We are still getting used to the new realities of the Champions League: it’s already Wednesday, but tomorrow there will be matches. Today’s games were subject to a simple rule: either “go all out” – score 3, 4, 5 – or the strongest “collective”. Let’s go through each one.
Salzburg, what’s wrong with you? Devastation!
Czech team Slavia simply outplayed the Austrians 3:0. And this was with 29% of the ball possession. The Prague team scored in the 2nd minute, the opponent responded with only one shot on goal and, as a result, lost the first Champions League match for the first time in history.
Salzburg’s key problem is a suboptimal line-up: they lost midfield leader Kjærgaard and an 18-year-old who has only one professional game left on the left. Although the Clark-Bajcetic pairing was good, it was difficult without a destroyer. The average age of the squad is 22.4 years – too hot, even for a club like this.
But Sparta’s centre-forward Olatunji scored 1+1. Happy Champions League debut, Klopp’s former assistant Pep Lijnders!
The broadcasting rights for the Champions League in Russia belong to the Okko online cinema.
Shakhtar missed a penalty – zero against Bologna
Bologna in the Champions League is an event for several generations: before today’s match, they had only been there in the 1964/65 season. But the match with the Pitmen did not start solemnly: the opponent opted for the tactic of long shots and deserved a penalty in the first minutes. Georgiy Sudakov, one of the main prospects of Ukrainian football, came close to shoot, but Skorupski played wonderfully: he saved the shot.
Immediately after this event, the pattern of the game changed: the Italians quickly remembered the basics of attacking football and, as a result, made 17 shots (while Shakhtar only made four). The segments of the end of the first half and the beginning of the second were especially hot, but they failed to convert into goals. After the 60th minute, the forces gradually decreased and the match ended 0-0.
A little boring.
The broadcasting rights for the Champions League in Russia belong to the Okko online cinema.
Defeat and pain – Girona lost dramatically
Russian football fans watched PSG’s match with interest because of one special event: Matvey Safonov made his debut. Our goalkeeper did a minimum of work, but still managed to score once: in the 42nd minute, Stuani won the fight in the penalty area and tried to shoot or make a concession to his teammate. The moment looked dangerous, but Matvey made up for the defense’s loss with a jump: he managed to move the ball away from the penalty area in time.
But Safonov’s counterpart, opposing goalkeeper Gassanig, put in a truly astonishing performance. Paris fired 26 shots, with the goalkeeper first taking out Dembélé and then Colo-Mouany. Midway through the second half, Usman fired a powerful shot from a standing position into the near top corner; Gassaniga reacted and miraculously hit the crossbar. Kolo-Muani made a dangerous shot from close range – another success. And Dembélé himself ruined the goal for two to zero, also without the help of the goalkeeper (although more likely due to his clumsiness).
Ousmane Dembele
Photo: Harry Langer/Getty Images
Misfortune came from an unexpected place: already in added time, the jet-setting Nuno Mendes shook Arnau and burst close to the goal to cross. Who would have thought that Paulo would let such a fun shot slip through his legs? Curiosity. Defeatist.
The broadcasting rights for the Champions League in Russia belong to the Okko online cinema.
Celtic just destroyed Slovan
The Slovak league leaders barely held on in the first half of the away game in Scotland, and really fell apart in the second: two goals in the first ten minutes and two more on the scoreboard towards the end. Not only did nothing go right in attack, but they also had no time in defence: Celtic played like a clip at 1.75x display speed and cleverly managed to shake things up with through balls. Three times the centre-backs failed to block the opposing forwards after a cross!
It was a failed debut. The only positive thing was a beautifully scored goal: Wimmer managed to skillfully shoot with the outside of his foot and it went straight into the top corner. Hello Quaresma.
Champions League Final Remake – Zeros
City and Inter were given the main flag of the day, but they justified it regularly: on the one hand, we saw high-quality football, but on the other, we were completely deprived of goals. Guardiola usually played total football, with control and dominance, but he failed to take advantage of the territorial advantage, especially in the first half. At first, the attacks went through the newcomer Savio: the Brazilian did a good job of shaking the opponent on the right flank and drawing attention, and then abruptly changed direction to the opposite flank. In the second half, there were more crosses and openings from Gundogan from distance: the German shot dangerously a couple of times, but straight into the hands of Sommer.
The Italians, for their part, did not forget about attacking either: in the segments they were even sharper. In matches against City, the main thing is not to miss the moments to get out of the pressure, and Inzaghi managed to organize such a game: almost all the moments came after smart actions of the midfielders. For example, in the 16th minute, Barella made a beautiful backheel and knocked down several opposing defenders at once; in the 32nd minute, Zielinski attracted three of them and almost led the team to the most dangerous attack: he gave Dias a yellow card. Thuram was very useful, winning several important duels ahead due to his size. Calhanoglu proved his worth in defense, saving a couple of times at the last moment. Sommer put the ball in: all the shots went into his hands. Mkhitaryan missed the great opportunity in the middle of the second half.
Marcos Thuram
Photo: Carl Recine/Getty Images
The chances were equal: zero in the end.
Borussia’s victory was brought about by the talent that came on as a substitute
One of the most interesting matches of the day took place in Belgium. The score is 0:3, but in reality Brugge was sometimes even closer to victory: on xG they scored one and a half goals, but in the end they fell apart. In the first half, Skov Olsen fell apart: almost all of the home team’s attacks went through the Dane: he aggravated, beat and was creative.
And Borussia didn’t attack so dangerously at first, but Bayno Gittens came on in the 68th minute and they became more fresh. Just eight minutes later, the full-back scored, and shortly after that he scored twice. In the end, Serou Guirassi scored his first goal for his new club from the penalty spot. Added bonus! Gittens became the second youngest player (20 years 41 days) to score two goals after being substituted in a Champions League match. The first was Monaco’s David Trezeguet in 1997 (20 years 7 days).
Jamie Bynoe-Gittens (right)
Photo: Ralf Ibing/Getty Images
There were fewer heads today than yesterday, but there was enough sparkle. And tomorrow we have other top matches: Barça, Arsenal, Atlético and Bayer are playing!
Read more about the evening’s main matches here:
