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The Champions League returned after a three-week break, and as usual it offered lots of excitement, as well as some shock results.
It was the penultimate matchday of the group stage, and as such, some clubs such as Real Madrid, AS Roma, FC Porto among others booked their spot in the knockout round, while some captivating results in other venues means that some groups are still very open with qualification spots still available to more than one team.
The most exciting matchup undoubtedly came at the Rhein-Necker stadium, as Hoffenheim and Shakter Donetsk played out an enthralling five-goal thriller which had everything from red cards to a last minute winner.
With matchday 5 of the 2018/2019 UCL group stage having come to a conclusion, we highlight five talking points from it.
#5 Magical Messi to the rescue
Undoubtedly the greatest player in Barcelona’s history and arguably the greatest in all of football’s annals, the 31-year-old has long since established himself as a bonafide legend of the game, and Barcelona have been extremely blessed to have him within their ranks for the last decade and a half.
The Argentine record goalscorer picked up a shoulder injury late last month in a league match against Sevilla, and even though the Blaugrana largely coped well in his absence, it would have been hard to find a Barca supporter who was not genuinely pleased when he made an earlier comeback than projected.
Barcelona came into the match against PSV Eindhoven at the Phillips Stadium having already booked their spot in the next round, and with PSV already eliminated; the Dutch champions were not expected to pose much of a threat to their more established visitors.
However, going totally against everything the bookmakers predicted, the hosts seized the game by the scruff of the neck, imposing their game on the Spaniards, hassling Barcelona and forcing the otherwise clinical Barca players into uncharacteristic errors.
For 60 minutes, PSV were largely the better side, and had forced Ter Stegen into multiple saves, as well as hitting the post on a couple of occasions, and there was genuine belief among the home support that there was a genuine possibility of seeing their side register a first UCL win since 2015, never mind it coming against the almighty Barcelona.
However, with Lionel Messi, you always know not to count him out, as doing so would be at your own peril, and once again, he was on hand to showcase his brilliance and bail Barcelona out with a goal and assist.
The opening goal of the night came in alienish circumstances, as Messi picked up the ball on the edge of the box off a one-two with Dembele, but he had about four PSV players to contend with, but in typical Messi fashion, he found a way to deliver a masterclass, dillydallying across the PSV backline before unleashing a shot past Jeroen Zoet in the PSV goal from the tightest of spaces.
The goal was Messi’s 106th for Barcelona, making him the all-time record scorer for a single club in the UCL (Ronaldo scored 105 for Real Madrid), and just nine minutes later, he was at it again; this time delivering a pin-point cross into the box off a free kick from 25 yards out for Pique to get the faintest of touches onto and put Barcelona 2-0 up and ensure they top their Champions League group for a record breaking 20th time.
When Messi is in top form, Barcelona can expect to win all titles they contest for, and at this rate, they would fancy their chances of going all the way in Europe.
#4 Ajax youth coming of age
Once the undoubted kings of European football, the Amsterdam-based club have fallen off some way from the heights of the Cruyff era in the 1970s, and have struggled to impose themselves on the continent for the last two decades.
However, what has remained is their uncanny knack for producing or discovering some of the most exciting young talents in world football.
Earlier in the summer, Ajax performed the credible feat of making it to the group stage of the Champions League for the first time in four years, and this is made more impressive by the fact that it came just a season on from their failure to qualify for a European competition for the first time in over 50 years last season.
In the group stage proper, the four time European champions took it a notch further, upping the ante to produce credible results including holding German powerhouse Bayern Munich to a stalemate in their own patch.
Their victory away to AEK Athens on matchday 5 as well as Benfica’s loss to Bayern Munich booked their spot in the Champions League knockout round for the first time since 2006.
Ajax is currently brimming with a lot of youth, and their players are currently among the most exciting prospects in the world, with youngsters like Matthijs de Ligt, Frenkie de Jong, David Neres and Kasper Dolberg to name a few regularly monitored by the biggest clubs in Europe.
On the strength of the current team and its achievement in this season’s Champions League, the future looks bright for the record Dutch champions, and they would do all they can to ensure they keep the core of this squad in place.
#3 Tottenham handed lifeline
Tottenham have come a long way from the side always looking to break into the upper echelons, and have firmly established themselves as a Champions League regular in the Premier League.
Having performed relatively credibly last season where they impressively topped a group also containing Real Madrid and Dortmund and taking Juventus all the way in their round-of-16 clash before being eliminated in the cruelest of fashions, the Lillywhites would have sought to build on from that this season.
