Lionel Messi netted his 95th & 96th UCL goals
Kylian Mbappe & Neymar scored on their PSG CL debuts
Edinson Cavani became PSG's all time top scorer in the CL
Marcus Rashford & Romelu Lukaku netted on their Man United CL debuts
Robert Lewandowski netted his 10th goal in 11 CL appearances for Bayern Munich
Chelsea recorded the joint highest CL victory
UEFA Champions League
Matchday 1 - Tuesday
The Champions League Group Stages for the 2017/18 campaign kicked-off in stunning fashion, featuring teams in Group A-D. The 16 teams scored 28 goals, which saw 4 Home wins & 3 Away wins and one 0-0 draw. There were some crucial winner along with a few memorable goals for debutantes and record Champions League goalscorers. So let's get straight into the action.
| # | Club(s) | Matches | +/- | Pts | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  | Man Utd  | 1 | 3 | 3 |
| 2 |  | CSKA Moscow | 1 | 1 | 3 |
| 3 |  | Benfica   | 1 | -1 | 0 |
| 4 |  | FC Basel   | 1 | -3 | 0 |
| # | Club(s) | Matches | +/- | Pts | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  | Paris SG  | 1 | 5 | 3 |
| 2 |  | Bayern Munich  | 1 | 3 | 3 |
| 3 |  | RSC Anderlecht  | 1 | -3 | 0 |
| 4 |  | Celtic   | 1 | -5 | 0 |
| # | Club(s) | Matches | +/- | Pts | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  | Chelsea  | 1 | 6 | 3 |
| 2 |  | Atlético Madrid | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 3 |  | AS Roma | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 4 |  | Qarabag Agdam   | 1 | -6 | 0 |
| # | Club(s) | Matches | +/- | Pts | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  | FC Barcelona  | 1 | 3 | 3 |
| 2 |  | Sporting CP | 1 | 1 | 3 |
| 3 |  | Olympiacos  | 1 | -1 | 0 |
| 4 |  | Juventus   | 1 | -3 | 0 |
FC Barcelona (3-0) Juventus
Scorer(s)
Messi 45', 69'
Rakitic 56'
Perhaps the biggest game of the Group Stages this week was played at the Nou Camp in Spain which saw the Home side FC Barcelona get a comfortable 3-0 win against last seasons Italian CL finalists Juventus as Lionel Messi led the team to a fantastic opening day victory.
Messi opened the scoring on the night at half-time after he played a neat one-two with Luis Suarez to drill a shot past Juventus keeper Gianluigi Buffon for the first time.
In the second half, Messi saw his shot cleared off the line only for Ivan Rakitic to tuck the ball home to give Barcelona a comfortable advantage.
Messi rounded off Barcelona's fantastic night after beating the Juventus defense to score a stunning 20 yard strike; his 96th CL goal for Barcelona.
With 3 points & a clean sheet, this victory for Barcelona will prove to be very valuable for the race to finish top of the group. Juventus would want to put their result & performance behind them and look forward to their next home game in the CL.
Celtic (0-5) PSG
Scorer(s)
Neymar 19'
Mbappe 34'
Cavani (P) 40', 85'
Lustig (OG) 83'
Group B saw French club PSG inflicted Celtic's heaviest ever European defeat by trashing them 0-5 at home as PSG's front-men Kylian Mbappe, Neymar & Edinson Cavani put in a solid performance.
Neymar, the world's most expensive signing took just 19 minutes to calmly score his first European goal for PSG, who then turned provided for Mbappe, another PSG debutante in the CL.
Just before half-time, Edinson Cavani converted from the spot after he was brought down in the box.
A late own-goal in the 83rd minute by Mikael Lustig was followed by a diving Edinson Cavani header to score his 2nd goal on the night, taking his tally to 22 European goals for PSG. Their higher goal difference of 5 keeps them top of their group ahead of Bayern Munich.
Bayern Munich (3-0) Anderlecht
Scorer(s)
Lewandowski (P) 12'
Thiago 65'
Kimmich 90'
Red Card(s)
Kums 11'
Also in Group D, German Champions Bayern Munich comfortably beat Belgian side Anderlecht 3-0 at home to move to 2nd place behind PSG.
