Champions League Review: A Deluge Of Goals As Youth Rules For Barcelona And Bayern

The large winners

Barcelona’s younker system. Ahead of Sunday’s version of El Clásico betwixt Barcelona and Real Madrid, nan 2 clubs won their midweek matches. Real Madrid’s opponents were Juventus, successful nan type of heavyweight conflict nan Champions League’s rejig into a 36-team group shape was expected to propulsion up connected a regular basis. Wednesday’s gathering fell short of classical encounters for illustration 2003’s gathering of Madrid’s Luís Figo and Zinedine Zidane pinch Juve’s Pavel Nedvěd and Alessandro Del Piero. In 2025, Juventus are not nan unit of yore, though they made Madrid sweat. The sole extremity came from Jude Bellingham, England’s awesome enigma.

Barcelona meanwhile, proceed to show nan extent of their La Masia younker academy. Fermín López, 22, scored a hat-trick, while 17-year-old attacking midfielder Pedro “Dro” Fernández supplied an assistance connected his Champions League debut successful a 6-1 drubbing of Olympiakos. Last weekend, Toni Fernández, six months younger than Pedro, started against Girona successful La Liga. Each whitethorn play immoderate portion successful Sunday’s large match, pinch Madrid 2 points up of their eternal rivals.

Bayern Munich. Another European elephantine is enjoying a flowering of youth. On Tuesday, Bayern’s coach, Vincent Kompany signed a three-year hold aft his side’s faultless commencement to nan Bundesliga campaign. The nine level approves of Kompany’s blooding of players for illustration Lennart Karl and Wisdom Mike, 2 much 17-year-olds. Karl, whose muscular 5ft 6in framework recalls 1990s German awesome Thomas Hässler, completed a solo effort pinch a good decorativeness to go his club’s youngest ever Champions League scorer successful a 4-0 thrashing of Club Brugge.

“He simply has balls,” said teammate and midfielder Aleksandar Pavlović, who, astatine 21, is different youngster Kompany is trusting. Meanwhile, Harry Kane continued an unthinkable scoring run, and has now notched 20 goals successful 12 games crossed each competitions this season. He has only grounded to people successful 1 of those games, and successful that 1 he registered 2 assists. Meanwhile, Luis Díaz, nan summer’s large signing, scored his first Champions League extremity for Bayern. Díaz is making his champion ever commencement to a play pinch 7 goals and 4 assists from 12 matches.

Premier League strength. This week saw a deluge of goals – 71 complete 2 nights, 43 connected Tuesday. This makes for a awesome highlights package, but questions of competitory equilibrium whitethorn beryllium raised. Five Premier League clubs enjoyed comfortable wins, including Liverpool ending their losing run by winning 5-1 astatine Eintracht Frankfurt. Newcastle beating Benfica 3-0 and Chelsea’s 5-1 triumph complete Ajax were punishing defeats for 2 classical clubs from nan European Cup era. Arsenal’s 4-0 conclusion of Atlético Madrid was possibly astir striking. Mikel Arteta’s squad were excessively powerful for Diego Simeone’s to withstand. The breakthrough, a Gabriel header, was their 10th set-piece extremity this season.

As Manchester City won 2-0 astatine Villarreal, Erling Haaland extended his scoring tally to 12 matches, closing successful connected Robert Lewandowski’s tally of 15 successful 2021 – nan champion specified people this century. Letting nan English broadside down was Tottenham’s 0-0 tie astatine Monaco, who took 21 shots connected Guglielmo Vicario’s goal. A look successful nan crowd connected Wednesday was Paul Pogba, yet to statesman his comeback astatine Monaco from his narcotics prohibition aft different setback successful training.

Player of nan week

Dennis Man, PSV Eindhoven. The week’s astir striking consequence was PSV’s 6-2 conclusion of Napoli, pinch US striker Ricardo Pepi scoring arsenic a substitute. It was Man, a Romanian winger, astatine nan centre of things. He had 2 goals and a bid of dribbles into nan bosom of nan Italian champions’ defence. Man’s 2nd goal, his team’s fourth, was nan highlight, drilled pinch his near foot. The first was a delicate finish.

“As I’ve said galore times before, you shouldn’t constitute players disconnected aft a fewer weeks,” said nan PSV coach Peter Bosz of a subordinate criticised since signing from Parma.

They said it

“The biggest objection for maine coming compared to nan different games we’ve played was nan playing style of our opponent. We sewage immoderate power retired of nan moments we could property them, which successful nan past 4 aliases 5 games we played we were not capable to property nan force because nan shot wasn’t connected nan ground, it was successful nan air.”

– Liverpool head Arne Slot comments connected nan triumph successful Frankfurt, and inadvertently issues Brentford head Keith Andrews his tactical scheme for nan team’s crippled connected Saturday. (And astir apt everyone aft that, too.)

The pundit’s chair

“I stay convinced that if nan Paris Saint-Germain players negociate to support this joyousness of playing together, they will ever negociate to execute well. It feels for illustration they still person room for improvement.”

– France 1998 World Cup victor Emmanuel Petit, speaking connected RMC aft nan defending champions won 7-2 astatine Bayer Leverkusen.

Looking ahead

The 4th week throws up a existent heavyweight conflict arsenic PSG look Bayern. The Parisians are not having it their measurement successful Ligue 1, wherever Roberto De Zerbi’s Marseille are leaders; Marseille’s nonaccomplishment to Sporting Club connected Wednesday had nan Italian fuming. Bayern, aft caller turbulence, are backmost dominating nan Bundesliga. This 1 mightiness good beryllium a barren tally for a higher stakes gathering successful nan second stages.

Real Madrid v Liverpool fits a akin measure – Xabi Alonso facing Slot, pinch nan Basque Real Madrid leader having been galore people’s prime to win Jürgen Klopp. In nan Champions League era, Madrid person beaten Liverpool successful 2 finals, though a 2-0 Liverpool triumph past November astatine Anfield successful nan group shape loosened Carlo Ancelotti’s tenure, a nighttime erstwhile Kylian Mbappé and Mohamed Salah some missed penalties.