Things however got off to a disastrous start, as they were handed what was a fairly difficult group, and to make matters worse, they kicked off their campaign with a loss to Inter Milan (who on paper were their rivals to qualify alongside Barcelona) having led for most of the match.
They followed that up with an uninspiring loss at home to Barcelona and a draw away to PSV before showing great grit to defeat the Dutch side at Wembley having gone behind early on.
Tottenham hosted Inter on matchday 5 knowing that anything other than a victory would see them eliminated, and for much of the match it looked like the Italians would have their way, until a late Christian Eriksen handed Tottenham a lifeline to move Spurs level on points with Inter, and more importantly give them the head-to-head advantage over the San Siro outfit heading into their crunch clash on matchday six.
Tottenham gave themselves a massive lifeline with their victory at Wembley, and right now they have their destiny in their hands, even though they visit none other than the mythical Nou Camp, but then again, this is football and anything can happen.
#2 The Klopp project at Liverpool dealt a massive blow
Ever since Jurgen Klopp arrived Merseyside in 2015, there has been undeniable progress at Anfield, as the club has gradually grown from laughing stock with lots of substandard players into genuine Premier League contenders.
They lost out in two Cup finals in his debut season in charge, while he secured Champions League qualification in his first full season in charge, and guided the club out of the group stage for the first time since 2009 en-route to their final run last season.
The Reds have won many admirers for their no-holds barred style of play under the German, and after expending world record sums for Virgil Van Dijk and Alisson Becker (since surpassed by Kepa), Liverpool fans would have believed that this would be the season where all the progress over the last three years translates into trophies.
They remain unbeaten in the league after 13 matches, but their task domestically is made much harder by the fact that Manchester City are in rampant mood to continue from where they stopped last season.
When the draws were made, fans and pundits alike pointed to Group C as the group of death, as Napoli were drawn alongside Liverpool and PSG, and the fact that all three teams still have their qualification destiny in their heading into the final matchday shows the group lived up to its billing.
Liverpool began the campaign in the best way possible, defeating PSG 3-2 on the opening day at Anfield, but they followed that up with an absolutely lifeless performance as they fell 1-0 to Napoli at the San Paolo.
Their next away match came against Serbian Partizan Belgrade who they had beaten 4-0 at Anfield on matchday 3, but in extremely shocking scenes, The Reds fell to a 2-0 defeat, as Klopp’s decision to rotate his squad backfired heavily.
Against PSG, Liverpool once more huffed and puffed to no avail, failing to test Buffon in the PSG goal by registering just one shot on target, which means that the normally explosive Liverpool frontline have managed just two shots on target in their last three away UCL fixtures which is an aberration.
Liverpool very much shot themselves in the foot considering how they started this UCL campaign, and if they fail to make it out of the group, they would only have themselves to blame and this would be a real shame considering how much has been invested into the team.
#1 Lyon lays template for EPL
It is not news that Manchester City are defending champions of the Premier League, winning their title in such emphatic fashion last season, and breaking a host of records to boot.
They have continued from where they left off this season, and are currently unbeaten in the league, holding a two point advantage atop the standings.
Much of City’s success has been built on Guardiola’s principle of keeping the ball and passing their opponents into submission, and after two-and-half seasons of absolutely breathtaking (boring?) football, most teams just sit back, absorb the pressure and hope the scoreline doesn’t resemble a Basketball scoreboard come full time whenever they face City.
In Lyon, City twice came up against a resolute side determined to give as much as they got and some more, first at the Etihad on matchday one when the French side registered a shock 2-1 win in a match which Pep missed due to suspension.
Once again at the Groupama stadium, The Cityzens were on the backfoot, having to twice come from behind to salvage a 2-2 stalemate to confirm their spot in the second round.
Lyon were not afraid to impose their game on Guardiola's side, regularly leaving Memphis Depay, Nabil Fekir and Maxwel Cornet upfront even when City had the ball to give them attacking channels, and this proved immensely beneficial as they constantly forced the normally untested City defense into making errors.
Lyon’s performances over both legs led Pep Guardiola to describe them as one of the ‘toughest’ sides he has ever faced, and this is no mean feat considering the achievements of the Catalan.
Lyon played Man City at their own game for 180 minutes, and having come out unscathed, this might serve as a template for other EPL teams to follow (although it is pertinent to note that some who tried it ended up on the receiving end of embarrassing scorelines).
