To Doug McIntyre
FOX Sports and Soccer Writer
Second Matchday for 2022-23 UEFA Champions League After 16 games on Tuesday and Wednesday, we’re done.
Competition for the world’s top clubs has been forced to take an 18-day hiatus for the international break in September, but this week’s trends give us a lot to think about. as follows.
PSG elastic bundle
It is a miracle that Maccabi Haifa qualified for the tournament. Still, they were there on Wednesday, leading a side led by Lionel Messi, Kylian Mbappe and Neymar, with Charon Shelley’s 24th-minute opening goal.
A previous version of Paris Saint-Germain’s all-planet team may have self-destructed after scoring a goal far from home against such a minnow. I went back to work instead of doing it. Messi equalized before half-time and scored 126 goals in the Champions League.
PSG’s other two headliners won comfortably 3–1 after the break. Reflecting PSG’s perfect start, Benfica needed a win to retain the lead in Group H after shocking Juventus in Turin. More than that, it suggests that the club’s apparent maturity in Messi’s second season in France is no mirage.
do not stop man city Also Erling Harland
Perfectly set up for Erling Haaland. The runaway goal leader in the Premier League faced his former side Borussia Dortmund for the first time since joining the English champions in the summer. The game was home. The huge Norwegian striker was desperate to score against his old teammate.
Maybe too desperate. For most of the match, Haaland was frustrated. It seems like those old teammates were the only ones who knew how to incapacitate him. When English midfielder Jude Bellingham gave Dortmund his 1–0 lead early in the second half, it looked to the visitors that he even had a chance to score all three points.
Defender John Stones’ 80th-minute equalizer finally gave City the equalizer and some momentum. At that point, everyone inside the City of Manchester Stadium knew what was going to happen next. Sure enough, Harland scored the winner later in an acrobatic fashion moment.
what i’m looking for liverpool?
Last week’s embarrassing surrender in Napoli was the Reds’ worst defeat in the Jürgen Klopp era. After the Premier League canceled all matches last weekend following the death of Queen Elizabeth II, they also spent seven excruciating days thinking about it.
Needless to say, the response at Anfield against Ajax on Tuesday was essential. The home side got off to a good start with a goal from Mohamed Salah in the 14th minute, but it was canceled soon after by the away side. The Reds pushed desperately in the second half, but looked far from the cohesive, free-flowing offense they have seen in recent seasons. Still in a stalemate in the 89th minute, Liverpool finally broke through, with central defender Joel Matip scoring the second-half winner.
It was a well-deserved and much-needed victory — the kind that could revitalize not only the rest of Klopp’s many Champions League campaigns, but the Premier League season as well.
Juventus Trouble, tottenham
Juventus may be forgiven for losing almost one leg to an undefensive Kylian Mbappe in last week’s Champions League opener in Paris.
Wednesday was another matter.
At home against Benfica, Juventus were ahead 1-0 after just four minutes. The Portuguese side then completely dominated and entered his locker room on every square at half-time thanks to João Mario’s penalty. In fact, the hosts were lucky not to lose.
Their luck ran out in the second half. David Neres led the visitors through and they never looked back. Juve, who sit eighth in Serie A, are already in trouble with his two games left in the European campaign.
The issue is less of a concern for Tottenham. Still, the good vibes left by Spurs’ second-half win over Marseille last week evaporated in Tuesday’s 2-0 defeat at Sporting Lisbon. For the second time in a row, Antonio Conte’s team has a difficult road ahead.
Barcelona there is a way to go
The summer arrival of star striker Robert Lewandowski has transformed Barcelona in the post-Lionel Messi era at the Camp Nou. But the presence of Lewandowski and his fellow new signers Marcos Alonso and Andreas Christensen on Tuesday, when Barca traveled to Germany to face Bayern Munich (Lewandowski’s former team) It wasn’t good enough.
The point is clear. Barcelona have undoubtedly improved (Bayern beat Barcelona twice in the group stage last season with an aggregate score of 6-0), but it will take him at least a year before the six-time European champion becomes legal. Or he will take two years. Another title candidate.
Still, after failing to get out of group play last year, they don’t have to… yet. Simply surviving a group that includes the third continental heavyweight (Inter Milan) is another sign of progress.
One of North America’s leading football journalists, Doug McIntyre has covered the US men’s and women’s national teams at multiple FIFA World Cups. He was a staff writer at ESPN and Yahoo Sports before joining FOX Sports in 2021. Follow him on Twitter @ByDoug McIntyre.
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