Chance to regroup
Six of the best
This matchweek, Liverpool, Ajax and Bayern München made Champions League history: it was the first time that three sides have achieved perfect group-stage winning records in the same season. It’s the second time that Bayern have made it six out of six, having done the same two years ago; Milan, Paris, Spartak Moskow, Barcelona, and Real (twice) have all previously achieved it too. That, of course, makes Liverpool and Ajax the first sides to manage it from their respective countries.
Can the trio both keep this form going? Their achievements mean they are all seeded inMonday’s draw, so at least they know they’ll avoid each other in the round of 16.
Striking gold
As you may already know, Robert Lewandowski has enjoyed a goal or two during his career –and the 33-year-old Bayern München striker’s approach to finding the net has been no different this season. He decided to commemorate his impressive 100th appearance in the Champions League by scoring a hat-trick against Benfica on Matchday 4; that took his tally to 81, the most of any player on hitting a century of games.
The Pole has scored another one since then and sits third in the competition’s all-time top scorers list. Watch your backs, Leo and Ronnie.
Boys to men
Of course the Champions League is about the biggest teams and the biggest players, but it’s also about lesser lights getting the chance to shine. One of the best examples of that played out on Matchday 1, when Swiss side Young Boys cracked in a last-minute winner against the mighty Manchester United. To make it even sweeter, the scorer was Jordy Siebatcheu, who had come on as a substitute earlier in the game to make his Champions League debut.
“In my mind, the ball took ten years to go in the goal,” the American told us in issue 9. “When I saw it hit the net, there was an explosion of emotions.”
Kylian’s killing it
Paris Saint-Germain’s Kylian Mbappé didn’t hang around Tuesday, as he set about breaking a goal-scoring record belonging to an esteemed team-mate; 72 seconds, to be exact. That’s how long it took him to score against Club Brugge and become the youngest ever player to reach 30 Champions League goals. Lionel Messi did it when he was 23 years and 131 days old; the Frenchman was 22 years and 352 days old.
Mbappé then scored another one for good measure in the seventh minute, volleying in the ball as it came to him over his shoulder. Skills.
On with the show
Old Trafford has certainly provided theatre in the Champions League this season. In the Manchester United dugout, Ole Gunnar Solskjær left the club after nearly three years in charge; his interim replacement, Ralf Rangnick, will be hoping to bring his gegenpressing tactics to bear as the Reds head towards the knockouts.
One assumes the German coach will be making the most of Cristiano Ronaldo’s services. You could argue that the five-time winner of this competition has been responsible for nearly half of the points that United have gathered in the group stage, thanks to a couple of late winners and a late equaliser to boot.
Karim lives the dream
Salzburg have made it through to the knockout stages for the first time in their history – and it’s in no small part down to the exploits of Karim Adeyemi. Overall the 19-year-old finishes the group stage with three goals and two assists; on Wednesday night the German striker set up his team’s winner against Sevilla and his electric pace was also responsible for Joan Jordán getting sent off.
That’s nothing compared to the reverse fixture, mind you: four penalties were awarded in the first half of that one, with Adeyemi winning three of them for his side. All in all, he’s a very appropriate Champions Journal cover star for issue 10…
Xavi
When you’ve made 767 appearances for a club, winning four Champions League titles in the process, you’d think there’d be a distinct lack of unfinished business to attend to. Not so Xavi, who returned to his boyhood team as manager last month and announced, “We are Barcelona, the best club in the world.”
Alas, he couldn’t prevent Barcelona from failing to get out of the group stage for the first time in 17 years – nor is there any guarantee that they will qualify for next year’s competition, given their current standing in the Liga. Plenty of work to do for the former midfield maestro.
Happy Haller
Regular watches of the English Premier League would be forgiven for rubbing their eyes in disbelief on being confronted by the following stats. Sébastien Haller, who scored 14 times in 54 appearances across one-and-a-half seasons at West Ham, has plundered 10 goals in the group stage alone for Ajax this season.
In doing so, the Ivory Coast striker became the first ever player to score nine goals in their first five games, only the second player (after Cristiano Ronaldo) to score in all six Champions League group-stage games and only the fourth player to reach double figures in the group stage (Ronaldo again, Lionel Messi and Robert Lewandowski being the others). Now for the knockouts…
Like father, like son
Maldini and Weah playing in the Champions League? What is this, 1999?
We’re actually referring to the progeny of those footballing titans, who have something in common beyond famous fathers: they both made their debuts in the competition this season.
AC Milan winger Daniel Maldini made his inaugural appearance on Matchday 1, with his dad – now the club’s technical director – watching on from the Anfield stands as he came on. Meanwhile, LOSC forward Timothy Weah got his first taste of Champions League action against Salzburg on Matchday 2. An honourable mention too for Charlie Savage: he made an appearance for Manchester United on Wednesday night, something his father Robbie didn’t manage in his time at the club.
Thill thrill
It was 28 September 2021, Matchday 2, when one of the biggest shocks that this storied competition has ever seen took place on the hallowed turf of the Bernabéu. For that was the night that Sébastien Thill scored a last-minute winner for Moldovan league side Sheriff Tiraspol, ensuring that the Champions League debutants left the Spanish capital with a 2-1 win over the 13-time champions.
And as if Thill’s goal wasn’t historic enough, it was also the first to be scored by a Luxembourger in the European Cup.
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