Anderlecht were down to 10-men in the 11th minute after Sven Kums was shown a straight red card for fouling Robert Lewandowski, who later converted the spot-kick, scoring his 6th goal of the season.
In the 2nd half, Joshua Kimmich crossed a perfect ball to Thiago who scored Bayern's 2nd on the night. Kimmich added a 3rd late in stoppage time which was set up by the returning Jerome Boateng.
Manchester United (3-0) FC Basel
Scorer(s)
Fellaini 35'
Lukaku 53'
Rashford 84'
Europa League Champions Manchester United marked their Champions League return in emphatic way by comfortably beating Swiss side Basel 3-0 to move top in Group A.
After the Red Devils lost Paul Pogba due to injury in the 19th minute, substitute Marouane Fellaini was unmarked in the box and pounced upon Ashley Young's perfect cross, heading United a first half lead.
Shortly in the 2nd half, Romelu Lukaku made room for himself in the box to head Daley Blind's cross to score his first ever Champions League goal & his 6th goal for United this season.
Another substitute Marcus Rashford scored on his Champions League debut via a Marouane Fellaini, curling an effort past the Basel keeper.
Chelsea (6-0) Qarabag
Scorer(s)
Pedro 5'
Zappacosta 30'
Azpilicueta 55'
Bakayoko 71'
Batshuayi 76'
Medvedev (OG) 82'
Chelsea made a serious impact on their Champions League return, thrashing CL debutants Qarabag 6-0, the joint highest victory in the Champions League.
With most of their first team rested, Pedro opened the scoring in the 5th minute by scoring a gorgeous 20-yard curler from the edge of the box.
The best goal on the night was scored by Right back Davide Zappacosta, who started his first game for Chelsea, running almost 50 yards down to see his long cross turn goal flying beyond the Qarabag keeper.
Into the 2nd half, Cezar Azpilicueta headed Chelsea's 3rd via a Cesc Fabregas cross. Tiemoue Bakayoko scored his first goal for Chelsea after firing a close range deflected shot.
Michy Batshuayi scored a goal from the outside of the box and then scrambled Zappacosta's cross which was later given as a Medvedev OG. Chelsea delivered a statement win on the night to move top of Group C.
Olympiakos (2-3) Sporting Lisbon
Scorer(s)
Doumbia 2'
Gelson Martins 13'
Bruno Fernandes 43'
Prado 89, 90+3'
In Group D, Sporting Lisbon began their CL campaign in a stunning way after 0-3 away at Olympiakos. Sporting have now scored 18 goals in their last 6 Away games in Europe.
Sporting were by far the dominant team in the first half, with Seydou Doumbia scoring in just 69 seconds, getting in between the centre backs to head the first goal of the match.
Gelson Martins doubled Sporting's advantage after a clinical finish following Doumbia's flick. Later, Bruno Fernandes tripled Sporting's lead to complete Olympiakos' nightmare first half.
A late rally by Prado's brace in the final minute plus injury time was too little too late as Sporting got a memorable win to move into 2nd place behind Barcelona in Group D.
SL Benfica (1-2) CSKA Moskva
Scorer(s)
Seferovic 50'
Vitinho 63' (P)
Zhamaletdinov 71'
CSKA Moskva earned a memorable come back win away to Benfica to move into 2nd place with 3 points behind Manchester United in Group A.
With a dull first half, the home side broke the deadlock after Haris Seferovic scored a neat close-range finish to hand Benfica the lead.
But a late rally by CSKA handed them an equalizing goal after Vitinho scored a penalty & substitute Timur Zhamaletdinov scored a poacher's goal to ensure CSKA left with 3 points and gain an early advantage to quality for the Round of 16.
AS Roma (0-0) Atletico Madrid
Italian side AS Roma & Spanish side Atletico Madrid played out a goalless draw as neither side's attack failed to find the breakthrough.
AS Roma goalkeeper Alisson ensured that the club at least left with a point after a couple of brilliant saves. It's a valuable point gained by Roma which could be useful for their possible qualification to the next round.
Similarly for Atletico, they need to put this result behind and take it as a point gained compared to two points lost and then concentrate on their next game against group leaders Chelsea.
Let's all hope for more of the same tonight in the other 8 fixtures.
No comments:
Post a Comment