals of Lucas Moura and Harry Kane were paid in full by Daniel Podence and Mathieu Valbuena. Meanwhile in Madrid, Stefan Savic and Hector Herrera’s header goals canceled out the superiority of Juventus, scored by Juan Cuadrado and Blaise Matuidi.
The contrast was obtained by two German representatives, namely RB Leipzig and Bayer Leverkusen, in the two matches that ended with an identical score of 2-1. In the city of Lisbon, a pair of goals from Timo Werner helped Leipzig win over host Benfica. Meanwhile, Gregorz Krychowiak and Dimitry Barinov’s goals left Leverkusen at home to Lokomotiv Moscow (Russia). The surprise parade was even more complete, with two non-featured match between teams featured, which ended with a four-goal margin in the cities of Salzburg (Austria) and Zagreb (Croatia). In these two matches, the home team were equally successful in defeating their respective guests.
In Salzburg, Red Bull Salzburg won 6-2 over Genk (Belgium). In this fight, Erling Haaland (19) becomes a star through his triggers. Remarkably, this match is the debut match of the Norwegian teenager in the European Champions League. Meanwhile, trigol Mislav Orsic and one goal Marin Leovac successfully made the debut of Atalanta (Italy) in the Champions League group phase ended grim. Practically, only Bayern Munich (Germany), Manchester City (England) and Ajax Amsterdam (the Netherlands, last season’s Champions League semifinalists) survived the shocking results on the opening match day this time. Uniquely, they both won with a score of 3-0 over their respective opponents.
In Munich, Kingsley Coman’s goals. Thomas Mueller and Robert Lewandowski helped Bayern win over Red Star Belgrade (Serbia). In Amsterdam, goals from Quincy Promes, Nicolas Tagliafico and Edison Alvarez sealed Ajax’s victory over Lille OSC (France). Meanwhile in Ukraine, goals from Riyad Mahrez, Ilkay Gundogan and Gabriel Jesus affirmed City’s superiority over hosts Shakhtar Donetsk. In this fight, Pep Guardiola plays Fernandinho as an emergency central defender, following the injuries of John Stones and Aymeric Laporte.
Although this is just the opening match day, the many surprises that are created are able to give a glimmer of hope, surprises will be an important element in the journey to the Champions League final in Istanbul next year. Even so, the opportunity for the top team to maintain their hegemony is also still open, because the journey is still very long.
Will the surprise parade continues?
ASL
