The UEFA Champions League is an annual football (soccer) competition, organized by the Union of European Football Associations. The teams competing are top-division European clubs.
Chelsea are the reigning champions after beating Manchester City 1-0 in the 2021 Champions League Final.
In Week 1 of the group stage, reigning champs Chelsea F.C. dominated FC Zenit with 67% of the possession and 11 shots while Zenit only had 6. They ultimately beat Zenit 1-0 with a goal from Romelo Lukaku in the 69th minute.
The favorites to win the trophy, Paris Saint Germain (PSG), tied with Club Brugge with a final score of 1-1. The French team (PSG) had most of the possession with 64%, but they struggled to get upfield to land a shot, only having 9 with 4 on target. Club Brugge, with only 36% of the possession, managed to hit 16 shots at the French team's side, landing 7 of those on target. PSG’s Ander Herrera and Brugge’s Hans Vanaken both scored one goal to make the game tied at full time.
The biggest upset of Week One was the match between Young Boys and Manchester United. Although both teams had the ball equally as much, Young Boys had almost ten-times as many shots with 19, while Man United only had 2. An early goal from Cristiano Ronlaldo, who many consider the best in the world, put Manchester up 1-0. With Young Boys’ persistence on goal it was only a matter of time before they tied the game up. Finally, in the 66th minute, YB scored their first to tie the game up. It would be quite a while until the 3rd goal of the match. A last-minute goal by Theoson Siebatcheu gave the win to Young Boys.
Other notable games were:
Villareal 2-2 Atalanta
Malmo 0-3 Juventus
Barcelona 0-3 Bayern Munich
Inter Milan 0-1 Real Madrid
Liverpool 3-2 Milan
Manchester City 6-3 RB Leipzig
Sporting 1-5 Ajax
Week Two brought arguably one of the biggest upsets in the UCL.
Favorites PSG and powerhouse Man City put on a show in the sixth match of the second week. Both teams had equal control of the ball, but City had three-times as many shots as their opponents. The first ball hit the net at the 8th minute, courtesy of Idrissa Gueye from PSG. It wouldn’t be until late in the second half that the second goal would come in. Lionel Messi scored the second goal of the match, his first goal with PSG. This would ultimately solidify PSG’s 2-0 win over Man City.
A very close game was the one between Manchester United and Villareal. Both teams had about 50% possession and 14 shots. Villareal would be the first to put points up on the board. Paco Alcacer gave them the lead in the 53rd minute. Only seven minutes later, United would score to tie the game up with a goal from Alex Telles. Both teams continued back and forth in a shootout. Finally, the last-minute game-winner would be scored by none other than Cristiano Ronaldo. This would go on to give Man United a 2-1 win over Villareal.
The most surprising match, hands down, was Real Madrid vs Sheriff. Sheriff is a small club from the Moldovan National Division, while Real Madrid is one of the biggest clubs on the planet. Madrid has won a total of 13 Champions League trophies. For Sheriff, this is their first Champions appearance. The match started off with a 25th-minute goal from Jasurbek Yakhshiboev of Sheriff. Real Madrid kept the pressure up with 76% of the possession and 31 shots. The second goal would come from Karim Benzema of Real Madrid via penalty. Madrid kept on shooting but to no avail. The game-winning goal was scored at the last minute from Sebastien Thill of Sheriff, resulting in a 2-1 win over Real Madrid. This game just goes to show that anything can happen in soccer.
Other noteworthy games were:
Juventus 1-0 Chelsea
Liverpool 5-1 Porto
Bayern Munich 5-0 Dynamo Kyiv
Benfica 3-0 Barcelona
Looking ahead, Week Three doesn’t seem to have as many big games, but one game you should look out for is AFC Ajax vs Borussia Dortmund, given that both of these teams are undefeated.
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