Champions League review: Arsenal erupt, PSV stun Liverpool and Benfica revive
Arsenal's Gabriel Martinelli celebrates with team-mates Cristhian Mosquera (left) and William Saliba (right)
- Bayern Munich’s unbeaten run and claim to be the best team in European football were both punctured at the Emirates. Arsenal ran rampant against an opponent who have handed them so much pain in the past.
The Gunners opened the scoring through their habitual set-piece goal, Jurriën Timber fulfilling the role of the absent Gabriel. Lennart Karl, the 17-year-old, showed off his chops with a fine goal; from within Bayern have found the player they desired when they were thwarted in moving for Florian Wirtz.
After that, Declan Rice and Eberechi Eze took control in midfield, Noni Madueke and Gabriel Martinelli scoring the goals, the latter a humiliation of Manuel Neuer’s sweeper-keeper stylings.
Amid the fug of the extended Champions League group-stage format, where matches between elite clubs are routine rather than novelty, this was still a statement victory.
“I think they had an incredible match against, in my opinion, the best team in Europe,” Mikel Arteta said of his players. That status surely now lies with his team: Arsenal top the group-stage table with a 100% record.
- The recriminations at Anfield snowball. Arne Slot now bears the unfortunate nickname of “Arne Lost”, following Liverpool’s ninth defeat in 12. Credit, though, belongs to PSV Eindhoven.
The club dominating the Eredivisie stuck to their tactical plan, cutting Liverpool to ribbons. While Slot has complained of his team’s vulnerability to long balls, statistics bearing that out, PSV played their own progressive, quick-passing, speedy counterattacking game to take full advantage of Liverpool’s foibles.
Their coach, Peter Bosz, said of his compatriot, Slot: “We’re going to have a little drink together and then say something. Possibly something strong, hey?”
PSV had collected only their third away match in 26 Champions League trips, veteran Ivan Perisic slotting an early penalty, before Guus Til cut across Milos Kerkez to complete an incisive counter.
Two goals from Couhaib Driouech, off the bench, the first a rebound of a shot from fellow sub Ricardo Pepi, completed the rout.
- Benfica won Tuesday’s battle of fallen European giants, a 2-0 victory at Ajax, who stayed bottom of the table. José Mourinho recorded his seventh Champions League win over Ajax, struggling badly to modernise.
Samuel Dahl scored from the second ball that resulted from a corner and a toothless Ajax attack found no way back. Under the suitably named caretaker Fred Grim, who stepped in after John Heitinga’s sacking, a sorry sequence continues, with now 17 of the 34 goals Ajax conceded coming after a set piece.
Benfica ended their Champions League sequence of six successive defeats, Mourinho celebrating by kissing Wesley Sneijder, his former Inter playmaker working as a TV pundit for Ziggo, on the forehead.
“The kiss was for Wesley; the fatty guy is very sweet,” said Mourinho; Sneijder has filled out since retirement.
Estevão, Chelsea. Meetings between Chelsea and Barcelona make up a flipbook of Champions League classic moments, such as Ronaldinho’s no-backlift flick in 2005, to Lionel Messi’s coming-out party the following year in ravaging Asier del Horno.
The renewal in 2025 will be remembered for one player’s brilliance, and it wasn’t Lamine Yamal, who found no way past Marc Cucurella.
Estevão is three months older than Yamal and had to wait a relatively longer time for his breakthrough, though still has 100 senior appearances under his belt, but he completely overshadowed Barcelona’s jewel with a special goal, jinking through defenders to crash home.
On a week where Kylian Mbappé scored four against Olympiakos, Vitinha completed a hat-trick as PSG beat Tottenham 5-3, the Spurs manager Thomas Frank hailing the Portuguese as the “best in Europe”, while Randal Kolo Muani scored twice for Spurs against his parent club, the week still belongs to the Brazilian.
“It was a special atmosphere, remembering Diego Armando Maradona. We all wanted to honour his memory in the best way. So I am happy about how it went.” – Antonio Conte speaks after his Napoli team beat Qarabag 2-0 on the fifth anniversary of Maradona’s death, Scott McTominay opening the scoring for the Italian champions, who are in 20th place, and trying to haul back up the table.
“Crisis is a very strong word. That’s disrespectful to this team and the manager who won the title last year. I won’t use this word just yet. You can’t deny this team is struggling. Unless the manager can find answers and stability in this team, it’s going to continue.” Steven Gerrard, Liverpool legend, stays diplomatic on TNT Sports in the UK.
“Watch Konaté here, oh my god… I’ve had enough of them, that Konaté, that’s a sackable offence for the manager to keep picking him … he should be sacked for that.” Caught on CBS’s candid camera, Liverpool legend Jamie Carragher is rather less diplomatic about Liverpool.
Pep Guardiola’s rotation of 10 players was a calculation that went wrong, with his unfamiliar Manchester City team losing deservedly 2-0 to Bayer Leverkusen.
City, in wobbly form, face three Premier League matches before travelling to face Real Madrid on 10 December, and could do with a win to climb into the top eight and avoid an extra two-legged tie.
The storm around Madrid coach Xabi Alonso, his team squeaking past Olympiakos in a 4-3 win, may well be whipped back up by the time Guardiola comes to town.
The other Spanish giant, Barcelona, are dangerously low in the table – 18th – with their freewheeling coach, Hansi Flick, also under pressure. His high-line strategy had little answer to Chelsea’s muscle on Tuesday. Eintracht Frankfurt, in 28th, need a win in the new Nou Camp to keep their hopes alive.
Sporting are the surprise team in the top eight, the Portuguese champions beating Brugge 3-0 this week. They travel to wounded Bayern, with striker Luis Suárez, a well-travelled Colombian, once of Watford, proving a decent replacement for Viktor Gyökeres.
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