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The latest round of Champions League group stage matches were played tonight, and as expected, it was full of fireworks and entertainment.
It kicked off with two stalemates, as Tottenham and PSV Eindhoven, as well as Monaco and Club Brugge played out 2-2 and 1-1, draws respectively. Later on, more excitement was served with PSG and Napoli playing out the most enthralling match, as PSG twice came from behind to level up at home in the most dramatic of circumstances.
Clubs like Dortmund and Barcelona all but secured their qualification to the next round, while PSG, Inter Milan and Napoli still have work to do. Here are five telling observations from the latest round of Champions League fixtures.
#5 Seven years on and the PSG European project is still yet to kick into full gear
PSG’s fortunes got altered massively when Qatar Sports Investment (QSI) took over the club in a multi-million euro deal, and since then, they’ve been transformed from a mid-table French team into serial winners of the Ligue 1.
The takeover was done with the view to making the club genuine European heavyweights both domestically and on the continent.
While the former has been achieved with PSG undisputedly the kings of French football, winning 6 out of the last 7 French league titles, it is on the European scene where they have flattered to deceive massively.
Over one billion pounds have been invested on player recruitment since 2011, and the Parisians currently boast of having the two most expensive players of all time within their ranks, but they have failed to make it to the semi-final of the Champions League.
Even more worryingly, they have failed to make an impact in matches against the best of Europe, shockingly capitulating whenever they come up against one of the genuine heavyweights of football, with the shock 6-1 reversal against Barcelona despite having a 4-0 first-leg lead in the Champions League two seasons ago serving as a perfect example of this.
Mbappe and more, in particular, Neymar were signed with the intention of leading their charge in Europe against the best teams, but two seasons on from the massive outlay to get them, PSG does not look any closer to going further than the quarter-final.
They kicked off their campaign this season with a tame showing in a 3-2 defeat to Liverpool at Anfield, before going on to register a 6-0 romp of Crvena Zvezda in characteristic fashion.
Against Napoli, PSG came into the match knowing they needed to avoid defeat at all costs but preferably get a victory to boost the qualification hopes, but got off to the worst start possible when they went behind to Napoli courtesy a smart chip by Lorenzo Insigne.
An equalizer was gotten through an own goal before Dries Mertens put the visitors ahead once again in the 77th minute. PSG’s hopes of making it to the second round were hanging on the thread until Angel Di Maria handed them a lifeline with a well-curled effort deep into stoppage time.
PSG lived to fight another day on the night, but their performance was far from convincing, and they still have some way to go before being considered among the genuine elite of European football.
#4 Arthur is a real gem in midfield for Barcelona
Once possessing arguably the greatest midfield in the history of football, as the trident of Xavi, Iniesta and Sergio Busquets held it down in midfield for club and country, Barcelona has fallen from those previous highs and in the process lost their identity.
Xavi and Iniesta are no more, while Sergio Busquets for all of his effervescence is no longer the player he once was. Barcelona have long searched for replacements for their two midfield maestros, especially Xavi, as since the World Cup winner left the club, Barca has struggled to control matches in the way that they did with him.
In March 2018, a certain unknown Brazilian named Arthur Melo was signed from Gremio for €31m, as the 22-year-old had established himself in the Gremio side that triumphed in the 2017 Copa Libertadores, and it said a lot of his abilities that a club the size of Barca were willing to expend such a huge outlay on a player who was yet to earn a senior cap for Brazil at that time.
After spending the early part of his Barcelona career on the bench, struggles during a rough patch of form forced Ernesto Valverde’s hand into making radical changes, and Arthur was the player he turned to, sending him from the start in the Champions League clash with Tottenham.
He earned rave reviews for his performance that night, with the result being that he has not looked back since then, starting all matches played for Barcelona since that night at Wembley.
He is described as a mould of Iniesta and Xavi, possessing the technique and finesse of the former while his distribution abilities haven’t been seen at Nou Camp since Xavi himself graced the stage.
Arthur set some passing records which Xavi himself would have been proud of. Against Valencia, Arthur attempted 142 passes, completing 135 of them, which is more than anyone else has managed this season. The last time anybody has attempted that many passes was when Xavi himself attempted 148 in a match against Levante.
At the Camp Nou in the Champions League against Inter, Arthur continued with his impressive performance, an epitome of calm in midfield, with the highlight of his night being when he showed composure to hold onto to the ball and give a Xaviesque turn before releasing a teammate.
Arthur was replaced in the dying moments of the game to a standing rapturous ovation by the Barcelona faithful, and if he continues with his upward trajectory, then the club might have finally found its long searched for the replacement to Xavi in midfield.
#3 Spurs paying price for frugality
Tottenham deserves immense credit for the progress they’ve made in recent years, transcending from Premier League outsiders to genuine contenders.
