Champions League
Shakhtar Donetsk – Manchester City: Routine victory for City, who show off a myriad of build-up patterns (0-3)
Manchester City showed great flexibility in their build-up patterns and managed to control this game from the get. Once the first goal was in the net,
Manchester United – Juventus: Paulo Dybala steals the limelight in Allegri’s dominant setup (0-1)
Despite all the pre-printed headlines of Cristiano Ronaldo’s return to Old Trafford, Paolo Dybala was the standout performer in this match. Juventus manager Max Allegri put
Ajax – Benfica: Ajax wins fun, balanced Champions League clash in dying seconds (1-0)
This was a truly entertaining, international-level game between two clubs who are not from one of Europe’s ‘Big Five’ competitions. Ajax’s young right-back Noussair Mazraoui turned
Napoli – Liverpool: solid and persistent Napoli score well-deserved late goal to defeat lackluster Liverpool (1-0)
Carlo Ancelotti, an old fox of European competitions, tweaked his usual game plan to give Napoli an improved buildup structure and defensive solidity against Liverpool’s pressing
Tottenham Hotspur – FC Barcelona: Magical Messi Capitalizes On Individual Mistakes To Deliver A Thrilling Victory For Barcelona (2-4)
Tottenham were willing to take the game to Barcelona from the first minute until the last, but were undone by repeated individual errors. Lionel Messi, never
Manchester United – Valencia: Mourinho’s side stumble to draw against organised Valencia (0-0)
Manchester United may not have lost this match, but José Mourinho’s side looked second best for significant spells of the game. Valencia exploited United’s man-marking system
Bayern Munich – Ajax: visitors from Amsterdam close to major upset (1-1)
After dropping points in two consecutive Bundesliga matches – a shock, by the lofty standards for the German Rekordmeister – Bayern almost lost at home to
TSG 1899 Hoffenheim – Manchester City: Disciplined Hoffenheim give City a true run for their money (1-2)
An inexperienced Hoffenheim side did everything they could to fend off Pep Guardiola’s brilliant Manchester City. After an opening goal after 44 seconds, Hoffenheim sat back
Real Madrid – AS Roma: Real revisits midfield diamond to outclass Roma (3-0)
Real Madrid goes back to Zidane-esque tactics to outclass a confused AS Roma. Real achieved an overwhelming 3-0 victory through great moments in both possession and
Manchester City – Olympique Lyon: uncharacteristically sloppy City gets punished by well-organised Lyon (1-2)
Manchester City put in a once-in-a-blue-moon performance, as they were defeated 2-1 at home by Olympique Lyon in their opening Champions League fixture of the season.