Champions League Briefing: Arsenal’s assertion win – and why so many thrashings?
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Champions League Briefing: Arsenal’s assertion win – and why so many thrashings?

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In case you like your European midweek soccer that is the week for you, with 54 Champions League, Europa League and Convention League matches being crammed into three nights.

The Champions League kicked issues off with a number of the competitors’s favourites starting to reveal their tooth.

None of Arsenal, Manchester Metropolis or Barcelona managed to win on Matchday 1. That each one modified right now, however there have been loads of different sides vying for headlines with final season’s finalists Borussia Dortmund and shock package deal Brest each registering large victories.

Earlier than we run by way of the massive speaking factors from Tuesday’s motion, right here’s how the expanded group section desk seems to be. And a fast reminder of the brand new format: the highest eight sides will qualify robotically for the spherical of 16. Groups ending from ninth to twenty fourth will compete in a two-legged knock-out section play-off, with the winner of every match-up advancing to the final 16. Groups that end twenty fifth or decrease shall be eradicated.

Arsenal lastly get an enormous scalp

It’s been a while since Arsenal beat one in all European soccer’s large boys within the Champions League.

You need to return to 2015 and a 2-0 victory over Bayern Munich within the group phases (objectives from Olivier Giroud and Mesut Ozil) for an Arsenal victory over one the continent’s true elite.

Paris Saint-Germain is perhaps behind Arsenal when it comes to their redevelopment venture below Luis Enrique and the put up Kylian Mbappe period, however this 2-0 win on the Emirates nonetheless felt like a little bit of a press release victory for Mikel Arteta’s facet.

They did so regardless of having fewer pictures (6-10) and fewer of the ball (35 per cent-65 per cent) towards the French guests, who hit the woodwork by way of Nuno Mendes and Joao Neves and whose spectacular away help was vociferous all night time lengthy.

Arsenal took the lead when Kai Havertz, who had a wonderful sport up entrance, beat Gianluigi Donnarumma to Leandro Trossard’s teasing inswinging cross to attain at The Emirates for the sixth consecutive match.

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Video for U.S. readers

By half-time it was 2-0 when Bukayo Saka’s free-kick from out large was missed by three Arsenal gamers, but additionally by the hapless Donnarumma, who endured a tough night time.

PSG have now gone 4 Champions League video games with out one in all their gamers scoring a objective. As for Arsenal, their staunch defensive report continues with one other Champions League clear sheet and 4 factors from two powerful opening matches, after the 0-0 draw at Atalanta.

For a membership that certified for the Champions League for 19 years in a row between 1998 and 2017, Arsenal had been away for too lengthy.

However after reaching the quarter-finals final season, and shedding to Bayern, this extra mature Arsenal are undoubtedly among the many favourites to win the match this season.

Lewandowski the legend

Whenever you put collectively an all-time Champions League XI, Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi stroll into the facet — and Robert Lewandowski absolutely does too?

By way of the ahead positions you’ll in all probability additionally consider the likes of Karim Benzema, Raul, Ruud van Nistelrooy and Andriy Shevchenko as Champions League greats, however Lewandowski has scored greater than all of them.

In reality, after netting twice on Tuesday night time for Barcelona in their 5-0 hammering of Younger Boys, Lewandowski achieved one other private milestone in his unbelievable profession. He reached 10 objectives within the competitors for Barca, the third membership he has reached double figures for within the Champions League (69 for Bayern Munich and 17 for Borussia Dortmund).

Lewandowski, aged 36 and who has scored 9 objectives in all competitions this season already, is barely the second participant to handle this feat, after Ronaldo who achieved the identical with Actual Madrid, Juventus and Manchester United.

Barcelona’s common age was 21 and so they had eight youngsters within the squad, however the previous boy’s two objectives, each tap-ins contained in the six-yard field, showcased his acquainted predatory instincts on what was a really comfy night time for Barcelona, one which they wanted after shedding to Monaco on Matchday 1.

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Raphinha, Inigo Martinez and an personal objective from Mohamed Camara rounded off the scoring for Barcelona, who additionally welcomed again Frenkie de Jong from harm for a primary look since April.

By the way final yr’s Swiss champions Younger Boys, who misplaced 4-0 to Aston Villa final trip, may barely have had a worse begin to the season – they’re backside of the 36-team Champions League group and second backside within the Swiss Tremendous League.

Adeyemi overwhelms Celtic

Each hat-tricks on this yr’s group stage to this point have each been scored in Germany, with Karim Adeyemi following Harry Kane’s four-goal salvo for Bayern on Matchday 1 with a hat-trick for Borussia Dortmund on Tuesday night time.

Dortmund couldn’t fairly match Bayern’s 9-2 shellacking of Dinamo Zagreb from final month, however they got here fairly shut with a 7-1 humiliation of Celtic.

German worldwide ahead Adeyemi solely scored 5 instances in 34 appearances in all competitions final season, however he discovered the online 3 times in 31 minutes within the first half as Dortmund ripped Celtic’s atrocious defence to shreds.

After an early Emre Can penalty and an nearly instantaneous equaliser from Celtic’s in-form Japanese winger Daizen Maeda, 22-year-old Adeyemi scored his first after 11 minutes, then crashed a ferocious drive which beat Kasper Schmeichel at his close to put up to make it 3-1, earlier than finishing his hat-trick on 42 minutes with a tidy low shot previous Schmeichel.

