Champions League review: No Messi, no problem for Barca
Here’s what happened on Wednesday in the UEFA Champions League, in case you missed it…
READ ALL ABOUT IT• Roundup: Barca wins without Messi, PSG leaves it late, Spurs in trouble & more
SCOREBOARDClub Brugge 1, AS Monaco 1 || Borussia Dortmund 4, Atletico Madrid 0 || PSV Eindhoven 2, Tottenham 2 || FC Barcelona 2, Inter Milan 0 || Liverpool 4, Red Star Belgrade 0 || Paris Saint-Germain 2, Napoli 2 || Galatasaray 0, Schalke 0 || Lokomotiv Moscow 1, FC Porto 3
THE MAIN STORYNo Messi, no problem
Inter Milan visited the Camp Nou full of confidence on the heels of a dramatic 1-0 win over city rivals AC Milan in the Derby della Madonnina on Sunday, to say nothing of the fact they were about to face Barcelona without Lionel Messi. The Argentine ace was forced to watch Wednesday’s proceedings from the stands after injuring his arm against Sevilla on the weekend.
But any thoughts the Italians had that they would have an easy time of it against the Catalans were immediately dashed. Save for the opening 15 minutes when Inter caused Barca problems with its high press, the hosts eventually took control of the match and never looked to be in serious danger.
There’s no denying that Messi is the centrepiece of this marvellous Barcelona side, but they have plenty of quality to beat most European teams without him. Luis Suarez, Philippe Coutinho, Ivan Rakitic, Sergio Busquets and Jordi Alba are top-calibre players, and they more than carried the load for the Spanish outfit as it dispatched the Italians without much trouble.
Manager Ernesto Valverde’s decision to start Rafinha in Messi’s absence proved an astute move. The Brazilian opened the scoring when he recovered the ball and then quickly led a counter-attack which he finished off by volleying home an inch-perfect cross played into the box by Suarez.
Barcelona has now won 21 of its last 27 games it’s been forced to play without Messi (with only four losses) since his debut in the competition, underlining that this is far from a one-man team.
BEST GOALAngel Di Maria came to PSG’s rescue deep into injury time. With the French champions looking to equalize, they swarmed in attack as they pinned Napoli deep inside its half. Julian Draxler took advantage of the space he was in and fed a pass out wide to Di Maria. The Argentine made no mistake from there, hitting a sweet curler from outside the penalty area that nestled inside the far post.
BEST MOMENTIn the 38th minute, CSKA Moscow’s Aleksei Miranchuk sped down the right flank before pulling the ball back for twin brother Anton Miranchuk, who fired a powerful shot past FC Porto goalkeeper Iker Casillas to open the scoring for the Russians.
BEST GAMEIt’s difficult to look beyond the 2-2 draw between Paris Saint-Germain and Napoli at the Parc des Princes, where the two sides duked it out in an attacking affair. Di Maria’s injury-time goal was just the icing on the cake.
HE SAID IT“You need to kill the opponent when you have the opportunity. If you didn’t win this type of game, it’s so difficult to deserve to qualify [for the knockout round] in the Champions League.” – Tottenham manager Mauricio Pochettino
THE GAME WITHIN THE GAMEDown 1-0 to PSV on the road, Tottenham could have lost its composure and let the game get away from them, especially after having what appeared to be a tying goal ruled out for offside. Instead, the English side kept its cool and remained focused on its patient buildup play, confident that it would allow them to reap rewards. It did, as Lucas Moura equalized and Spurs went into the halftime break on level terms.
BEST TWEETFather and son taking in the action at the Camp Nou.
SIX PACK OF STATS• Napoli’s Lorenzo Insigne has scored five goals in his last seven Champions League games, two more than in his first 15 matches in the competition.
• With his goal against Club Brugge, Moussa Sylla is the second-youngest player (18 years, 10 months and 29 days) to score for AS Monaco in a Champions League game, after Kylian Mbappé (18 years, 2 months and 1 day).
• Rafinha is the 78th different player to score a Champions League goal for Barcelona, more unique goalscorers than any other club in the competition.
• FC Porto has won back-to-back games in the Champions League for the first time since November 2016.
• Mohamed Salah has scored 50 goals for Liverpool in just 65 games in all competitions.
• Atletico Madrid’s 4-0 loss away to Borussia Dortmund is the biggest defeat the club has suffered under manager Diego Simeone in all competitions.
Stats courtesy of Opta
THREE STARS1) Achraf Hakimi, Borussia Dortmund: The 19-year-old Moroccan international collected three assists in a man-of-the-match effort for the Germans against Atletico Madrid.
2) Mohamed Salah, Liverpool: The Egyptian bagged a brace, with one of his goals coming off a smart finish as the Reds ran rampant at Anfield.
3) Hiving Lozano, PSV: The Mexican scored one goal, and drew the foul that led to Spurs goalkeeper Hugo Lloris being sent off.
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