Champions League Carnage: Drama in Prague, Chaos at Anfield, Paris Party, Munich Muscle (Night 2)
Champions League drama once again on the second night of the opening matchday. Just when it seemed Slavia Prague were on course for victory, debutant side Bodø/Glimt put together an epic late comeback in Prague. Liverpool edged past Atletico Madrid in Anfield chaos, Paris Saint-Germain ripped Atalanta apart in the French capital and Bayern Munich showed their strength to reigning world champions Chelsea.
Liverpool 3-2 Atletico Madrid
As far as opening night games go in the Champions League, this is another thriller to add to a very long historical list of iconic matches. Liverpool got off to the dream start within the first six minutes, having gone 2-0 up thanks to Andy Robertson and Mohamed Salah.
At that moment it seemed they were going to destroy a somewhat fragile Atletico Madrid defence but the Spaniards from the Spanish capital eventually settled down after VAR rightly overturned an initial controversial penalty decision for handball in favour of the hosts.
An old Liverpool foe from the 2020 Champions League Round of 16 clash between these sides got a crucial goal for Atletico Madrid just before the break: Marcos Lliorente with a lovely finish past Alisson.
From the Liverpool perspective, however, it was poor defending; no one picked him up and stopped him. Liverpool felt in control and were probably the better team on reflection of the first half but they knew the job was far from done.
Despite knowing that, defensive fragility seemed to have cost them once again in the 81st minute with that man, Marcos Lliorente, scoring once again, and it was a wonderful hit in front of the travelling supporters at Anfield.
Liverpool needed a moment of class, a moment of quality, a moment that reflected resilience. Up stepped their captain Virgil Van Dijk in the 92nd minute to rescue the Reds from dropping important points on the opening night of the Champions League from a position of strength. Atletico Madrid were broken, beaten and absolutely devastated as soon as the Dutchman’s header found the back of the net and the Liverpool supporters erupted in celebration, and on one side of the stadium by the dugout that was quite literal.
As soon as the goal went in, one Liverpool supporter felt like giving it to Diego Simeone by basically winding him up and rubbing it in his face. The Atletico Madrid boss didn’t take it well; he tried getting to the supporter in the crowd but had to be held back by the matchday stewards. It seemed like he had cooled down from that but seconds later he lost it again because he was then sent off for his actions in the first place.
A miserable, painful night in the Northwestof England for Atletico Madrid. One of jubilation, delight, resilience and, to some degree, luck, for Arne Slot’s Liverpool, who begin the new Champions League season with three points.
READ MORE: Champions League Spectacle: City Dominate Napoli, Barcelona Spoil Toon Party (Night 3)
Bayern MUNICH 3-1 Chelsea
It was a competitive first half in some sense, an intense clash between two good teams. But one side ultimately proved to be far greater than the other and that was Bayern Munich.
For the opening goal, Bayern had a free kick but Kimmich hit the referee as he tried to get it out wide to the left-hand side of their attack. As a result, it meant a drop ball scenario which Chelsea didn’t react to because they were still sat in a defensive shape from the free kick.
Since they didn’t react to the changing of the dead ball situation, it meant Kimmich could sharply get a ball out to Michael Olise; he beat his man, and his cross was fantastic across the box, where it was finished off by a Trevoh Chalobah own goal.
Chelsea really couldn’t cope or know how to deal with Michael Olise all night and that was also evident in build up to the 2nd goal that Bayern Munich scored in the first half.
He picked up the ball from a wide position again but instead of running at his man and being direct, he picked out the run of his team mate which resulted in a penalty and as Harry Kane does, he converted excellently from the spot.
Bayern were then caught themselves with Cole Palmer given plenty of space to drive into from an inside right position. He gets into the box, lays it off and receives it back before finishing off fantastically.
From a defensive perspective and as a former top level defender, Vincent Kompany would’ve been disappointed with how that goal was made and then finished because it was poor from Bayern to give Palmer the amount of space he got. As a top level player, Palmer made sure to make the most of that.
The big issue Chelsea faced in the 2nd half was their intensity and build up from the back. It seemed like they just dropped a little bit which allowed Bayern to get all over them. This was evident for Kane’s 2nd goal which made it 3-1.
Chelsea were looking to build out from the back but it was done very slowly and very casually so without that zip and speed, it made it easier for Bayern to get all over them, win the ball back, play one in behind and Kane just slotted it past Robert Sanchez so cool and efficiently.
