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The 2018/2019 Champions League group stage is in full swing, with an intriguing opening day to the season, where shocks were recorded and some big name players failed to deliver.
Tournament favorites such as Barcelona and Atletico Madrid kicked off their season with victories on the opening day, while PSG and Napoli floundered. The players were not left out either, as Lionel Messi and Mauro Icardi starred, while Neymar and Harry Kane flattered to deceive.
The concluding part of matchday one took place on Wednesday, and had on display the biggest clubs in Europe, such as defending champions Real Madrid, 2013 winners Bayern Munich and English giants Manchester United.
Cristiano Ronaldo made his tournament debut for Juventus, which was marred in serious controversy, while Paul Pogba starred, captaining Manchester United to victory in Switzerland.
Elsewhere, Real Madrid and Bayern Munich had routine victories, but Manchester City began their assault on Europe in the worst possible way, suffering a 2-1 loss at home to Lyon.
As with the first matchday where some major observations were made, Wednesday's set of matches were not different. Here are five observations from the second set of matchday one Champions League group stage matches.
#5 VAR is a necessity
After test runs across different leagues in Europe over the last few seasons, the Video Assistant Referee gained mainstream attention when it was featured heavily at the last World Cup hosted in Russia.
Its implementation was widely applauded, and despite some controversies associated with its use, VAR helped provide clarity in otherwise contentious scenarios.
Nevertheless, some associations have still rejected its use, with the Premier League voting against its adoption before the start of the season.
In the Champions League, it was decided that VAR would be staved off until the quarter-finals, meaning that all group stage and second round matches would be refereed strictly on the judgement of the match officials.
A lot of incidents were raised today which further increased the clamor for introduction of VAR, with the biggest episode involving the biggest player in the competition making his tournament debut for his new club.
Ronaldo was sent off in rather controversial circumstances after a seemingly innocuous tap on Valencia defender Jeison Muerillo to get up as he had fallen on the ground with minimal contact from Ronaldo.
After a long consultation with his assistant, referee Felix Brych decided to brandish a straight red card to Ronaldo which unless successfully appealed would see the Portuguese star miss three matches including the double header with former club Manchester United, and understandably left Ronaldo in tears.
The decision predictably caused a lot of outrage online, as fans and pundits alike took time out to slam the sending off. Another incident also occured in the same match when Daniel Parejo was penalized for stamping on Emre Can's head in the box, with many believing the tackle was worthy of a red card.
Also, the penalty awarded in the Manchester United match was highly controversial, as the ball struck the Young Boys full-back Kevin Mbabu on his arm when it was in its natural position.
VAR is used to address four issues: goals or infringements leading to them, red card incidents, penalty incidents and mistaken identity in the awarding of a red card, and even though it still has its detractors, it would have helped eliminate most of the controversies that arose in the Champions League.
#4 Pogba is consistency away from being the best midfielder in the world
Ever since his then world record transfer to Manchester United from Juventus, few players have divided opinions as sharply as Paul Pogba has, with many believing him to be an overrated primadonna only concerned with his social media impact than his performances on the field, while others believe he is a truly gifted midfielder suffering from mismanagement.
Both schools of thought have legitimate points, as when Pogba is on top form, there are few midfielders in the world who can match his abilities. His detractors however have an arsenal to attack him with, with his lackadaisical style of play and unnecessary showboating on the field providing enough proof that he is underserving of the hype associated with him.
Another key criticism of Pogba has been the inconsistency in his game, as he could be absolutely unplayable in one match, then put in an AWOL performance the very next week.
However, in recent weeks, the United arm band seems to have given the World Cup winner a lift, and an improvement in his game has been noticed. He put in a match winning performance against Burnley in the Premier League and on Wednesday was at his best once more, scoring two goals, including a wonderful left footed finish, before laying off the assist for Anthony Martial to score United's third against Young Boys.
A key trait of the greatest players in history has been their ability to maintain consistency over long periods, and if Pogba can inculcate this attribute, then there would be no doubt over his status as one of the premier midfielders in the world.
#3 It was business as usual for the big boys
32 teams participate in the Champions League group stage, but most of the clubs are so far beneath a select few that the group stage is seen as a formality, and that the competition doesn't really kick off until the knockouts.
Real Madrid, Juventus and Manchester United are in the upper echelons of European football, who nurture real aims of winning the competition.
Most of the big teams won with ease to highlight the difference in class between them and other teams, with Bayern Munich, Manchester United and Real Madrid all posting comfortable victories, with the only exception being Manchester City.
#2 UEFA's system of seeding has some flaws
In a departure from previous systems which seeded teams into pots based on their UEFA coefficient, Europe's football governing body introduced a new system three seasons ago whereby the first eight teams in Pot One are assigned to the domestic champions of the top six leagues as well as the holders of the Champions and the Europa League.
The league spots were occupied by the winners of the La Liga, Premier League, Bundesliga, Serie A, French League and Russian League, with Real Madrid and Atletico occupying the spots for The Champions League and Europa winners respectively.
This meant that clubs like Manchester United and Borussia Dortmund were not seeded, while Lokomotiv Moscow and Manchester City got seeded.
In the first round of matches, three top seeds suffered defeat, with Manchester City, Lokomotiv Moscow and PSG posting losses, and this would further raise questions over the effectiveness of UEFA's seeding system.
#1 Manchester City could struggle in what was believed to be an easy group
Manchester City were one of the most dominant teams in Europe last season, winning the Premier League in emphatic fashion, and breaking a plethora of records along the way.
However, despite their domestic dominance, the Citizens saw their European ambition cut short at the quarter-final stage by Liverpool, and it was believed that they would make a comeback this season.
When the draws were made, a lot of people believed that City were handed one of the easiest draws of the group stage, as they were paired with Hoffenheim, Shakhtar Donetsk and Lyon, with none of the other three teams boasting the pedigree of City.
It was expected that the Mancunians would breeze past the group stage in anticipation of when their real tests would come in the knockouts, but Guardiola's army got their scripts horribly wrong as they dropped points in their very first game in front of their own fans.
Lyon snuck into a shock 2-0 lead at half-time, and even though Bernardo Silva pulled one back midway through the second half, the damage had already been done, as City succumbed to their first loss of the season.
With Hoffenheim and Shakhtar playing out a pulsating 2-2 draw earlier on, Manchester City find themselves bottom of the pile, and they would do well to bounce back as soon as possible, otherwise their European journey could end before it truly begins.
