2020/21 UEFA Champions League - Group Stage Match Day Reviews

[Yash]

After some big matches yesterday, Day 2 of the Group stage promises to be yet another mayhem altogether. Real Madrid who have won the Champions League for a record number of 13 times will begin their campaign against Shakhtar Donetsk. Ajax the 2018 fairytale semi-finalists will lock horns against Premier League Champions Liverpool. Bayern Munich the reigning Champions League winners will go against Simeone’s Atletico Madrid.

Key Matches Preview

Bayern Munich vs Atletico Madrid

Simeone’s side will head into this game with a rugged determination as they look to clinch a maiden UCL title. Bayern Munich clinched their sixth European title last season with a victory against Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) in the final. The Bavarians continued their fine form with a victory in the UEFA Super Cup against Sevilla. Hansi Flick’s men sit second in the Bundesliga standings with nine points this season.

Meanwhile, the Champions League has been a distant dream for Atletico Madrid manager Diego Simeone. His side came close to clinching the title on two occasions but were defeated by city rivals Real Madrid in both finals. LaLiga-wise, Los Rojiblancos sit eighth in the table with two victories and an equal number of defeats. Atletico has always been a high pressing team against top contenders. With Suarez in the offence, anything can happen in this game

Real Madrid vs Shakhtar Donetsk

Before the El Clasico, Madrid host the Ukrainian team at Santiago. Casemiro and Mendy are expected to return to Real Madrid’s starting lineup after the loss against Cadiz and Militao should be the one replacing Ramos in the center of the defensive line. After dominating the competition with three consecutive titles, Los Blancos have failed to go past the Round of 16 stage of the competition in the last two years.

Madrid have the quality to beat Shakhtar but the same could’ve been said about their match against Cadiz, so it will be important for Los Blancos to take care of business given that the away games in this Group Stage will be tough

[Animesh]

Tonight’s Fixtures

[Amit]

Real Madrid vs Shakhtar Donetsk

Injured Sergio Ramos is out of Real Madrid’s opening Champions League match against a Shakhtar Donetsk squad depleted by the coronavirus.

Zidane still wont be able to count on Eden Hazard because of a lingering muscle injury.

Other players not included in Madrid’s squad for Wednesday’s game because of injury include Dani Carvajal, Martin Odegaard and lvaro Odriozola.

Madrid, a 13-time Champions League winner, couldn’t get past the round of 16 in the last two seasons.

[Shashank]

Madrid’s 3-2 loss to a depleted Ukranian Champion Shakhtar Donetsk team was the most surprising result of Wednesday’s opening group games.

While Bayern delivered the most impressive performance with a 4-0 win over Atletico Madrid.

It was a 3rd straight loss in the competition for Real Madrid - its worst run in 34 years. For defending champion Bayern, it was a 12th straight Champions League victory.

Romelu Lukaku scored in his 9th straight European game, including a 90th minute equalizer, to help Inter Milan draw 2-2 with Borussia MŮnchengladbach.

Wins for Liverpool and Manchester City capped a good round for English clubs, and Atalanta again showed its free-scoring style to win 4-0 at overmatched newcomer Midtjylland.

[Yash]

Juventus vs Barcelona - No Ronaldo-Messi Showdown

Juventus host Barcelona in Turin but the match will miss the most crucial battle, Ronaldo vs Messi. After leaving Real Madrid this would be the first meeting between the two superstars of this generation. But unfortunately it would be due in the 2nd leg as Cristiano Ronaldo has still not tested negative for Covid-19.

But, its still a fantastic fixture, two clubs who have dominated the domestic leagues and for the kind of histories the two clubs have tells us how big an occasion this is. Juventus are just not without Ronaldo they’ll miss Giorgio Chiellini, Matthijs de Ligt and Alex Sandro as well.

Ronald Koeman should make sure to get the benefit of injury and win it comprehensively at Turin.

[Animesh]

Tonight Fixtures

[Yash]

Real Madrid vs Inter Milan

Real Madrid could face their first group stage knockout in 30 years if they lose tonight against Inter Milan. Both Real Madrid and Inter are looking for their first win, courtesy to a fantastic young Shakter side.

Real however look to be in a comfortable postion to win this game after their good domestic run. They are coming from a 4-1 win against Huesca. Inter are rebuilt the squad but tonight they will be without Lukaku. Conte’s experience will matter tonight against Zidane. This is a must-win for either side!

