UCL: GW 5 REVIEW

Leipzig, Liverpool held to draws at home and the Barca trident on the score sheet.

We take a sneak peek into the happenings across Europe as we look at the performances this week from Europe's elite competition.

Barcelona was on song when Borussia Dortmund visited the Nou Camp. Messi was at his magnificent best as he assisted two goals and scored on his 700th appearance. Jadon Sancho came on to give the away side some hope when he pulled one back and had a shot deflected onto the crossbar. Lucien Favre approached the game to hold the Catalonians and hit on the counter, but  Niko Schulz failed to take his chance early on.  Messi took over and was at his mesmerising best.
Lautaro Martinez and Lukaku are forming the best strike partnership. The latter troubled opposition defenders with his brute strength and link-up play and he got his first UCL goal for Inter. Lautaro's brace showed his great positional play.  Antonio Conte was his animated self on the touchline.

Frank Lampard was unlucky to leave Spain with all 3 points as there was another VAR drama involved. Kepa made a great stop to Dani Parejo's penalty but just watched on as Daniel Wass' attempted cross hit the upright to turn in. Ajax was away in France and got the deserved win as Lille kept on fluffing their lines. Erik Ten Haag got away with a 2-0 victory. 
Mourinho got his first CL victory with Spurs as the comeback was spurred by Harry Kane and Dele Alli to make it 4-2 against Olympiakos. Robert Lewandowski also got four against Red Star Belgrade. The Czech Republican could not survive the onslaught from the Bavarians.

Paulo Dybala got the only goal of the encounter when Juventus squared off against Atletico Madrid. He hit a freekick across the face of goal as it curled in at Oblak's far post. Manchester City salvaged a point when Gundogan got the equalizer for Pep's side at home against Shakthtar. Atalanta did well to grab their first win of the campaign as they saw off Dinamo Zagreb at home.
Haaland put the game to bed as RB Salzburg got the better of Genk. Genk managed to pull one back, but could not match the strength of the Red Bull outfit.

Real Madrid and PSG set up a mouth-watering encounter at the Bernabeu. Karim Benzema got the two goals for the Los Blancos, but two late goals from the French side put them level as they grabbed a point to still lead the group. Mbappe and Sarabia got the goals for the PSG as Hazard walked off injured.
Dries Mertens got Van Dijk on the turf as he raised through the Red's defence to get Napoli's goal before the break. Carlo Ancelotti kept it tight till the Lovren got the better of Mertens in the box to score from a corner.

A good week of UCL football but other teams need to wait until the last game week to see it through.
Player of the week. Robert Lewandowski.

UCL: GW 5 PREVIEW

The UCL has returned with Jose Mourinho; Who else joins Bayern, Paris SG, and Juventus in the last 16?


The international break does not appear any sooner than in March, and that leaves a list of grueling fixtures for clubs as the UCL group stages edges closer to the end.We do a deep dive into some of the matches across Europe this week as we look at possible qualifications and what teams need to do to book qualification to the last 16. 

PSG and Real Madrid will go at each other again tomorrow night at the Bernabeu. It was a horror show for the Spanish giants in the first game week. Angel Di Maria was at his magnificent best in that encounter. Thomas Tuchel has the firepower in his arsenal to go away from home and cause Zidane trouble. Zidane should be able to match the technical nous of Tuchel to keep the scoreline respectful as qualification for either team looks a sure bet.
Juventus will welcome the visit of Atletico Madrid in Turin. A stalemate in the previous encounter leaves everything on the line as Diego Simeone will be looking to seal qualification after his loss to Bayer Leverkusen. Atletico is known for its work-rate and rugged footballing approach and seems to have lost that. A victory will be a psychological boost to Diego Simeone's side. Juventus, on the one hand, having qualified must see the rest of the games through for the competition's formality. 

Mourinho made a return to the dugout as he took over from Pochettino. A turbulent victory over the weekend but he returns to Champions League action with Spurs as they play host to Olympiacos. It will be a boost for him if he can make it two wins from two games to kickstart his managerial career at the Tottenham Hotspur stadium. Pep Guardiola will need just a point to make it to the knockout phase but needs to skip the Shakhtar Donetsk hurdle.
Dinamo Zagreb can reach the last 16 after a long time out of the UCL if they can collect all 3 points from Atalanta provided City get the victory over their opponents.
 
