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The 2018/19 Champions League season arrived with excitement amidst record-breaking moments as Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo continued to create UEFA Champions league records like never before.
UEFA Champions League is Europe’s elite competition for a reason - it brings together the best teams from all over the continent to fight for the biggest trophy in Europe.
matchday 1 proved beyond doubts why the UEFA Champions League continue to gain influence as football lovers all around the world incredible footballing moments.
Matchday 1 fixtures like the Liverpool vs Paris Saint Germain, Manchester City vs Lyon, Valencia vs Juventus, Real Madrid vs Roma and Monaco vs Atletico Madrid games gave millions of football fans goosebumps in the entire ninety minutes duration.
The matchday one fixtures were full interesting moments as Champions League records were broken while new ones were created.
- Lionel Messi Hat-Trick
The 5-time Balon d’Or Winner continued his super form in the Champions League as he single-handedly won Barcelona’s first game with a masterpiece performance.
Messi scored the first hat-trick of the new Champions League season, recording his eight hat-tricks in the competition. A feat that makes him the highest ever hat-trick scorer in Champions League history.
The Barcelona captain has now scored 103 UEFA Champions League goal since his debut goal against Panathinaikos in 2005.
Coach Valverde in his post-match conference, heaped praise on Lionel Messi, saying he makes extraordinary things look easier.
"He does extraordinary things and makes them seem routine," he explained.
"Today it was three goals, and he unlocked the match with his freekick."
"The strike was masterful and he simply doesn't tire of scoring hat-tricks."
"I'm satisfied with the 4-0, it's a normal result [when you look at how the match progressed]," he intimated.
"They played well on the counter-attack and we knew it would be difficult to get the first goal.
"After the second goal we were calmer and found things easier, it's always difficult to open teams up at first."
Barca's 4-0 win over PSV Eindhoven on Tuesday night means Messi is on course to battle his closest rival, Ronaldo for another 10+ Champions League goals this season.
Cristiano Ronaldo’s Red Card
5-time Champions League winner, Cristiano Ronaldo was in tears as he was shown his first Champions League red in Juventus’ 2-0 win against Valencia at the Mestalla, Spain.
The 33-year-old football star ended his nine-year successful reign at Real Madrid as he switched to Juventus in a €100m record move in July.
Ronaldo was red carded in his 154th Champions League appearance as a result of an altercation involving him and Valencia defender Jeison Murillo. The 5-times Ballon d’Or winner was shown a red card by referee Felix Brych as Ronaldo seem to have pulled Valencia Murillo's hair in an off-the-ball incident.
The questionable call has left many football lovers bewildered and raised calls for the inclusion of Video Referee Assistant (VAR) to the Champions League.
The red card, if not appealed means Ronaldo will miss Juventus’ next three Champions League games against the Swiss side, Young Boys and both legs of Juve's clash against Manchester United.
Juventus' game against Valencia at the Mestalla will be Ronaldo’s first European game for the Old Lady. Unfortunately for him, he was red-carded on his first return to Spain.
Coach Allegri in his post-match conference, showed his frustration in UEFA’s refusal to implement VAR technology at the biggest club competition, as it would have helped the referee determine whether Ronaldo’s red card was worth it.
"I can only say that VAR would have helped the referee in this decision," he told reporters.
"It is disappointing because we will lose an important player for at least a match."
Allegri commended his side mentality and composure against all odds at the Mestalla;
"We were playing very well until Ronaldo's sending off but we continued to play our football despite that blow and deservedly scored two goals," he said.
"Playing here was not easy because of Valencia attack with this stadium supporting them from the first to the last minute.
"I think the lads did very well, especially because they played good football when we had to do that. We all pulled together as a team when it was the moment to defend these three points."
Ronaldo will hope the UEFA will reduce his 3-match ban in order to face his old side, Manchester United in the coming Champions League fixtures.
3. Iker Casillas’ 20th Champions League Season
Real Madrid legend, Iker Casillas became the first ever player to appear in twenty Champions League season, breaking Ryan Giggs' nineteen season record.
The Porto goalkeeper made his 20th season appearance in Porto's 1-1 draw against Schalke 04 on Tuesday
The 37-year-old goalie had sixteen seasons with Real Madrid, winning 3 UEFA Champions League trophies; 1999–00, 2001–02 and in 2013–14, before moving to Porto in 2015.
4. UEFA Champions League Youngest Manager
Hoffenheim's Manager, Julian Nagelsmann became the youngest ever manager (31 years and 58 days) to coach a Champions League side as he led his club to a 2-2 draw away to Shakhtar Donetsk on Wednesday.
At 28, Nagelsmann became the youngest every Bundesliga coach as he took over the managerial position at Hoffenheim in February 2016. He has since turned the club’s fortune around, leading Hoffenheim to their first ever Champions League group stage game.
In the 2016-2017 season, Nagelsmann led Hoffenheim to a record fourth place finished in the Bundesliga and qualified for the UEFA Champions League play-offs but was defeated by Liverpool.
The 31-year-old manager has announced that he’ll be leaving the club at the end of the season to join fellow Bundesliga side, RB Leipzig.
5. Manchester City's Record Consecutive Champions League Loss
Pep Guardiola was helpless from the stands as Manchester started their Champions League campaign in a disappointing 1-2 defeat against Olympique Lyonnais at the Etihad on Wednesday.
The French travellers put two goals past City, courtesy of Maxwell Cornet and Nabi Fekir in the first forty-five minutes. Bernardo Silva’s second-half goal wasn’t enough to inspire the English Champions to salvage a draw or hope for a comeback.
The defeat to Lyon means Manchester City have lost four consecutive Champions League game- the most consecutive for an English side at the Champions League.
The English Champions losing streak started in the 2017/2018 Round of 16 second-leg 1-2 defeat to Basel. They also crumble in both quarter-final legs to Liverpool. The Reds defeated City 3-0, 1-2 at the quarter-final of last season’s competition.
The obviously agitated Pep Guardiola was unavailable for the game after he was sent to the stands during City's last season 2-1 Champions League quarter-final second-leg defeat to Liverpool, for harassing the referee on the Etihad Stadium pitch at half-time.
Manchester City will now travel to Hoffenheim and Shakhtar Donetsk in their next two Champions League games.
