1. Welbeck gives Arsenal, and himself, a much-needed boost
PRIOR TO LAST night, just two players had scored a hat-trick for Arsenal in the Champions League — one was Thierry Henry, and the other was Nicklas Bendtner.
Moreover, with one goal in three starts in the league, Danny Welbeck has yet to totally shake off the suspicion that he’s not a natural goalscorer.
Yet the England star is still only 23, and he showed evidence of his undoubted potential last night with three finely taken goals in the club’s clash with Galatasaray.
That said, it was a home Champions League match against relatively weak opposition, so it still remains to be seen whether Welbeck turns out to be closer to Bendtner or the legendary Henry, in terms of his legacy at the Gunners.
2. Rodgers’ criticism shows how fickle football can be
It seems difficult to think of any other sport or walk of life in general where an individual can so quickly and dramatically go from hero to villain, as is perpetually the case in football.
Less than six months ago, as Liverpool looked set to claim a first-ever Premier League title, Brendan Rodgers was being hailed as a genius and garnering comparisons to Bill Shankly and Bob Paisley.
Now, with the club struggling and a dispiriting loss away to Basel — the same team who were thumped 5-1 by Real Madrid in their opening match — the latest setback they have had to endure, Rodgers is seemingly no longer in vogue.
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One Liverpool fan on the BBC Radio 5 Live’s football phone-in show 606 last night even suggested the former Swansea manager should be sacked, despite guiding the club to an unprecedented points tally in the Premier League earlier this year.
And it would hardly be a huge surprise if the Northern Irish manager does leave Anfield before the season’s culmination — his two campaigns in charge far exceeds a manager’s average lifespan nowadays, as he currently is the fifth longest-serving Premier League boss, and 18th across when measured against all the top leagues in England.
3. Man City ill-suited to four-man midfield in Europe
PA Wire / Press Association Images
PA Wire / Press Association Images / Press Association Images
(AS Roma’s Francesco Totti celebrates scoring during the UEFA Champions League match at the Etihad Stadium)
Despite regularly dominating in the Premier League over the course of the past three or four seasons, Manchester City have seldom looked convincing in Europe. Tuesday night’s game at home to Roma was a case in point.
On the face of it, City should be well able to beat the Italians at home, given the club’s superior resources and in particular, their greater spending power.
Yet instead, it was the visitors who largely dominated proceedings, and could have easily emerged from the match with all three points rather than a 1-1 draw, which they ultimately had to settle for.
It was no coincidence though, that City began to look immeasurably better when Frank Lampard replaced the ineffectual Edin Dzeko after 57 minutes. Suddenly, Roma had less to room to pass the ball around City, and no longer seemed so conspicuously superior, as the hosts had the luxury of an extra man in midfield.
Prior to that change, with the defensively ill-disciplined Yaya Toure having one of his bad nights, Manuel Pellegrini’s side simply couldn’t cope with their technically superior opponents — a recurring theme for the Premier League champions in Europe.
4. Matic Chelsea’s unsung hero
Chelsea’s winner against Sporting Lisbon on Tuesday came from an unlikely source in the form of Nemanja Matic, who had scored just once in 27 appearances for the club prior to the game.
The important 1-0 away win was a continuation of Jose Mourinho’s side’s impressive start to the season, and it was the kind of gritty victory that all great sides tend to pull off when not at their very best.
And in Matic, they have the archetypal unseen player, whose under-the-radar work is desperately important when it comes to winning titles.
While the likes of Eden Hazard, Cesc Fabregas and Diego Costa will grab headlines owing to their attacking brilliance, Matic is arguably equally invaluable, when compared with these stars.
Since joining Chelsea last January, he has featured in almost every game, including all six of their Premier League fixtures so far this season.
So perhaps more than anyone else, the 26-year-old is the on-field personification of Mourinho, as he consistently delivers by showing the type of qualities the coach patently admires — physicality, work-rate and an ostensible immunity to making bad decisions.
5. Barcelona badly need Suarez
Despite being top of La Liga having won all but one of their domestic matches so far this season, there is a sense that Barcelona remain a work in progress under Luis Enrique.
Their current lack of conviction has been especially evident in the Champions League, where they could only beat Cypriot team Apoel Nicosia 1-0 at home in their opening match, before this week losing 3-2 against a Paris St Germain side without their star player, Zlatan Ibrahimovic.
Though it may sound strange given their wealth of resources, there is a sense that Barca are too reliant on Lionel Messi to provide some creative ingenuity, particularly with the departures of other brilliant individual talents such as Cesc Fabregas and Alexis Sanchez over the summer.
Consequently, with Barca looking below par more often than not, Suarez’s expected return for El Clasico on 26 October can’t come soon enough.
