ITS BACK!

European club football’s highest and most prestigious tournament has returned, and with it, all the drama that Tuesday and Wednesday night football brings. With Europe’s biggest and best clubs and players battling it out across 2 nights a week of sheer footballing brilliance, it is truly the most enjoyable competition that I can think of (apart from the Championship arguably, but that’s for another day).

This seasons’ edition is possibly the most intriguing for some time, as superstar players have made shocking transfer moves, while it truly could be anyone trophy this year, with some major players at a crossroads, while others are steamrolling domestically and are a force to be reckoned with in the Champions League.

After just 1 gameweek round of fixtures, already we have an insight into the tournament, and what is to come in the coming weeks and months. In this post, we have picked out a few headline talking points from the first round of group games to digest and take forward. We will be producing these posts every Champions League week, so if something catches your eye, let us know about it on Twitter (@NextGoalWinBlog) and we might just include it.

Enjoy.

United Embarrassed By Young Boys

The phrasing of this point has been… challenging… however to put it simply and with context, Manchester United despite splashing the cash in the summer, having a packed squad of experienced superstars and a board that have ‘full faith’ in the coach, were simply embarrassed as they were outplayed in Switzerland against the impressive Young Boys. While, to treat any Champions League side as an ‘underdog’ is ridiculous, nobody really gave the Swiss side a chance against this impressive United side being led by ‘Mr Champions League’ Cristiano Ronaldo. However, despite their talismanic striker opening the scoring, a red-card for full-back Wan-Bissaka meant United had to flip the script and stop pressing for a second and instead were forced to retreat, leaving their goalscorer isolated and prone to the Young Boys attack. After the red card, there appeared to be a mess of instructions and understanding, with half the squad thinking they should be pressing for a second, while the other half were trying to retreat, resulting in a chaotic mess and clear weakness which was exposed on the big stage. In the final minute of the match, Young Boys forward Siebatcheu claimed the historic victory and ensured a brilliant start to the campaign for the Swiss outfit, while Manchester United will need to rethink themselves if they wish to progress past the group stages.

Hits & Misses

The likes of Juventus, Chelsea, Liverpool and Real Madrid all got off to a winning, start in fairly respectable terms, however the big hitters were surely Manchester City who secured a 6-3 victory to start their campaign against a decent Leipzig side. With 6 different scorers, Pep’s side look a real threat as they will look to go one better than last years’ runners up spot. Another big hitter, and truly showing the contrast of hits & misses was Bayern Munich’s 3-0 win over Barcelona. With Lewandowski bagging 2 of the 3, he looks in serious form once again as the goal machine ploughs through European defences. Although not quite the embarrassing result of their previous meeting, this win still highlights Bayern’s threat and emphasises Barcelona’s deficiencies as they continue to regroup and reset the club inside and out.

Going Dutch

My most impressive side from Gameweek 1, was in the Sporting Lisbon vs Ajax match, where the Dutch side left as 5-1 winners. Although often understated but well respected, Ajax this season look a real force in the Champions League, and this opening result lays down a marker that they are to be respected, and should cruise through the group stages and possibly could create a few possible upsets later in the tournament as they are on my radar as possibly going far in the Champions League this season. It wasn’t just the victory that impressed, but also the manner of dominance as they were 2-0 up inside the first 10 minutes. Furthermore, this wasn’t a poor side that they were against, and Sporting themselves are a decent unit that will feel humiliated by this result. Therefore, as my ‘team of the gameweek’, Ajax have set a real precedent for the season with this victory, and in a fairly tough group, Besiktas and Dortmund will be on watch following this result.