Matchday 3 of the Champions League got underway last night, with some drama-filled games and standout performances.
Below we look at three things we learned from the first half of Champions League matchday 3 fixtures.
Manchester City are evolving
Manchester City eased to a routine 5 – 1 route away against Club Brugge in Belgium. Some first team players were rested in favour of a glimpse into the future. Teenager Cole Palmer got on the scoresheet, showing that City have ample academy talent bubbling underneath all the superstars.
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This evolution perhaps comes at the expense of Raheem Sterling, who can’t seem to get back into form for City. He was brought on and try as he might, he couldn’t affect the game. It looks like he will remain down the pecking order in Pep Guardiola’s team.
Liverpool are still Liverpool
It’s time to stop talking about how Liverpool are ‘quietly’ having a good season. Mo Salah’s dazzling form has put an end to that. Liverpool are now very loudly having a good season, and they made some noise with a 3 – 2 win over Atletico in Madrid.
Having gone 2 – 0 up early on, they were pegged back to 2 – 2 by Atletico. Penalty drama, a Griezmann red card and a Salah double were enough for Liverpool to put the sword to an Atletico team who put them out of Europe the last time they played.
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Lionel Messi has arrived at PSG
Having scored his first goal for Paris in the last Champions League game, it’s business as usual for Lionel Messi. He scored two goals to help PSG to a whirlwind 3 – 2 win over RB Leipzig at home. All the more exciting for PSG is how well he combined with Kylain Mbappe, who also scored but missed a late penalty.
Paris has the current best attacker in the world as well as the next best attacker in the world. If they can’t win the competition now, can they ever?