Prediction - Real Madrid 3-1 Inter Milan

[Jay]

November 1998…

When Inter & Real Madrid last met in the UCL:

Zamorano

Seedorf

Roberto Baggio

[Sumboywo]

REAL MADRID VS INTER MILAN:

Real Madrid are the 13-time European champions, the most successful team in the competition’s history, but currently sit bottom of Group B with just one point from their opening two games.

Zinedine Zidane’s side started the group with a defeat to Shakhtar Donetsk and were on course for back-to-back losses before late comeback earned them a point against Borussia Monchengladbach.

Inter haven’t fared much better either, currently third with two points. They opened the group with a 2-2 draw with Gladbach, mirroring Real Madrid’s result and were held away to Shakhtar last time out.

Both Real Madrid and Inter are still expected to qualify for the knockout stages and, given how close the group is, this meeting could go some way to deciding who finishes top.

HERE MY PERSONAL PREDICTION!

3-2!

WRITE DOWN YOURS.

[Jeff]

Yesterday’s UCL matches had massive 35 goals scored in total!

[Animesh]

Man City beat Olympiakos 3-0 to maintain 100% record in Champions League

Ferran Torres, Gabriel Jesus and Joao Cancelo were on target as Manchester City made it 3 wins out of 3 in Champions League group C. City are 3 points clear of Porto at the top of the group, and a single point in the return fixture on Nov. 25 would secure progress for City to the knockout stage.

Real Madrid 3-2 Inter Milan

Real Madrid thwarted a second half comeback from Inter Milan to win 3-2 and give their Champions League bid lift-off in Group B. Madrid’s 19-year-old Brazilian Rodrygo came off the bench to score the winning cool finish in the 80th minute.

Sergio Ramos scored his 100th Real Madrid goal.

Atletico Madrid 1-1 Lokomotiv Moscow

Atletico Madrid were held to a 1-1 draw at Lokomotiv Moscow in their Champions League Group A match. Lokomotiv goalkeeper Guilherme pulled off a string of superb saves to keep the Russian side in the hunt for a spot in the round-of-16.

The result leaves Atletico 2nd in the group on 4 points from 3 games, 5 behind Bayern Munich after they cruised to a 6-2 victory over FC Salzburg. Lokomotiv have two points and Salzburg have one.

RB Salzburg 2-6 Bayern

Bayern make Champions League history with scoring rampage against Salzburg.

Bayern Munich became the first team in Champions League history to score four goals in the last 15 minutes of a game, thanks to goals from Jerome Boateng, Leroy Sane, Robert Lewandowski and Lucas Hernandez during the final 11 minutes.

Atalanta 0-5 Liverpool

In-form Diogo Jota scored a terrific hat-trick as Liverpool made a stunning win at Atalanta.

Jurgen Klopp’s side have won all 3 Group D games without conceding a goal, and victory in one of their remaining fixtures should be enough to take them through to the knockout stages.

Porto beat Olympique de Marseille 3-0 in Group C

Porto Hand Marseille 12th Straight UEFA Champions League Defeat. Marseille’s last win in UCL came in 2012, when they beat Inter Milan 1-0 in the first leg of their last-16 tie.

[Aman]

Real Madrid Icon

Legendary Defender

[John]

Messi set for 150th European game

In-form Rashford & Haaland in action

Home comfort for Werner?

Which teams will shine tonight?

I predict Chelsea, Dortmund, Barcelona, Juventus and Paris

[Jeff]

Barcelona VS Dynamo Kyiv (Match Preview)

These 2 teams have squared off against each other 10 times in total out of which Barca have won 6 and Dynamo have won 3.

This season the Catalan club have played brilliantly by winning both of their matches and having a goal difference of 6 conceding only 1 goal. If Messi plays this match, this will be his 150th appearance in UEFA club competitions. On the other hand, Dynamo have not had an impressive start to the season and are losing because they are unable break through their opponents defense.

My score prediction for this match is 3 - 0 to FC Barcelona.

RB Leipzig VS Paris-Saint-Germain (Match Preview)

These two teams have played against each other only once when PSG won 3-0.

PSG lost their first match against Man United but, won their second match. Leipzig have won their first match and lost their second against Man United. In my opinion, PSG have a better chance winning as they performed better against Man United than Leipzig did.

