With the return of the Champions League, fans have been treated to some dynamic football. With surprising results, including Chelsea and Liverpool’s shock defeats, here are some of those who scored big, or had a forgettable first week:
Winners:
The new icons: The two young stars of European football, KylianMbappe and ErlingHaaland, did not disappoint fans, with scintillating performances in their opening matches. While Mbappe scored two goals for Paris Saint-Germain, Haaland also scored twice for Manchester City against Sevilla. Clearly, the race for the Ballon d’Or has kicked off.
Shakhtar Donetsk: The victory of the week was claimed by Ukrainian club Shakhtar Donetsk, with its 4-1 win over RB Leipzig. With almost half their players missing, in response to Ukraine’s invasion by Russia, Shakhtar Donetsk have defied expectations. With talent like MykhayloMudryk (who scored once and assisted twice), the team is now gunning for the knockout stage.
Robert Lewandowski: Lewandowski is now officiallythe only player to score a hat-trick at the Champions League for three teams, with the most recent one for Barcelona against Viktoria Plzen. Recently signed by Barcelona, he will next face his previous home, Bayern Munich.
Losers:
Some German managers: Two German coaches were sacked immediately after their losses, including Chelsea’s Thomas Tuchel, and RB Leipzig’s Domenico Tedesco. Jurgen Klopp of Liverpool also faced a humiliating defeat at the hands of Napoli. Meanwhile, the managers of Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund, Julian Nagelsmann and Edin Terzic, won their matches and had a better week.
The Old Firm: The two Scottish teams at this years Champions League, Celtic and Rangers F.C, the first to qualify after 15 years, had a terrible start to their campaign.Both teams were defeated 3-0 by Real Madrid, and Ajax respectively, with Rangers being down 3-0 at half-time.
Massimiliano Allegri: The Juventus manager is in a tight spot to prove
himself, after the teams disappointing performance at last year’s Serie A. With
an unimpressive first half against Paris Saint-Germain, Juventus are on a
losing spree with only 2 of 6 games ending in victory this season. Fans now
await to see the team’s high stakes performance against Benfica next week.
Team | GP | W | D | L | GD | P |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Nottingham Forest | 38 | 7 | 9 | 22 | -34 | 30 |
Chelsea | 38 | 19 | 10 | 9 | 30 | 67 |
Charlton Athletic | 38 | 10 | 14 | 14 | -11 | 44 |
West Ham United | 38 | 14 | 10 | 14 | -14 | 52 |
Watford | 38 | 5 | 13 | 20 | -30 | 28 |
Team | GP | W | D | L | GD | P |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Evian | 38 | 13 | 11 | 14 | -1 | 50 |
AS Nancy | 38 | 10 | 13 | 15 | -16 | 41 |
Troyes AF | 38 | 12 | 10 | 16 | -9 | 37 |
Lille OSC | 34 | 20 | 5 | 9 | 35 | 45 |
FC Mulhouse | 18 | 4 | 3 | 11 | -12 | 11 |
Team | GP | W | D | L | GD | P |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Bayer 05 Uerdingen | 34 | 14 | 8 | 12 | 5 | 36 |
Borussia Dortmund | 34 | 22 | 5 | 7 | 42 | 71 |
Eintracht Braunschweig | 34 | 14 | 11 | 9 | 4 | 39 |
VfB Stuttgart | 34 | 17 | 5 | 12 | 18 | 39 |
VfL Bochum | 34 | 11 | 9 | 14 | -18 | 31 |
Team | GP | W | D | L | GD | P |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Livorno | 38 | 9 | 8 | 21 | -32 | 26 |
Roma | 34 | 16 | 10 | 8 | 17 | 58 |
Cremonese | 34 | 8 | 16 | 10 | 0 | 32 |
Napoli | 38 | 18 | 9 | 11 | 16 | 63 |
Atalanta | 34 | 13 | 12 | 9 | 1 | 38 |
Team | GP | W | D | L | GD | P |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Real Madrid | 38 | 29 | 6 | 3 | 65 | 93 |
Betis | 34 | 17 | 6 | 11 | 17 | 40 |
Zaragoza | 38 | 16 | 15 | 7 | 20 | 63 |
Malaga | 38 | 16 | 8 | 14 | -1 | 56 |
Osasuna | 38 | 13 | 13 | 12 | -8 | 52 |
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