Champions League returns back! And there were some memorable moments, What did we learn?
Last night, Chelsea recorded an incredible comeback in the most bizarre of circumstances against Ajax; Inter once again had a dominant first half display ruined by collapsing after the break, as they went from 2-0 up to lose 3-2 at Dortmund; Liverpool sit top of Champions League Group E thanks to a slender 2-1 win over Genk; And Slavia claimed a point at Barcelona, whose coach Valverde is likely to come under increasing fire after another poor display.
Barca's defensive frailties clearly visible
FC Barcelona conceded three goals in eight minutes against Levante during the weekend, and their defensive issues were once again highlighted against Slavia Praha.
The Slavia frontline found it very easy to get past the Blaugrana back line on more than one occasion with a simple pass between the full-back and the centre-back.
Moreover, the Catalan giants struggled against the opposition counter-attacks and found themselves out-numbered on a number of occasions.
They were lucky to come away with a clean sheet as Slavia managed to carve out great opportunities to score.
De Jong the only positive for Barca
FC Barcelona weren’t at their best against Slavia and most of their star names failed to make an impact on the pitch. The only player who stood out was their summer acquisition-Frenkie de Jong.
The 22-year-old midfielder pulled the strings from the middle of the pitch and looked to play forward. His pass for Messi through the lines in the second-half was sublime and nearly got Barcelona the much-awaited goal, only for Messi to be slightly off-side.
The defensive-minded midfielder drove forward with the ball at every opportunity and completed 100% of his dribbles.
The Dutchman also completed five recoveries and won nearly 80% of his duels. All in all, de Jong was one of the best players on the pitch for Barcelona against Slavia Praha.
The 22-year-old has started to grow into his role in the Barcelona shirt and performances like those will soon make him a fan favourite very soon.
Reece James makes history
Reece James was introduced as a half-time substitute for Marcus Alonso, making only his third Champions League appearance.
At 3-1 down, nobody inside Stamford Bridge could have foreseen the defender smashing home an equaliser to make it 4-4 on the night, finishing low past Andre Onana after Kurt Zouma had hit the crossbar.
In doing so, James, aged 19 years and 332 days, became Chelsea’s youngest ever scorer in the Champions League, surpassing Arjen Robben in 2004 (aged 20 years, 284 days).
Dodgy Kepa
Chelsea have the worst save percentage in the Premier League this season at just 52.78%. Luckily for the Blues they control games so well that they’ve only had to face 102 shots, which is the fourth best in the division.
The numbers are similarly bleak in the Champions League where Kepa has saved just 57.14% of the shots on target, which puts them 23rd out of 32 sides; although only three of the nine sides below Chelsea have played so far this matchday and a couple of shots from nine-man Ajax helped Kepa pad his stats..
Tonight we saw what happens when a team is able to test Kepa regularly. He folds and in embarrassing fashion.
Sure it would be harsh to blame him for the two own goals from set-pieces but there was no sense he would come and claim the ball or even organise his defence to properly deal with the cross. Same with Quincy Promes’ goal as he drifted inside his man into an area Kepa should be dominating.
Lautaro Martinez's killer form
The Argentine forward has been in sublime form for club and country, but this season he's made it count in the Champions League for Inter Milan.
Martinez has scored three times in four games for Inter in the competition this season.
That tally feels even more impressive considering the group Inter have been slotted into. Martinez spent the entire game running the channels and trying to provide an outlet for his team. This is an important function in the Antonio Conte system.
He showed his ability not only to score goals but also to participate effectively in the build up as he picked out Antonio Candreva with a superb cross-field pass and the wing-back would lay the ball off to Vecino for Inter's second goal of the night.
It was poetry in motion and Martinez was at the heart of it all.
Achraf Hakimi's wakeup call
The first half for Dortmund was, kindly put, forgettable. The likes of Mario Gotze, Thorgan Hazard, and Julian Brandt struggled to put together a sequence of passing that would remotely trouble Inter's defence.
Witsel struggled to get on the ball and was sent on wild chases by the diminutive Barella.
Achraf Hakimi sent out a very effective wakeup call in the second half starting a move and finishing it with Dortmund's first goal to kickstart what would be a brilliant comeback. Hakimi's movement and ability to grab the game by the scruff of the neck has been evident in Dortmund's last few games.
In this one, he did it once again, not only pushing his side but himself scoring two on the night, including the winner to put Dortmund in a promising position for qualification from the group.
Oxlade-Chamberlain knocking on the door
He may have netted three brilliant goals in his last two starts for Liverpool coming into this one, but Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain still wanted more.
Speaking after scoring another stunner against Arsenal a week ago, the Englishman insisted he still felt some way short of top form in terms of his overall performance.
But here, he combined goalscoring exploits with a more rounded showing that proved he is the midfielder most likely to break up Klopp’s current preferred trio before too long.
Genk simply couldn’t cope with Oxlade-Chamberlain’s penetrating runs and link-up play all night, and we are soon likely to be saying that about Premier League opposition too.
Big performance from LFC’s No1
Appearing at a press conference to preview this game, Alisson Becker warned Liverpool that their tendency to concede ‘stupid goals’ this season would come back to haunt them.
While Genk’s strike here was more a well-worked set-piece than an idiotic moment from the hosts, and ultimately didn’t prove too damaging, the Brazilian still won’t have been best pleased to concede it.
Of course, any Alisson frustration over that lack of a clean sheet is likely to be tempered by his own performance this evening.
Liverpool’s No1 played a large part in his team avoiding the concession of further goals, with one save from a powerful Bryan Heynen effort the standout moment.
Beyond that, the Brazilian showed excellent handling under the high ball and pushed away two or three dangerous crosses into the hosts’ box late on.
If he was suffering from any ring-rust as a result of that early-season injury, then it is well and truly gone.
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