UEFA Champions League Analysis: Paris Saint-Germain's Emerging Talents, Valverde's Frustration and Qarabag's Brilliance
The Big Winners
The Audience. The encounter with Barcelona and Paris Saint-Germain was the ultimate showdown hoped for last season. The midweek group game highlighted the cause. The match delivered excitement, despite the fact that it was held in the less iconic Lluís Companys Stadium because of red tape delaying the opening of the renovated Camp Nou. Luis Enrique’s young PSG squad mounted a comeback in Catalonia, due to their coach’s strategic use of his roster. The 19-year-old Senny Mayulu upstaged Lamine Yamal by scoring the leveling goal – marking the first match this season where Yamal was unable to score or create a goal. Instead, the rejuvenated Marcus Rashford provided Ferran Torres’s initial score for Barcelona. PSG were missing Ousmane Dembélé, Désiré Doué and Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, the strike force that secured last season’s crown. It did not matter: 23-year-old Bradley Barcola stepped up as the lead striker and ravaged Hansi Flick’s high-line, high-risk defense. Young talents continued to appear for PSG: Teenager Ibrahim Mbaye was replaced by another youth, Quentin Ndjantou, to join forces with the lively Lee Kang-in. Finally, Achraf Hakimi set up the goal for Gonçalo Ramos, a fellow sub, to score the 90th-minute winner and deliver Barca's first setback this season. “If you’re the best team, it needs to be shown on the pitch, without words,” remarked Ramos, who regularly scores decisive finishes when introduced. “We are the champions of Europe.”
Olympique de Marseille. The team from France were the inaugural winners of the revamped Champions League in 1993, but they maintain a strained relationship with the competition. That victory has a caveat: the club were stripped of their French crown the same year because of corruption. This season, Roberto De Zerbi’s passionate coaching could lead them on a lengthy journey. Following a defeat 2-1, and creditably, at Real Madrid and defeated PSG last week in Ligue 1, Marseille overwhelmed another former winner in Ajax, 4-0 in a boisterous Stade Velodrome. De Zerbi’s squad is a mixture of waifs and strays, a number recognizable to Premier League fans. Facing Ajax, Mason Greenwood replicated his dominant showing in Madrid. His goal was preceded by Brazilian colleague Igor Paixão’s early double. The fourth came from Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, who still finds joy in his football at the age of 36. De Zerbi, normally a strict disciplinarian, was effusive: “I appreciate the effort of my team, the fun they have, and the relationship they build with the supporters.”
Manchester United are nowhere near this season’s competition but Napoli’s the Danish striker is the most recent player to flourish once relieved of the United jersey. A brace by the Dane, banished to the “bomb squad” by Ruben Amorim last season, showed why United invested £68m for him in 2023 and why the club faces a financial hit if his temporary move to Napoli be made permanent. Another former Manchester resident, Kevin De Bruyne, delivered two precise assists in Napoli’s 2-1 win over Sporting. “He is a superstar of this sport and when he has the ball, I am confident that with his quality he can find me ideally for me,” stated Højlund.
Star Performer
Hauge of Bodø/Glimt. It required a own goal in dying moments to deny Bodo/Glimt the win over Tottenham they probably earned. Hauge, a key figure of the Norwegian club’s campaign to last season’s Europa League penultimate stage after returning to his hometown from spells at Milan and Eintracht Frankfurt, netted a brace against Spurs this week. Each strike saw him moving centrally from the touchline to fire into the net.
They Said It
“I recognize my form has dipped in certain games, I admit it. I’m not hiding … Critics can state many things about me, but never can they say that I decline to participate. I have given everything, and even more, for this club. I’ve played through fractures, ailments, and not once have I objected or asked for a rest. I have a good relationship with the coach, which empowers me to inform him my favored role … consistently, I have stated that I am ready wherever needed, during all travels, and in every match.” The Uruguayan midfielder, a non-playing substitute in Real Madrid’s win at Kairat, took to social media to deny talk of a rift with Xabi Alonso and declining to play at right-back in the absence of Trent Alexander-Arnold and Dani Carvajal.
The Pundit’s Chair
“Right now, he should be benched, Liverpool must revert to their previous form, and try to establish some confidence and a measure of consistency. At present it looks chaotic.” The pundit's assessment of Liverpool new acquisition Florian Wirtz on CBS, in the wake of their 1-0 loss to Galatasaray.
Future Fixtures
Among the teams on two wins from two are Qarabag, who overcame FC Copenhagen 2-0 in Baku after victory over Benfica in Portugal in their first match. Qurban Qurbanov is a legend of Azerbaijani football, a prolific striker now coach of the the nation's repeated titleholders, his time in charge extending to 17 years. The club’s first participation in the groups since 2017-18, just their second ever, could hardly be going better. The following fixture is Athletic Club, who are on zero points following their 4-1 loss to Borussia Dortmund. Will the team make it three wins?
A pair of individuals finding their rhythm are Arsenal’s Martin Ødegaard, overflowing with ideas against Olympiakos on Wednesday, and Julián Alvarez, who excelled in Atlético Madrid’s weekend derby triumph of Real Madrid. The Argentinian scored a stoppage-time spot-kick in Tuesday’s 5-1 defeat of Eintracht Frankfurt. When Atlético visit the Emirates later this month, there will be a recognizable person in the executive seats. Andrea Berta, the transfer chief who brought in the players for Diego Simeone’s Atléti dynasty, currently leads Arsenal’s transfer business.
