Here’s what happened on Matchday Two of the UEFA Champions League on Tuesday, in case you missed it.
The results
Watch match highlights: CSKA Moscow 0, Bayern Munich 1 || Sporting Lisbon 0, Chelsea 1 || Paris Saint-Germain 3, Barcelona 2 || Manchester City 1, AS Roma 1 || Shakhtar Donetsk 2, FC Porto 2 || BATE Borisov 2, Athletic Bilbao 1 || Schalke 04 1, NK Maribor 1 || Apoel FC 1, Ajax 1
Talking points
Manchester City in a spot of trouble: The headline is that Francesco Totti, who at 38, became the oldest scorer in tournament history, surpassing Ryan Giggs. But the bigger story is that Manchester City is in a spot of trouble, with just one point from its opening two games of the group stage.
Based on form, Bayern Munich (six points) and Roma (four) look poised to get out of this group ahead of a listless City. Yaya Toure once again putting in a tame and uninspired shift. His lackadasical play was on full display on Totti’s goal, when he didn’t even attempt to close down Seydou Keita in midfield as the scoring sequence began to develop.
The Giallorossi were vibrant in attack, even after going down early when Maicon committed a silly foul inside the box, leading to Sergio Aguero converting from the spot. City rarely looked dangerous after that, and now finds itself third in the group. There are four games left, so there’s plenty of time for the English champions to putting things right. But they’re going to have to play much better than they have so far.
PSG steps forward in a big way: PSG are off to a timid defence of their Ligue Un title—the reigning French champions currently sit fourth in the table with five draws in eight games.
They’ve managed just 14 goals (a paltry sum when you consider their attacking options) and have managed just one win in five contests away from home. A 1-1 draw away to Ajax in their group stage opener further compounded their woes.
Tuesday’s thrilling win over Barcelona—who’ve been flying high in La Liga—will give them a major boost of confidence. That they were able to beat a Barca side buoyed by the in-form duo of Neymar and Lionel Messi and without Zlatan Ibrahimovic speaks to the magnitude of this win. This was easily PSG’s best performance of the campaign, putting them top of the group, and sending a message to the Spaniards that they have a fight on their hands for first place.
Punishment, not deterrence: CSKA was ordered by UEFA to host Bayern on Tuesday behind closed doors after its fans were charged with racist behaviour during a game against Viktoria Plzen last December. They face a similar ban stemming from fans’ racist behaviour in their 5-1 loss away to AS Roma two weeks ago.
The Germans ran out easy 1-0 winners over the Russian champions inside an empty Arena Khimki that was completely lacking in fan atmosphere. Bayern Munich CEO Karl-Heinz Rummenigge wasn’t too pleased about this, telling Suddeutsche Zeitung in the build-up: "I have now been 40 years in football, and this is something that I have not yet experienced. Football is atmosphere, football is emotion."
Rummenigge is right. But why should CSKA be allowed to profit from a huge sell-out crowd after its fans, not for the first time, demonstrated racist behaviour on the terraces? No doubt that UEFA and FIFA has to do a better job of tackling the problem of fan racism. These closed-door bans aren’t about deterrence, though. They’re about shining a light on an ugly problem and trying to get a more meaningful dialogue to take place outside of the stadium.
Wednesday programming alert: Watch Zenit St. Petersburg vs. AS Monaco on Sportsnet World at noon ET, Arsenal vs. Galatasaray on all four main Sportsnet channels at 2:30 pm ET, Atletico Madrid vs. Juventus on Sportsnet World at 2:30, and FC Basel vs. Liverpool on Sportsnet ONE at 2:30 pm ET. || Also, watch these four games at 2:30 pm ET live and exclusively online at Sportsnet World NOW: Anderlecht vs. Borussia Dortmund, Bayer Leverkusen vs. Benfica, Ludogorets vs. Real Madrid and Malmo vs. Olympiacos.
Game within the game
Bayern completed 698 of 762 passes on the night for a 92 percent success rate. They established their "passing game" early on:
Goal of the day
A flowing move down the right side saw PSG take a 3-1 lead in the 54th minute. A lovely passing sequence ended with Gregory van der Wiel playing a dangerous cross into the box and Blaise Matuidi beating Dani Alves to the ball at the far pot before poking the ball through the legs of Barcelona goalkeeper Marc-André ter Stegen.
Save of the day
Late in the first half Roma right back Maicon lifted the ball over Manchester City defender Gael Clichy for teammate Gervinho. The Ivorian latched onto the ball at pace before lashing a wicked shot from a tight angle that City goalkeeper Joe Hart did very well to punch out with his wrists.
Match of the day
A wild and entertaining affair at the Parc des Princes saw Paris Saint-Germain and Barcelona combine for five goals—several of them being of highlight reel quality—and sequences of pure drama.
Best moment
It has be Francesco Totti’s record-breaking goal, scored with his trademark cucchiaio–spoon chip shot. A number of Manchester City fans gave him a standing ovation as he walked off the pitch after being subbed out in the second half.
Stat of the day
Question of the day
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Best tweet
3 stars
1) Blaise Matuidi: He scored the winning goal and provided PSG with a domineering presence in midfield.
2) Radja Nainggolan: Delivered the killer pass that set up Totti’s goal, and was at the heart of Roma’s quick attack.
2) Patricio: The Sporting goalkeeper made a number of great saves to keep the Portuguese in the game against Chelsea.
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