Wednesday evening’s matches in the Champions League reminded us why we missed the queen of competitions.
The Tops
Odegaard, as a good captain
Six years since Arsenal played in the most prestigious competition. And the Gunners did not miss their return. Mikel Arteta’s men engaged in a real offensive festival by scoring four goals, and Martin Odegaard is no stranger to it. The Gunners captain took care of his statistics as he scored a nice goal with a shot from outside the area. But he was also responsible for Saka’s first goal, after a blocked shot. Generally speaking, Mikel Arteta’s right-hand man played fair and put his teammates in the right direction. Clean in his ball handling, he is the image of Arsenal’s rebirth. Their future opponents have been warned, and in particular RC Lens who will face them shortly.
Mathys Tel, the Frenchman confirms
Coming into play in the 87th minute to replace Sané, it didn’t seem like much for the young player, just 18 years old. Nope. Five minutes later, and while Manchester United had returned to 3-2, he took advantage of a ball from Kimmich to create a superb sequence in the open area and adjust Onana. Proof once again that he doesn’t need a lot of balls to be decisive. In the Bundesliga as in the Champions League, he is entering the rotation of a hyper-competitive group. Watch out Didier Deschamps, a young prodigy could soon come knocking on the A’s door.
Simic, the providential man of Salzburg
Although they were announced as outsiders, the players of the Austrian club won 2-0 against Benfica Lisbon. Scorer and decisive passer, the 20-year-old Roko Simic greatly contributed to this success. After his teammate Karim Konaté’s missed penalty (3′), he took responsibility for hitting another shot on goal obtained in the 15th minute. Weighing on the Lisbon defense throughout the match, he also delivered a nice assist in the 51st minute for his teammate Oscar Gloukh. A successful performance which allowed his team to pocket the three points.
Les Flops
Onana at fault
Transferred this summer from Inter Milan to Manchester United, the Cameroonian goalkeeper seems to have difficulty regaining the confidence displayed last season. Author of several balls this season in the Premier League, he did it again this evening by allowing a strike from Leroy Sané to pass under his arm in the 28th minute. A goal which launched Bayern Munich into their match, and weighed down the Mancuniens. If he is not necessarily at fault on the other three goals, he still conceded four goals this evening and cost his team dearly.
The Interist environment is not at the level
Finalist of the last edition of the Champions League and clear winner of the derby against AC Milan last weekend (5-1), Simone Inzaghi’s men were big favorites this evening. But against a very good Real Sociedad team, the Nerazzurri were dominated and achieved a small hold-up by bringing the point back to Milan. The Mkhitaryan Aslanni Barella trio failed to bring out the balls and was ineffective in recovering. Barella even almost received a red for a bad gesture in the 66th minute. Not sure if Inzaghi will realign these three together in the next match.
The Munich defense takes on water
Certainly they won, but Bayern’s defense was not reassuring this evening. After conceding two matches last weekend against Bayer Leverkusen in a magnificent match, they conceded three this Wednesday. Faced with Manchester United struggling in the league and in the game, this is not necessarily a good sign. In particular, we expect more from Upamecano, the supposed boss of this defense, who does not always demonstrate great leadership. We wonder what Bavarian coach Thomas Tuchel, suspended this evening, thought.
