After a drab 1 & 2 it was Matchday 3 that reminded supporters worldwide why the Champions League is unparalled in professional sports.
Upsets, massive upsets, unheralded and unusual performances were all on display on Matchday 3 as the best club teams on the continent showed that the gap between the haves and have-nots is not as wide as pundits like it to be.
If North American sports like Major League Baseball or the National Hockey League operated with half the acumen of UEFA, the lulls and lockouts which have dotted its respective histories would never again be a talking point. Instead of trying to crack foreign markets by playing annual exhibitions in London, Stockholm or Tokyo, respect these countries by including them.
The foundations are there; all these leagues need is someone -- preferably a commissioner -- with the forward-thinking to buck complacency and build. The NHL can look to the incredibly uninteresting Spengler Cup to see that European club teams can play the game North Americans hold in high-esteem. In an 82-game hockey season, it is improbable to believe that Gameday 1 between HC Davos, the Pittsburgh Penguins, the Manitoba Moose and Theo Fleury's old Belfast Giants would not whip fans of the fastest game on ice into a frenzy.
For MLB, the World Baseball Classic is almost there, but instead of countries, choose clubs and watch the steroid-driven controversies melt away. The Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters and the Durham Bulls preceding game 132 of the MLB season, who's with me?
It's a pipe dream, I know; player unions are already ordering the straight-jackets for anyone who dares to suggest.
But for the soccer fans of the world, Matchday 3 in Europe gives us just enough to mull before the domestic leagues bring us back on the weekend. Until then, here are the top three goals from the last two days:
