Champions League Week 4: Ronaldo’s six pack versus the week of the comeback
Best Match: PSG 1-1 Napoli
The first half of play was not the most exciting of halves, and PSG pressured early, using an unorthodox 3-4-3 formation to recover from a bad performance against Napoli two weeks ago.
PSG’s attacking mentality paid off at the end of the first half, with Kylian Mbappe cutting into the box from the left side and laying off a cross for Juan Bernat. The Spaniard made up for a bad first touch by sliding the ball from behind him into the back of the net.
Napoli took its turn attacking in the second half, pushing forward in search of an equalizer. Youngster Thilo Kehrer made an impressive block to deny Jose Maria Callejon, and Gianluigi Buffon rolled back the years with a series of good saves.
Ultimately though, the Italian goalkeeper would be the one to break under the Neapolitan onslaught, as his clumsy clearance missed the ball and fouled Callejon. Lorenzo Insigne converted the ensuing penalty, sliding his shot past the outstretched fingers of Buffon.
This marks the second straight week that PSG, favorites to win the competition, have been held to a draw by Napoli. The Italian club has looked its equal more and more and remain the only unbeaten team in Group C.
Insigne deserves special mention. He has scored three goals in four Champions League appearances for Napoli and has been similarly lethal in the Italian Serie A. Napoli’s hometown hero has been the king of the clutch, scoring when his team needs him most. He has been on absolute metaphorical fire and could even be an underdog nomination for FIFA World Player of the Year.
Best Group: Group C: Liverpool (6 points), Napoli (5 points), PSG (5 points), Red Star Belgrade (4 points)
I hate to use the same group two weeks in a row, but really, which other was I going to choose?
Every other group in the competition saw separation and stratification, as the good pull away from the not-so-good, but not Group C.
Last week, 2 points separated the top three teams in Group C; now, 2 points separate all four teams. Red Star Belgrade upset Liverpool in a game in which its fans will and should remember forever. See Napoli and PSG observations above.
To be sure, Red Star Belgrade is a prime candidate for regression, but, for now, the team is in the thick of things, and, who knows, more miraculous things have happened. This was supposed to be a group of three competitive teams with the Serbian side bringing up the rear; instead, it’s anyone’s group.
Best Player: TIE between Milan Pavkov and Harry Kane
Both Red Star Belgrade and Tottenham Hotspur were on the cusp of elimination before their respective strikers came alive and scored two goals each. After runs of bad form and fairly anonymous play in their last few games, each team was in need of a jump start.
Pavkov scored a header before unleashing a bullet of a shot from practically the other side of the planet to give Red Star one of the most unlikely two-goal leads and subsequent wins in the history of football.
PSV Eindhoven scored early against Tottenham, and it seemed as if this game would be typical for Spurs — a disappointing, almost complete game that devolved into a letdown.
Then, Harry Kane scored twice. Neither goal was remarkable, but Kane’s brace single-handedly completed a comeback and may have turned Tottenham’s entire Champions League season around.
Biggest Winner: Manchester United
Manchester United did not win the prettiest game. They did not win the best game. They weren’t even the most newsworthy part of the game nor did they really deserve to win. But Manchester United beat Juventus in Turin.
Jose Mourinho has been a lightning rod for controversy this season, and this game was no different. He stole the show from his own team by making a strange face and cupping a hand to his ear after Manchester United’s late comeback.
But enough about Mourinho. Juventus dominated for more or less the entire game. They peppered the goal with shots, and it took some hard-nosed Manchester defending to keep the Italians at bay. Ronaldo broke the deadlock with one of the goals of the year, dropping a spellbinding volley as if it were nothing before pulling his shirt up and showing off his six-pack (it is Ronaldo, right?).
Manchester would steal the show late, though. Juan Mata converted a late free kick, and Ashley Young’s cross bounced off numerous players before finding the back of the net.
Manchester United has struggled. For most of the last two matches, the team has been completely outclassed by Juventus. This has been an entirely mediocre season for the Red Devils, and they may have needed a little luck, which they certainly got against their Italian opposition.
It remains to be seen if they can produce results on Europe’s biggest stage consistently, but this win puts them in charge of their own destiny and in prime position to move onto the next round. If Mourinho and this squad can get their act together, they can challenge any team on the planet. Now, they just need to get their act together.
Biggest Loser: Lokomotiv Moscow
Group D was, without a doubt, one of the more unpredictable groups of the competition. Each squad showed real quality and potential to both emerge from the group stage and do damage later in the tournament.
That unpredictability makes Lokomotiv’s 4-1 drubbing on a rainy night in Portugal all the more disappointing. This Champions League season could have been whatever Lokomotiv Moscow made of it, and instead, they have been outclassed at every turn.
They have yet to win a game or even tie one and have scored just three goals while surrendering 11. Porto was the better side for all 90 minutes as it piled on the goals, officially eliminating Lokomotiv Moscow from the knockout stages of the Champions League.
For the Russian side, it will be an offseason of considering what could have been.
Jasper Sundeen writes for Bear Bytes, the Daily Californian’s sports blog. Contact him at jsundeen@dailycal.org.