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The proper night time? Properly, not fairly. On 48 minutes his night ended prematurely when he limped off the sphere with a hamstring harm, leaving Serhou Guirassy (along with his second objective) and Felix Nmecha to spherical off the scoring.

It was a bonkers sport. There have been 15 pictures on course from each groups (13 from Dortmund, two from Celtic) and eight objectives have been scored.

However as spectacular as Adeyemi and Dortmund have been, Celtic have been fairly hideous. In conceding 5 earlier than half-time, they grew to become the primary British group to concede 5 objectives within the first half of a sport in main European competitors since – and this shall be on the tip of your tongue – Cwmbran City vs Progresul Bucharest within the 1997-98 UEFA Cup Winners’ Cup.

It was additionally, extremely, their thirty first defeat from 37 Champions League group stage away video games. They usually have conceded exactly 100 objectives in these 37 video games. Ouch.

After beating Slovan Bratislava 5-1 at house on Matchday 1, Brendan Rodgers’ group are the Jekyll and Hyde of this yr’s Champions League.

No matter subsequent? Properly, Atalanta away.

High quality gulf yawns large

The Dortmund 7-1 and Barcelona 5-0 victories proceed a pattern within the new model of the Champions League – thrashings.

Additionally on Tuesday night time, Manchester Metropolis sauntered previous Slovan Bratislava 4-0, Inter Milan brushed apart Purple Star Belgrade at San Siro by the identical scoreline, whereas French facet Brest additionally gained 4-0 away at Purple Bull Salzburg.

For Metropolis, the excellent Jeremy Doku, enjoying on the proper of the ahead line, helped arrange their first two objectives and was one in all three gamers to hit the woodwork because the guests peppered their hosts with 28 pictures. Ilkay Gundogan, Phil Foden, Erling Haaland and a primary Champions League objective for James McAtee noticed Metropolis get their first win of this yr’s competitors.

After a 9-2, a 5-1 and one other 4-0 on Matchday 1, and with 27 video games so performed to this point, that is proving to be essentially the most goal-heavy Champions League since 2004-05, with 3.3 objectives per sport.

It additionally essentially the most one-sided Champions League in that interval — once more, very early days — with a mean margin of victory of two.86 objectives.

What may very well be behind the numbers? A bit extra freedom and a handbrake off for the massive boys owing to the probabilities of them failing to qualify for at the least the knockout play-off spherical being slim, sure, but additionally opening up the competitors to extra groups like might have diluted the standard.

Brest’s fairytale continues

Then once more, a group like Brest have come into the competitors for the primary time ever and made this Champions League lark look fairly straightforward.

Their 4-0 victory in Austria at Purple Bull Salzburg was arguably essentially the most spectacular win of Matchday 2.

Brest beat Sturm Graz on Matchday 1 and so they stored up an unlikely 100 per cent report with Senegalese ahead Abdallah Sima, on mortgage from Brighton, scoring twice.

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Brest, managed by one-time Sunderland midfielder Eric Roy, are additionally enjoying in Europe for the primary time within the membership’s historical past, not to mention the Champions League, a reward for ending third in Ligue 1 final season solely 5 years after profitable promotion from Ligue 2.

They usually’re not even enjoying at their very own stadium.

They misplaced quite a lot of key gamers in the summertime and might’t even play Champions League video games at their very own house, with the 15,000 capability Stade Francis-Le Ble lower than Champions League requirements (they’re internet hosting matches at Guingamp’s Stade du Roudourou as a substitute).


Brest rejoice their nice win in Salzburg (Kerstin Joensson/AFP)

Les Pirates may have been aiming for, what, eight to 10 factors to have an opportunity of reaching the play-off spherical? Properly they’ve six already with six matches nonetheless to play, greater than Manchester Metropolis, Arsenal, Barcelona and PSG have from their opening two video games.

In the meantime the group they thrashed, Purple Bull Salzburg managed by former Liverpool assistant supervisor Pep Lijnders, are enduring a nightmare begin to the group stage having misplaced 3-0 at Sparta Prague on Matchday 1.

Who’d be a supervisor, eh?

Tuesday’s outcomes

  • Purple Bull Salzburg 0 Brest 4
  • Stuttgart 1 Sparta Prague 1
  • Arsenal 2 PSG 0
  • Barcelona 5 Younger Boys 0
  • Bayer Leverkusen 1 AC Milan 0
  • Borussia Dortmund 7 Celtic 1
  • Inter Milan 4 Purple Star Belgrade 0
  • PSV 1 Sporting 1
  • Slovan Bratislava 0 Manchester Metropolis 4

What’s subsequent?

The remaining 9 fixtures for Matchday 2 of the eight-round group stage happen on Wednesday.

  • Girona vs Feyenoord (5.45pm BST/12.45pm ET)
  • Shakhtar Donetsk vs Atalanta (5.45pm BST/12.45pm ET)
  • Aston Villa vs Bayern Munich (8pm BST/3pm ET)
  • Benfica vs Atletico Madrid (8pm BST/3pm ET)
  • Dinamo Zagreb vs Monaco (8pm BST/3pm ET)
  • Lille vs Actual Madrid (8pm BST/3pm ET)
  • Liverpool vs Bologna (8pm BST/3pm ET)
  • RB Leipzig vs Juventus (8pm BST/3pm ET)
  • Sturm Graz vs Membership Bruges (8pm BST/3pm ET)

(Pictures: Getty Photographs)

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