My word, that pass by Juan Mata!
Mata’s gorgeous and audacious back-heeled flick was the play of day on Wednesday in the UEFA Champions League, as the Spaniard helped Manchester United earn a much-needed 2-1 win over Wolfsburg at Old Trafford.
Mata’s pass was simply out of this world. Seriously, go Google it right now!
Champions League roundup: To read about all of Wednesday’s games, CLICK HERE
Wednesday also saw big road wins by Manchester City (at Borussia Mönchengladbach) and Benfica (at Atletico Madrid), an important victory by Juventus (at home over Sevilla), and Real Madrid’s Cristiano Ronaldo reaching another milestone (this is getting tiresome from him, isn’t it?).
Here are my three thoughts on the day.
RONALDO HITS 500 GOALS
They jokingly used to refer to Real Madrid as “Raul Madrid” in some quarters of the Estadio Santiago Bernabéu when Raul was scoring goals for fun at the club. It’s time for a name change: “Ronaldo Madrid.”
Cristiano Ronaldo scored the 500th and 501st goals of his professional career in Real’s 2-0 win over Malmo in Sweden, further cementing his status as one of the truly greats the game has ever known. It matters not that he’s never won a World Cup—Ronaldo, like Lionel Messi, truly belongs in that same elite class that includes Pele, Maradona, Cryuff, Di Stefano and Platini.
After opening his account vs. Malmo on the counter in the 30th minute, Ronaldo put the game away when he scored on a tap in during the final minute of regulation. Ronaldo’s brace not only kept the Spanish club top of its group, but it also allowed the Portuguese to tie Raul as Real Madrid’s all-time leading scorer with 323 goals.
Amazingly, Raul took 741 games for Real Madrid to reach 323 goals. Ronaldo did it in 308. He’s only been there since 2009, and of course he first shot to fame with Manchester United. But there isn’t another footballer in the world right now, with the exception of Messi, who has become more identifiable with his club than the Portuguese star.
Ronaldo is Real Madrid, and Real Madrid is Ronaldo.
More on the UEFA Champions League: Sportsnet’s panel predictions || Mourinho suffers from ‘3rd Season Syndrome’ || Five stories to watch this week || ‘Gladbach a trick test for Man City
KHEDIRA EXCELLENT IN JUVE DEBUT
Juventus have been lethargic in Italy thus far, with just one win and five points through their first six games in Serie A. The Bianconeri have struggled in the wake of the off-season departures of Andrea Pirlo, Carlos Tevez and Arturo Vidal, and have looked nothing like the team that came so close to winning the treble in 2015-16.
But maybe the Turin club has turned a corner. German international Sami Khedira made his competitive debut for Juventus against Sevilla on Wednesday, returning from a thigh injury that has sidelined him from the beginning of August. And what a debut it was.
Juventus looked transformed with Khedira at the helm of the midfield. The former Real Madrid star was fundamentally sound and tactically aware, qualities that Juventus have been sorely lacking in recent weeks. Confident in possession, Khedira brought a sense of calm and stability to Juventus’ midfield, much the same way Pirlo did. With Khedira quarterbacking things, you never had sense that Juventus was going to be overrun in the middle of the park.
Throughout the contest against Sevilla he proved to be a vital link between the defence and attack, played a number of quick passes through the middle, and was sublime in not only starting transitions but breaking up plays— Khedira’s excellent slide tackle inside the penalty area in the third minute killed off any danger before it had a chance to develop.
BIG DAY FOR MANCHESTER
There’s been a lot of hand wringing over the supposed poor performances of Premier League clubs in the Champions League thus far, coupled with the fact no English side made it through to the quarterfinals last season. This worrying is all a bit heavy-handed and misguided, as results on Wednesday showed.
Manchester United and Manchester City both earned impressive come-from-behind wins over German opposition—the Red Devils disposing of a dangerous Wolfsburg side, and the Citizens overturning Borussia Mönchengladbach when they were 25 minutes away from suffering their second loss of the group stage.
These were massively important victories for the Manchester clubs after they both lost their openers. Another setback on Wednesday would have put their European campaigns in peril.
But credit to them for fighting back and not losing the plot after conceding the lead. United quickly wrestled control of the game away from Wolfsburg and never looked to be in danger after Mata equalized from the penalty spot in the 34th minute. And not for the first time Sergio Ageuro was fabulous for City, earning the foul and then converting the last-minute penalty that guided City past the Germans.
A big day for Manchester, and for English football after the debacle on Tuesday that saw Chelsea and Arsenal outplayed and drop three points.
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