My score prediction for this match is 2-0 to PSG.

[Yash]

Istanbul Basaksehir vs Manchester United

Manchester united as usual are starting on a very different page since Sir Alex Ferguson has left. Over the years they have had their worst domestic start to the campaign and after the 1-0 loss against Arsenal, Ole is again on the verge of being sacked. Big names and big transfers this season for the Red Devils, but nothing seems to change their fortune. They have however registered 2 wins in UCL this season but that feel of watching ManU dominate the field is gone. Its just a mediocre club with a huge fan base.

For the Turkish club, Istanbul Basaksehir have lost both their games and looks like they will lose this too at home.

Prediction - United 4-0 Istanbul

[Sumboywo]

Barcelona vs. Dynamo Kiev.

Barcelona will look to maintain their 100% start in champions league tonight as they welcome Ukrainian giants to Camp Nou.

There were fears this match wouldn’t go ahead after most of the Dynamo Kyiv squad fell victim to positive COVID-19 tests. Only 13 players, in fact, traveled to Catalonia this week – the bare minimum required as per UEFA’s health protocols.

But no further positive cases have emerged from the Ukrainians’ camp. The Group G match, therefore, is all set to go ahead as Barcelona aim to steamroll their way to another emphatic win.

HERE HOW I PERSONALLY PREDICT THIS MATCH.

4-0!

[John]

Match Results

[Jay]

Group Stage Standings at the end of Matchday 3 of 6

[Jay]

I think, the biggest upsets in yesterday’s matches were of Paris and Man United.

Istanbul Basaksehir had never won a game in the UCL before yesterday’s game.

[Animesh]

Chelsea 3-0 Rennes

The Blues’ defensive improvements were on display once again as they cruised to a 3-0 win over the Ligue 1 side, taking them top of the group with 7 points from their first 3 group stage matches.

Chelsea

Timo Werner 10’§, 41’ §

Tammy Abraham 50’

Zenit 1-1 Lazio

A late equalizer from Felipe Caicedo gave understrength Lazio a 1-1 draw at Zenit St. Petersburg to stay unbeaten in Group F in the Champions League.

Zenit

Aleksandr Erokhin 32’

Lazio
Felipe Caicedo 82’

Sevilla 3-2 Krasnodar

Substitute Youssef En-Nesyri scored a pair of goals three minutes apart in the second half as 10-man Sevilla rallied from two goals down to defeat Krasnodar 3-2.
The win left Sevilla tied with Chelsea at the top of Group E. Both teams have 7 points each, but Chelsea was ahead on goal difference after a 3-0 win over Rennes.

Sevilla
Ivan Rakitić 42’
Youssef En-Nesyri 69’, 72’

Krasnodar
Magomed Suleymanov 17’
Marcus Berg 21’ (Penalty)

Club Brugge 0-3 Dortmund

Striker Erling Haaland scored twice as Dortmund cruised to a comfortable 3-0 win at Club Brugge and took top spot in Group F.

Haaland, who joined Dortmund in January, has now scored 26 goals in 28 games in all competitions with the Bundesliga side.

Dortmund

Thorgan Hazard 14’
Erling Haaland 18’, 32’

Barcelona 2-1 Dynamo Kyiv

Messi once more scored from the spot, this time giving Barcelona the 1-0 lead. He has now played 150 games in Europe for Barcelona, with 146 of them coming in the UCL and 4 of them in the Super Cup.

Messi is also closing in on Pele’s record for most goals scored for a single club in football history. The record by Pele is at 643 goals while Messi has 638 goals.

Barcelona
Messi 5’ (Penalty)
Gerard Piqué 65’

Dynamo Kyiv
Viktor Tsyhankov 75’

Ferencvaros 1-4 Juventus

Ronaldo made his maiden appearance in UCL 2020-21 as Juventus beat Ferencvaros 4-1 to register their 2nd win in 3 UCL matches. Ronaldo failed to get on the scoresheet but his side had little problem in finding the net. Lasha Dvali scored an own goal late in the game to make it 4-1 to Juventus.

Juventus
Alvaro Morata 7’, 60’
Paulo Dybala 72’
Lasha Dvali 81’ (OG)

Ferencvaros
Franck Boli 90’