The club shunned the path towed by other clubs such as Man City and PSG who bought their way to greatness, instead following a template of bringing through players and developing them, and in this regard, Mauricio Pochetino deserves colossal praise for transforming hitherto unknown players such as Eric Dier, Harry Kane, Dele Alli and Heung-Min Son into genuine world beaters and seasoned internationals.
Tottenham have very much become established among the bigger teams in Europe, however, there is a limit to which this model can take you, with Arsenal serving as a good example, and have gotten so far on so little, Tottenham seem to have reached that limit.
Football is a big business right now, and to remain competitive, you must spend. This is a maxim that hitherto non-spending clubs like Atletico and Liverpool have realized, and acted accordingly, but Tottenham have surprisingly failed to adapt.
The club was the only one of the 32 Champions League participants not to make a signing in the summer, as well as the first Premier League team since 2003 not to bring in any new players during the transfer window.
Having gotten a taste of regular Champions League football, the club is determined to make it into the latter stages but is in real danger of falling out at the first hurdle.
They began their campaign with two defeats to Inter and Barcelona, and also faltered in the match against the perceived weakest team in the group, throwing away a lead at the Phillips Stadium in Eindhoven to draw 2-2.
Tottenham is one a solitary point after three matches, and in the likely event that they fail to make it out of the Champions League group stage, they would only have themselves to blame for failing to augment their squad.
#2 Borussia Dortmund could be onto something big this season
BVB is one of the traditional teams in Germany, and by winning the Champions League in 1996, as well as making the final in 2013, they have established a bit of European pedigree in recent seasons.
However, the utter dominance of Bayern Munich in the Bundesliga means that not much is expected of any other club, and for all of Dortmund’s efforts, they would not be expected to finish anything higher than 2nd, with the club acting as fodder for the bigger teams in Europe, as all their best players in recent seasons have moved on to more established clubs, with Bayern Munich being the chief poacher.
They have gravely fallen from the highs under Jurgen Klopp at the start of this decade, and have undergone something of a bit of crisis in recent seasons. Managerial upheavals were experienced, as the club struggled to build any momentum.
Lucien Favre was appointed in the summer of 2018, and the 60-year-old Swiss came highly recommended following his impressive work with Hertha Berlin and Borussia Monchengladbach in Germany as well as OGC Nice in France.
Dortmund’s players have taken to Favre’s methods like Fish to water, and Die Borussen currently find themselves top of the Bundesliga with 20 points, following an explosive start which has seen them score a massive 27 goals from just eight matches.
Players such as Jadon Sancho, Marco Reus, Raphaël Guerreiro and surprise package of the season Paco Alcacer have begun the season like men on fire, and have also carried their fine form into the Champions League.
They opened up their campaign with 0-1 and 3-0 wins over Club Brugge and AS Monaco respectively, but they saved their best performance for matchday three, as the Germans ran riot against Atletico Madrid at the Signal Iduna Park, trashing the Spanish giants emphatically in a 4-0 victory to condemn Diego Simeone to his worst defeat as Atletico manager.
Dortmund have begun the season impressively despite not being given many chances at the start of the season, and if they can continue with their rich vein of form, there is telling how far they can go in their pursuit of greatness.
#1 Talk of Mo Salah's decline might have been premature
In one of the most remarkable stories of last season, an unheralded Mo Salah had a dream debut for Liverpool, scoring 44 goals in all competitions for the Reds and helping the club to the final of the Champions League.
He broke the long time record for most Premier League goals in a 38-game season, with his 32 goals eclipsing the 31 scored by Alan Shearer, Cristiano Ronaldo and Luis Suarez, and his performances saw the Egyptian deservedly named the PFA and PWA Player of the Year, in addition to making it to the podium of the UEFA and FIFA Best awards.
Such stats only come once in a lifetime unless you are named Messi or Ronaldo, so not many expected Salah to keep up such performance levels, hence it came as no surprise when Salah began the season bot quite as explosively.
Many were quick to label him a one season wonder, as the 25-year-old struggled to impact games in the manner he did last season.
Despite his low numbers in front of goal, the talent was still evident, and the only thing lacking was the golden touch that confidence gives, whereas everything touched goes into the back of the net, as Salah could be seen to be trying to hard to silence the critics at the expense of just enjoying his game.
He went into the last international break with just three goals from 11 matches, and alarm bells must have been ringing at Anfield, as Salah is central to everything the club hopes to achieve.
As it happened, the international break did him good, as Salah was the spearhead as Egypt ran riot in a 4-1 victory over Eswatini with Salah scoring directly from a corner.
He has scored in his two games since then, scoring the only goal in a tight victory over Huddersfield in the Premier League, before bagging a brace in the 4-0 win over Serbian champions Crvena Zvezda in the Champions League, taking his Liverpool tally to 50 in just 65 matches, and making him the fastest man to achieve the feat in The Red's illustrious history.
Many were quick to label Salah a one season wonder, but as he has shown in recent matches, the Egyptian speedster might just still have some tricks up his sleeve.