5 talking points from this week's Champions League action
Updated at 10.23
1. Welbeck gives Arsenal, and himself, a much-needed boost
PRIOR TO LAST night, just two players had scored a hat-trick for Arsenal in the Champions League — one was Thierry Henry, and the other was Nicklas Bendtner.
Moreover, with one goal in three starts in the league, Danny Welbeck has yet to totally shake off the suspicion that he’s not a natural goalscorer.
Yet the England star is still only 23, and he showed evidence of his undoubted potential last night with three finely taken goals in the club’s clash with Galatasaray.
That said, it was a home Champions League match against relatively weak opposition, so it still remains to be seen whether Welbeck turns out to be closer to Bendtner or the legendary Henry, in terms of his legacy at the Gunners.
2. Rodgers’ criticism shows how fickle football can be
It seems difficult to think of any other sport or walk of life in general where an individual can so quickly and dramatically go from hero to villain, as is perpetually the case in football.
Less than six months ago, as Liverpool looked set to claim a first-ever Premier League title, Brendan Rodgers was being hailed as a genius and garnering comparisons to Bill Shankly and Bob Paisley.
Now, with the club struggling and a dispiriting loss away to Basel — the same team who were thumped 5-1 by Real Madrid in their opening match — the latest setback they have had to endure, Rodgers is seemingly no longer in vogue.
One Liverpool fan on the BBC Radio 5 Live’s football phone-in show 606 last night even suggested the former Swansea manager should be sacked, despite guiding the club to an unprecedented points tally in the Premier League earlier this year.
And it would hardly be a huge surprise if the Northern Irish manager does leave Anfield before the season’s culmination — his two campaigns in charge far exceeds a manager’s average lifespan nowadays, as he currently is the fifth longest-serving Premier League boss, and 18th across when measured against all the top leagues in England.
3. Man City ill-suited to four-man midfield in Europe
(AS Roma’s Francesco Totti celebrates scoring during the UEFA Champions League match at the Etihad Stadium)
Despite regularly dominating in the Premier League over the course of the past three or four seasons, Manchester City have seldom looked convincing in Europe. Tuesday night’s game at home to Roma was a case in point.
On the face of it, City should be well able to beat the Italians at home, given the club’s superior resources and in particular, their greater spending power.
Yet instead, it was the visitors who largely dominated proceedings, and could have easily emerged from the match with all three points rather than a 1-1 draw, which they ultimately had to settle for.
It was no coincidence though, that City began to look immeasurably better when Frank Lampard replaced the ineffectual Edin Dzeko after 57 minutes. Suddenly, Roma had less to room to pass the ball around City, and no longer seemed so conspicuously superior, as the hosts had the luxury of an extra man in midfield.
Prior to that change, with the defensively ill-disciplined Yaya Toure having one of his bad nights, Manuel Pellegrini’s side simply couldn’t cope with their technically superior opponents — a recurring theme for the Premier League champions in Europe.
4. Matic Chelsea’s unsung hero
Chelsea’s winner against Sporting Lisbon on Tuesday came from an unlikely source in the form of Nemanja Matic, who had scored just once in 27 appearances for the club prior to the game.
The important 1-0 away win was a continuation of Jose Mourinho’s side’s impressive start to the season, and it was the kind of gritty victory that all great sides tend to pull off when not at their very best.
And in Matic, they have the archetypal unseen player, whose under-the-radar work is desperately important when it comes to winning titles.
While the likes of Eden Hazard, Cesc Fabregas and Diego Costa will grab headlines owing to their attacking brilliance, Matic is arguably equally invaluable, when compared with these stars.
Since joining Chelsea last January, he has featured in almost every game, including all six of their Premier League fixtures so far this season.
So perhaps more than anyone else, the 26-year-old is the on-field personification of Mourinho, as he consistently delivers by showing the type of qualities the coach patently admires — physicality, work-rate and an ostensible immunity to making bad decisions.
5. Barcelona badly need Suarez
Despite being top of La Liga having won all but one of their domestic matches so far this season, there is a sense that Barcelona remain a work in progress under Luis Enrique.
Their current lack of conviction has been especially evident in the Champions League, where they could only beat Cypriot team Apoel Nicosia 1-0 at home in their opening match, before this week losing 3-2 against a Paris St Germain side without their star player, Zlatan Ibrahimovic.
Though it may sound strange given their wealth of resources, there is a sense that Barca are too reliant on Lionel Messi to provide some creative ingenuity, particularly with the departures of other brilliant individual talents such as Cesc Fabregas and Alexis Sanchez over the summer.
Consequently, with Barca looking below par more often than not, Suarez’s expected return for El Clasico on 26 October can’t come soon enough.
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Analysis UEFA Champions League Danny Welbeck Talking Points Arsenal Barcelona Chelsea Liverpool Manchester City