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The group stage of the 2018/2019 Champions League is gradually coming to an end, and the groups are shaping up, with some winners and qualified teams decided with two matchdays to go, while others are still as open as ever, with some having all teams still in a position where they could make it through to the next round.
Matchday 4 offered us some real excitement, and there were routine victories for the big boys such as Manchester City and Real Madrid who made light work of their opponents to take control of their groups, while other clubs such as Tottenham and Manchester United left it late to keep alive their chances of qualification.
In what was a very entertaining and breathtaking matchday, we present 5 observations from matchday 4 of the 2018/2019 UCL.
#5 Talk of Mou's demise might have been premature
Once one of the most successful clubs in the world under Sir Alex Ferguson, Manchester United have lost its swagger since the departure of the legendary Scot, and are struggling to reach the heights of yesteryear.
Jose Mourinho was appointed in the summer of 2016 against popular appeal, as it was believed that the wily Portuguese would be the one to restore the club to its lost place of pride, even if it came at the cost of not playing beautiful football.
That has largely failed to happen, and Mourinho has struggled to make a mark at Old Trafford, watching on helplessly as Pep Guardiola and his Manchester City army have stamped their authority all over England.
Public spats with players, accusing the media of disrespect and riling up opposition managers and fans, it seemed that there was more spark off the field than on it at United and that Mourinho was doing all he could to deflect attention from the lethargic performances by his team.
Results got so poor in the last two months that many reports emerged suggesting that the United board was ready to call it quits on their bittersweet relationship with the 55-year-old barely three years after it began.
As it turned out, those rumours turned out to be nothing more than the scramblings of an overactive imagination, and Mourinho has overseen a turnaround in the fortunes of the English giants.
They are currently on a run of three consecutive victories in all competitions, and the latest of these was the most convincing, as United put up unarguably the best European performance under Mourinho to rally back and defeat Juventus having gone behind to a Ronaldo stunner.
Juve are one of the form teams in Europe at the moment and were unbeaten in all competitions heading into the match, so United's victory was no mean feat.
Mourinho also deserves special mention for his inspired substitutions in the match, as his introductions had an impact on the outcome, and this shows the folly of the 'Football Einsteins' who claimed he was on a decline less than two months ago and was the perfect tonic for United ahead of the Manchester derby on Sunday.
#4 Santiago Solari might be the man to lead Madrid ahead
It is no longer news that Real Madrid have parted company with Julen Lopetegui, after the disastrous start to the season by the three-time defending European champions.
Los Blancos had a lot of their prime targets rebuff them for the vacant managerial role, and as a result, they turned to youth team coach Santiago Solari to take charge on a temporary basis.
The Argentine is a former Real Madrid player, and he has started his tenure as Real Madrid coach in the best way possible, winning his first three matches, with his team scoring eleven goals and conceding none, which is the best start any Real Madrid coach has had in his first three matches in charge since 1957.
This has largely led to comparisons with the man who was replaced by Lopetegui; Zinedine Zidane, as the Frenchman was also the youth team coach promoted to the first team bench amidst chaos and went on to achieve immortality as a Real Madrid manager.
Spanish rules ensure that Real Madrid must fill in the managerial spot with a permanent appointment in the next few days, and even though it might be too early to adequately judge as the quality of the opponents were not exactly the highest, on evidence of what we've seen so far, Solari might be the right man to be given the reins to lead the club to greatness just like his former teammate did.
#3 Manchester City are the standard bearers
Ever since Sheikh Mansour and Khaldoon Al Mubarak took over Manchester City in September 2008, there has been one goal, domestic and continental dominance, and billions of pounds in player and manager recruitment have been carried out in a bid to fulfil that quest.
While the former has been largely achieved, it is the latter that has proved a bit more problematic. Step in Guardiola; the Spanish coach has carved a niche for himself as having one of the most brilliant minds in the history of football, and he was earmarked as the one to lead City to the Holy Grail of Champions League victory.
After two seasons, that is yet to happen, as the Catalan has failed to even match City's best record of getting to the semi-final which was achieved in 2016.
Pep is undoubtedly on a mission to prove naysayers wrong, as there many who believe that his successes on the continent with Barcelona were only possible because of Messi and Spain's golden generation, and his struggles since leaving Camp Nou serve as justification for their claims.
So far this season, things have been going to plan. City opened their campaign in the worst way possible, falling to Lyon in a shock 2-1 defeat, and struggled to see off Hoffenheim on matchday 2, needing an injury-time David Silva goal to prevail in Germany.
They hit top gear in Ukraine against Shakhtar, triumphing in a 3-0 victory in what Pep described as the best performance of his tenure as City boss.
In the return leg, City once again ran riot at the Etihad, putting six past their visitors which came just four days after they also scored six against Southampton in the Premier League.
City are a lot of people's favorites to emerge victorious in this season's competition, and with what we have seen so far, that is a very highly likely proposition.
#2 Group C living up to its billing as 'group of death'
UEFA's system of seeding for the group stage means that there must always be groups with at least two genuine heavyweights drawn alongside one another, or as in the case of group C, three.
There were audible gasps in the hall, as Napoli, PSG and Liverpool were revealed to be in the same group, as all three teams are among the best in Europe, and on their day can hold their own with any club in the world.
The group was rightly termed the group of death, and the last group participant Red Star Belgrade were seen as largely completing the numbers, while their bigger group members slug it out for the top spot.
Liverpool and PSG opened up the group with an enthralling five-goal thriller which The Reds edged 3-2 at Anfield, before going on to lose to Napoli at the Stadio San Paolo.
Napoli and PSG played out two stalemates in their doubleheader, and Liverpool headed to Serbia seeking to consolidate top spot with a victory, but the shock defeat to Red Star Belgrade changed the dynamics of the group and threw qualification wide open.
Liverpool and Napoli sit joint top on six points after four matches, but just two points separate them from bottom placed Red Star Belgrade.
This puts us in the unlikely scenario that all four teams still have their fate in their hands, and can pull off qualification into the next round if they get the right results, hence the group would not be decided until the very last day, which is what was expected when the draws were made (albeit without factoring Red Star to be in the qualification discussion).
#1 Barcelona coped well in Messi's absence
Lionel Messi is one of the greatest players in history, and Barcelona have been blessed to have him in their ranks for the last 15 years, as the Argentine has helped the Blaugrana win every trophy winnable in that timeframe.
It, therefore, came as a big blow when he landed awkwardly on his shoulder in a league match against Sevilla, as the 31-year-old is crucial to everything Barca hopes to achieve.
Scans revealed that it was a dislocated, which was not as serious as first feared, and he was ruled out for at least three weeks and expected to return at the end of the month to face Atlético Madrid, however, true to his extraterrestrial form, Messi returned much earlier than expected, and was pictured training with his teammates within the week.
Messi's injury came at a critical juncture of Barcelona's season, as the club had a tough run of fixtures including El Clásico and against Inter Milan in the UCL to determine the group toppers.
As it happened, Barcelona managed extremely well in Messi's absence, as other players like Luis Suarez, Coutinho and Rafinha all stepped up to the plate to lead Barcelona to victories.
They absolutely pummelled eternal rivals Real Madrid by 5-1 in El Clásico, while also defeating Inter Milan, Sevilla, Cultural Leonesa and Rayo Vallecano all without Messi, before posting a 1-1 draw in the return leg against Inter at the San Siro.
Barcelona would undoubtedly be glad to have Messi back, as he makes them a better team, but his teammates deserve special praise for the way they lifted themselves in his absence.