Ernesto Valverde has not convinced fans with some of his matchday performances with the most recent one against Slavia Praha a worrying highlight. Borussia Dortmund did well to hold Barcelona in GW 1. A loss to Borussia Dortmund and Europa league looms for Barcelona if Inter gets the better of Slavia Praha. Antonio Conte needs points to make it out of the group stages and would fancy this matchup against Slavia Praha as the footballing of the Czech Republican side has been awful. They managed to get a draw against Barcelona and Inter though.
RB Leipzig sit on top of Group G with Lyon tailing them. Lyon will await Zenit in France and must be up to the task to keep pressure on Leipzig. A victory for Zenit opens up qualification chances as well. Julian Nagelsmann will be up against Benfica who languish at the bottom.  

Jurgen Klopp and Carlo Ancelotti will be meeting for the fourth time in the last 2 UCL campaigns. Many Liverpudlians will remember the famous save from Allison in the dying minutes and Salah's turn off Koulibaly to score the only goal of the game at Anfield last season. Ancelotti visits again, but his run of poor results domestically makes this entirely difficult counting the kind of team the Reds are on their home turf.
The holders must beat Napoli to make it out of the group, and that will surmount to no pressure in the last game week. Erling Braut Haaland is red hot as he keeps banging the goals. A win for them keeps CL hopes alive if Napoli lose as Genk stand no chance at all now.
Chelsea will make the flight to Valencia in Spain. Lampard lost this game by a goal to nil the last time out. He got the win against Ajax away from home and can do same against Albert Celades' men. Valencia must get this win to make chances of qualification easy but at the expense of Lampard's Chelsea. Lille is out of the competition and will play host to Ajax. It is 7 points for Ajax, Chelsea and Valencia and just two places for qualification. Who makes it out? 

UCL: GW 4 REVIEW

Bayern Munich & Paris SG seal qualification, City need to wait and Rodrygo's brilliance highlighted.

The races are gradually inching closer to the final stages with calculations not appearing good for some teams. Bayern Munich and Paris SG have safely made it out of the groups unscathed and will be waiting for their opponents in the round of 16 despite having two games left to play. 

Real Madrid found their groove with Rodrygo having to make the perfect life at the Bernabeu as he got a hattrick in a six-goal thriller. Galatasaray will be disappointed with their start to the campaign. The team is yet to score a goal and have conceded eight goals in the four matches played. Sergio Ramos and Benzema's brace put the icing on the cake for the Los Blancos. 

Mauro Icardi got the only goal of the game as PSG beat Club Brugge to make it into the round of 16. Bayern Munich had a disappointing first half, goals from Lewandowski and Ivan Perisic sealed it for the Bavarians. Tottenham Hotspur enjoyed their trip away in Serbia as they put four past Red Star Belgrade. Olympiacos sit at the bottom with just a point; it is all but over for them. 

Manchester City must wait until the next game week to assure qualification. A defeat will leave it until the last game week. Mario Pasalic cancelled out Sterling's goal earlier in the second half. Kyle Walker will be proud to have debuted in post and not concede for the final ten minutes after Bravo was sent off. 

Dinamo Zagreb shot themselves in the foot when they blew away a two-goal cushioning late in injury time. Shakhtar Donetsk levelled the score with a penalty late on as the game ended with a red card each for both teams. 

Bayer Leverkusen picked up their first win of the campaign as they held on to a 2-1 lead at the Bay Arena. Alvaro Morata got the consolation goal with stoppage time left to play after Thomas Partey's miscued header to clear from a corner. Kevin Volland got the second goal for the Germans. Juventus left it late on a tricky night away in Russia. Miranchuk followed in on his header which hit the upright to cancel Ramsey's goal - Ronaldo would have loved to claim that. Ramsey just made sure the ball fully crawled in though. Sorry, Ronaldo. 

