Champions League
Juventus – Valencia: Juve bein’ Juve, as one goal sees them through to the Champions League knockout phase (1-0)
Breaking into Valencia’s defense is not an easy task, but once Juventus got an opening goal, the match never seemed out of control for them. Thanks
Juventus – Manchester United: United’s undeserved win covers up repeating defensive problems (1-2)
The free-roaming forwards Cristiano Ronaldo and Paulo Dybala never gave United’s midfield a moment’s rest, whilst the ever-brilliant Rodrigo Bentancur continued to shine, this time in
Benfica – Ajax: heavy-pressing Benfica dominates initially, but moment of Ziyech magic gives Ajax crucial point (1-1)
For the second time in two weeks, Ajax and Benfica prove to be very evenly matched teams. Where the first meeting between these two sides was
SSC Napoli – Paris Saint-Germain: Napoli come to life after the break and draw with Neymar-dependent PSG (1-1)
The group to watch in this season’s Champions League edition is definitely group C. Liverpool’s shock defeat away against Crvena Zvezda – two hours before PSG
Borussia Dortmund – Atlético Madrid: Dortmund surprisingly crush Atlético thanks to dominant play from wings (4-0)
It turns out Borussia Dortmund can score just fine without their scorching hot striker, Paco Alcácer. Lucien Favre’s decision to start Marco Reus as a defensive
FC Barcelona – Internazionale (2-0): Messi-less Barcelona dominate both the conservative and high-pressing sides of Inter’s game
Barcelona’s new “Arthur-system” passed a difficult test by dominating Internazionale even without Messi, as Barcelona showed both defensive stability and an intelligent attack. Inter shifted from
Paris Saint-Germain – SSC Napoli: Tuchel’s testing almost costs PSG dearly against Napoli (2-2)
PSG manager Thomas Tuchel takes a fascinating path in his aim to win the club’s first Champions League title. For the third time this season, PSG
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