A round-up of the first night of Champions League action including Spurs taking a point from the favourites, Liverpool setting a European record, and Pep Guardiola full of praise for Napoli.
Real Madrid 1 v 1 Spurs
Both Spurs and Real Madrid moved a step closer to the Champions League knockout stages after a battling 1-1 draw at the Bernabeu left the two clubs six points clear of Dortmund who failed to beat Apoel Nicosia on a miserable trip to Cyprus.
Spurs looked a determined and robust unit as Mauricio Pochettino began with Fernando Llorente and Harry Kane up front for the first time this season. The Argentinean’s high-risk attitude paid off when in the 28th minute Raphael Varane put Serge Aurier’s cross past his own keeper.
It was an excellent start for Spurs, but it left Madrid with plenty of time to find an equaliser, and when you’ve scored in all but one of 53 Champions League Group Games on the spin a goal is coming, and it came two minutes before half-time. Aurier brought down Toni Kroos in the penalty area, the referee pointed to the spot, and Cristiano Ronaldo put the ball away, his 109th Champions League goal.
Madrid was the dominant side in the second half. Kroos was especially impressive only giving the ball away once from 88 passes for a 99% success rate, but Hugo Lloris was having an even better night in the Spurs goal making cracking saves to keep out Karim Benzema and Ronaldo in a man of the match performance.
All the talk in midweek was a Harry Kane move to the Bernabeu, and he could have increased the gossip when clean through on goal with 20-minutes remaining only for Keylor Navas to make a smart save, leaving both sides with a point.
“You would take that every day of the week,” said Kane
Spurs lead the group on the number of away goals scored as every other statistic is identical to that of Real Madrid.
Group H
1. Spurs – 7
2. Real Madrid – 7
3. Dortmund – 1
4. Apoel Nicosia – 1
Man City 2 v 1 Napoli
Pep Guardiola called Napoli ‘one of the best teams I have ever faced,’ after his Man City team extended their winning run to ten games in all competitions after a 2-1 home win against Napoli.
The Italian side arrived at The Etihad full of pomp after winning all eight of their Serie A games this season, 13 in total if you count the five wins at the back end of last season.
City began brightly blowing Napoli away like a leaf in the midst of a landing helicopter, scoring twice in the first 15-minutes. Raheem Sterling kept up his fine scoring form with his 8th goal in 11 appearances this season, and Gabriel Jesus got on the end of another spectacular cross from Kevin De Bruyne to score the second. Jesus has had a foot or a head in 21 goals in 20 starts for the Blues.
On another day, Napoli could have escaped with a point. The referee awarded the Italian side a dodgy looking penalty when Kyle Walker was judged to have played too rough with Raul Albiol, but Dries Mertens saw his penalty kick saved by Ederson. It was the sixth penalty save from the last seven that City keepers have had to face in the Champions League.
Then in the 73rd minute, the referee once again pointed to the spot after Fernandinho had a brain fart when bringing down Faouzi Ghoulam in the box. Amadou Diawara made no mistake, but City hung on for the win.
City top the group, and Shakhtar Donetsk sit second after taking all three points against Feyenood with a 2-1 win, ruling the Dutch side out of contention of a place in the second round.
Group F
1. Man City – 9
2. Shakhtar Donetsk – 6
3. Napoli – 3
4. Feyenoord – 0
Maribor 0 v 7 Liverpool
Liverpool has a rich European heritage, but until last night they didn’t own the record for the biggest away win by an English side in Europe – they do now.
Jurgen Klopp’s team had made a stuttering start to their Champions League campaign with draws against both Spartak Moscow and Sevilla, but they put that right against the Slovenian PrvaLiga winners with a 7-0 thrashing.
There were two goals apiece for Roberto Firmino and Mohamed Salah. Philippe Coutinho, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, and Trent Alexander-Arnold completed the rout.
In the other group game, Spartak Moscow gave Sevilla a hiding with a 5-1 home win.
Group E
1. Liverpool – 5 pts
2. Spartak Moscow – 5
3. Sevilla – 4
4. Maribor – 4
And Besiktas are only the second side to win all three group games after a 2-1 win in Monaco. The French team languishes at the bottom of the group with just one point. Leipzig beat Porto by three goals to two in the group’s other game.
Group G
1. Besiktas – 9
2. RB Leipzig – 4
3. Porto – 3
4. Monaco – 1
Results in Full
Real Madrid 1 v 1 Spurs
Maribor 0 v 7 Liverpool
Man City 2 v 1 Napoli
Spartak Moscow 5 v 1 Sevilla
Feyenoord 1 v 2 Shakhtar Donetsk
Apoel Nicosia 1 v 1 Borussia Dortmund
RB Leipzig 3 v 2 Porto
Monaco 1 v 2 Besiktas
Champions League Winner Odds (Courtesy of Oddsshark)
Real Madrid 4/1
Paris St Germain 9/2
Man City 6/1
Barcelona 6/1
Bayern Munich 8/1
Man Utd 11/1
