Get Instant News Updates
Enable
x
Notification Settings X
Time Settings
Done
Clear Notification X
Do you want to clear all the notifications from your inbox?
Settings X
For Quick Alerts
ALLOW NOTIFICATIONS  
For Daily Alerts

Champions League: Standout performers from the first matchday

Champions League: European football's elite competition has hit the floor again and in the first matchday itself, it has brought us a lot of turns and twists.

Champions League: Standout performers from the first matchday


Bengaluru, Sept. 18: European football's elite competition has hit the floor again and in the first matchday itself, it has brought us a lot of turns and twists.

Defending champions Liverpool suffered a shocking defeat at Napoli this week, while Paris Saint-Germain humiliated an unconvincing Real Madrid. Apart from Manchester City, no other Premier League team managed to get a win, with Spurs only salvaging a point at Olympiacos even after a 2-0 lead while Chelsea suffered a shocking defeat at home against Valencia.

Juventus also managed to come out from Spain with only a point with Simeone's men scoring two late goals to deny Ronaldo a victory while Barcelona also somehow grabbed one point against Dortmund. Ajax and Leipzig managed a comfortable win and another headline maker of the week came from Salzburg thanks to a first-half hat-trick from teenager Halaand who managed the 6-2 big win against Genk.


Below we analyze some of the standout performers of the first matchday of UCL:

1) Marc-Andre ter Stegen (Barcelona)

Without the heroics of Ter Stegen, Barcelona would have headed home to Catalonia on the back of another heavy away defeat. He saved the penalty from Reus with a brilliant left-hand dive before showing incredible reflexes to get up and prevent a rebound. In the second half, again when Reus was handed the chance to open the scoring from the box in an attempted far-post finish, he produced a marvellous save. Again in the latter half of the game, the Dortmund skipper was found expertly by Julian Brandt in the eighteen-yard box but again saw his double effort thwarted by the Barca shot-stopper.


2) Erling Braut Haaland (Salzburg)

Austrian champions Salzburg created a record in their first group-stage game since 1994 as teenage sensation Erling Braut Haaland scored a hat-trick in a 6-2 demolition of Genk. Only Real Madrid legend Raul (18 years, 113 days) and Wayne Rooney at Manchester United (18 years, 340 days) have scored Champions League hat-tricks at a younger age than Haaland, who was 19 years and 58 days.


3) Riyad Mahrez

The Algerian superstar had a mixed campaign last term but now looks destined for bigger things going by the latest performance. After a shocking defeat to Norwich last weekend, there were some points to prove by Guardiola and his team did response with ease, mostly guided by Mahrez. He scored a goal and provided an assist in Manchester City's 3-0 triumph over Shakhtar Donetsk. He opened the scoring in the 24th minute by slamming home a rebound after Ilkay Gundogan's shot hit the post. Fourteen minutes later, Mahrez turned provider to help Gundogan double Man City's lead before the interval.


4) Angel Di Maria

With Edinson Cavani, Neymar and Mbappe missing, Thomas Tuchel has had a big pressure to deliver without star player from his side. However, his old talisman, the Argentine winger rose into the occasion to haunt his former team as he scored two scorching goals to rout Real Madrid 3-0. He opened the account on 14 minutes when Juan Bernat crossed and he swept the ball past in the near post from Thibaut Courtois. It was 2-0 on 33 minutes when he scored the second. PSG took a throw on the right touchline and after a few one-touch passes Di Maria found himself with space on the edge of the Real Madrid area and he banged it into the back of the net with four Madrid players watching him.

Apart from him another PSG player, Gueye also stood out in the occasion. He outran the whole Madrid midfield, Winning the ball back, dribbling past players and making forward runs continuously. Di Maria's second goal also came from his end.

Story first published: Thursday, September 19, 2019, 21:36 [IST]
Other articles published on Sep 19, 2019