Napoli's draw at home in Naples to RB Salzburg sees Liverpool now top group E. Liverpool saw off Genk in a not so ruthless fashion but did the needed to get all 3 points. Erling Haaland occupies the top spot on the CL goals chart with seven goals. Napoli has not lost a game yet, a win in the next game week gives them the upper hand, and that depends on their trip to Anfield.

Barcelona was at the Camp Nou when Slavia Praha held Ernesto Valverde's men to a goalless draw. Inter Milan gave away a two-goal advantage at the Signal Iduna. Hakimi Achraf added to his CL goal tally when he fuelled the come-back with a brace. Hakimi's goals sandwiched Julian Brandt's goal for the equaliser.

Chelsea and Ajax served fans with a blockbuster. Ajax left the home fans biting their nails when they went up 4-1. Jorginho slotted home two penalties and Reece James got his first senior goal to ensure it ended at 4-4. Two straight red cards to the centre backs of Ajax was harsh. Lille have very few to munch on after Valencia beat them 4-1. Leipzig saw off Zenit away at the Gazprom Arena. Lyon did enough to get within reach of Leipzig as they beat Benfica 3-1.

 


Player of the week: Rodrygo. 
Any other? Leave your comments and we can talk about the goal of the week as well. 

UCL Preview: GW 4

UCL Returns; Reverse fixtures begin and proviso quod for points to be bagged for qualification assurance.

Fixtures will reciprocate in the next game week ahead of clashes in the UCL. 

IC: gettyimages.

We are halfway through in the group stages. Chances of qualification are aplenty and with three games to go teams will pick as many points as possible to easily make it out of the groups.

Lucien Favre must make the most of the clash against Internazionale. A dagger in the final minutes from Candreva was hard to take. There is indeed another opportunity for Dortmund to make it right when Antonio Conte makes the trip to the Signal Iduna. Both teams have a win, draw and a loss and winning this game gives one the nod over the other. Barcelona, on the one hand, has taken the front foot and leads the group with 7 points. They face Slavia Prague who languish at the bottom of the group with just a point. They must protect their legacy and do their best.
The Reds will wait for the arrival of Genk at Anfield. Klopp gallantly dispatched Mazzu's men in the reverse fixture away from home. Anfield has been a fortress and Genk must be 200% motivated to be able to nick a point from the current holders come Tuesday night. RB Salzburg with Erling Haaland is prolific and was left gnashing in the previous encounter after his brace could not help salvage a point. Napoli did well to get the away victory but must finish the job when they meet again.

The Marvel-DC crossover got the victory far away in Amsterdam. Erik Ten Haag was utterly bewildered when Pulisic teed up Batshuayi to score the only goal. Odds were against Chelsea as they went away from home. Ajax must now dig deep to get points to keep the consistency. Ziyech was on song at the weekend and must replicate the same form when they make this trip to the bridge. Timo Werner played 45 mins of the encounter when these two met earlier. He scored three goals and assisted another three over the weekend and must win to be at the summit of the table. Nagelsmann has Zenit in his way and will trust his boys to deliver.

PSG had a blithe disregard for the footballing culture in Belgium as they dispatched Club Brugge with ease. Club Brugge must hope to ramraid the French champions to assure qualification proviso Real Madrid lose points when they face Galatasaray.
Crvena Zvezda will welcome the visit of Tottenham. It was a horror show in the last game week for Vladan Milojević as Spurs hit five past his team. Pochettino for all the troubles he is facing this season managed to get it right and must continue in the same vein on the road. It was not onesided when Bayern went away to Greece. They fought hard to get the victory. It would have been farcical a fortnight ago to say Bayern would make this clash without Niko Kovac but now it sure isn't.

Pep Guardiola showed some nerves of steel last weekend and can keep it going when they travel to Italy to face Atalanta who sit at the bottom. Juventus will also be going away in the coming game week with the clash against Lokomotiv in the waiting.
Bayer Leverkusen will play host to Atletico Madrid in Germany. Atletico were narrow victors in the last clash and were not so convincing but got the victory via Alvaro Morata. Peter Bosz finds his team at the bottom of the group with no points and has Diego Simeone to contend with.