Chelsea will now know as a young team that’s still learning that they can’t make errors like that in the Champions League, especially against top sides like Bayern Munich. They learnt the hard way but from their perspective they learnt their lesson.
Paris Saint-Germain 4-0 Atalanta
Total domination from start to finish from the European champions at the start of their Champions League title defence, Atalanta didn’t really land a glove on them.
Atalanta just kept on putting themselves into trouble and they paid the price for it in quite a brutal battering in the French capital. Paris Saint-Germain had 67% possession which in itself showed the control they had of the game anyway and on top of that they had 22 shots, 13 of which were on target and that generated 3.48 xG. They weren’t just creating chances, they were good ones too.
The opening goal, Atalanta were trying to play out through the thirds but get caught out in their own defensive third.
This resulted in the ball being played out to Fabian Ruiz and his fantastic cross across the box picked out the captain Marquinhos, who finished off from close range.
The second goal was absolutely world class from Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, running like 20 yards and then picking out the top corner, leaving Marco Carnesecchi with no chance. PSG had a penalty with Hien committing a foul on Marquinhos in the box but it was a really poor effort by Bradley Barcola, easily saved by the Italian goalkeeper.
The two goals scored in the 2nd half was just really bad defensively from Atalanta and not on the level required to compete in the Champions League. Nuno Mendes squeezed one in at the near post past Carnesecchi but it was just really bad positioning by the Italian goalkeeper, you just can’t be beaten at your near post like that.
Then the fourth goal which made it 4-0 summed up a disastrous night defensively for Atalanta with the ball cheaply given away and Goncalo Ramos with a lovely finish to seal victory on the opening matchday of the Champions League for PSG.
Slavia PRAGUE 2-2 Bodø/Glimt
Finally, the early kick off from Czechia in Prague. The hosts got off to a positive start of their Champions League campaign but in the end it wasn’t meant to be for them as Bodø/Glimt produced a magical comeback on their Champions League debut to secure a point, having gone 2-0 down.
Slavia Prague had quite a positive start, with Lukas Provod in particular being very influential. He got himself in a fantastic position on the right hand side where he was able to get the ball across the Bodø/Glimt penalty area and at the back post, Youssoupha Mbodji followed in to give Slavia Prague the lead.
It was quite poor defending by the Norwegian side, leaving him totally free to make the run and then have a simple tap in. You simply cannot do that at Champions League level.
There was a moment where the VAR thought Haitam Aleesami handled the ball in the box so sent the referee to the monitor. There was a push in his back which saw him raise his hand as he was going down and full credit to the referee who stood by his original decision of no penalty.
In general, the Czechian side looked like the better team in the first half carrying the greater threat going forward despite less possession than Bodø/Glimt and maybe Slavia Prague could’ve scored more.
Kjetil Knutsen knew after the first 45+ minutes he saw from his side, he had to make a change or changes at half time. He chose to bring on Daniel Bassi and instantly he made a significant difference down the right side of Bodø/Glimt’s attack.
He was getting on the ball frequently, being direct, being creative and for a large part of the 2nd half it was more likely the next goal at 1-0 would be coming from the Norwegians. However, something they really didn’t learn from was tracking the deep run around the back from Mbodji. He was able to get in with all the space and time in the world, and a wonderful delivery from Lukas Provod was matched by a fantastic finish by the young Senegalese defender.
With 15 minutes to go in Prague, it looked like Bodø/Glimt were heading towards defeat on their debutin the Champions League. But it only took a few minutes for Daniel Bassi to find himself in a goalscoring position which he made sure he took, cementing the impact he had made since being brought on at half time by Knutsen.
Despite being against time, despite being behind, Bodø/Glimt never ever gave in and kept on fighting with a belief they could equalise and in the 90th minute that moment came when another substitute, Sondre Brunstad Fet, found the back of the net and it completed a magnificent late comeback that’ll be written into their history. What a debut for the Norwegian League in the Champions League.
Slavia Prague will be frustrated that they weren’t able to get the three points but ultimately they have only themselves to blame for not taking the chances that were created, mainly by Lukas Provod, who to be fair to him, was absolutely fantastic.
Conclusion
Night 2 on matchday one of the UEFA Champions League showcased thrilling games, tight battles, total domination, a historical comeback. Inter also defeated Ajax in Amsterdam and Olympiacos were held to a goalless draw by 10 men Pafos.
Another night of brilliant action showing exactly why the Champions League is the very best competition around.
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