Champions League review: Bayern shine, Cypriot history and Rooney v Van Dijk | Champions League

The large winners

Vincent Kompany’s Bayern Munich. They rule supreme in Germany and are on a 16-match profitable streak. Beating the defending champions, Paris Saint-Germain, on Tuesday was additional proof of Bayern’s credentials. Luís Diaz, whose combativeness is sorely missed by Liverpool, scored two, however he took the aggression too far when his problem on Achraf Hakimi led to a first-half pink card. That meant the second half grew to become a take a look at of defensive credentials that Bayern handed. “I additionally need us to take pleasure in it when now we have to defend,” mentioned Kompany. He was certainly not his membership’s first-choice as coach in the summertime of 2024 – relegation from the Premier League with Burnley had broken his popularity. However in Bavaria, the noise from the boardroom has been quelled – for now – by the brilliance of his crew’s play.

Pafos make historical past. A well-known face – and coiffure – performed 90 minutes as David Luiz marshalled the defence for Pafos’s defeat of Villarreal. The 38-year-old, the defensive lion of Chelsea’s 2012 Champions League win, is the oldest outfield participant on this season’s competitors. When the Cypriot membership have been fashioned on 10 June 2014, David Luiz was within the means of negotiating a transfer from Chelsea to PSG. The scoring hero for Pafos this week, coached by Juan Carlos Carcedo, a longtime assistant to Unai Emery, was Derrick Luckassen, David Luiz’s defensive associate. Luckassen is the older brother of Brian Brobbey, Sunderland’s No 9. The help got here through Ken Sema, as soon as of Watford, who’s a part of a Pafos squad from throughout the soccer spectrum. “As a first-time supervisor, it’s my biggest victory,” mentioned Caredo; it was Pafos’s first-ever group stage win, too.

Qarabag and Membership Brugge denied. Maybe the format’s relative lack of jeopardy encourages smaller groups to assault supposedly elite opposition – regardless of the case, it makes for nice leisure. Each Qarabag, who gave Chelsea a fright in Baku, and Membership Brugge, who drew 3-3 with Barcelona in the perfect match of the week, equipped the prolonged group stage with legitimacy through leisure. Gurban Gurbanov has been accountable for Qarabag since 2008 – a interval by which Chelsea have had 14 “everlasting” managers. His crew ravaged Chelsea’s defence, with Jorrel Hato struggling a rotten night time. In the meantime, Brugge repeatedly pierced Hansi Flick’s high-line, high-wire act. It took Lamine Yamal’s ordinary brilliance, and a video assistant coming to the rescue of Wojciech Szczęsny as Brugge’s “winner” was dominated out, to save lots of Barça. Brugge coach Nicky Hayen is profitable admirers; he was accountable for Haverfordwest County within the League of Wales three years in the past.

Participant of the week

There have been loads of contenders for this award. Brugge’s Carlos Forbs obtained two objectives and an help towards Barcelona, Galatasaray’s Victor Osimhen scored an excellent hat-trick towards Ajax, whereas Arsenal’s 15-year-old midfielder Max Dowman grew to become the competitors’s youngest ever participant. However this week’s award belongs to a defender – though not Tottenham’s Micky van de Ven, regardless of his breathtaking solo purpose towards Copenhagen. The award as an alternative goes to Liverpool’s Conor Bradley, who first made his mark a 12 months in the past with a crunching sort out on Kylian Mbappé. On Tuesday it was Vinícius Júnior who was locked down by the Northern Irishman, who clearly reserves his finest for Actual Madrid. Bradley’s chew happened as Trent Alexander-Arnold, booed all night by the Anfield crowd, was sat on the Madrid bench till the latter levels. Thibaut Courtois, in Madrid’s purpose, was a contender for participant of the week, too.

They mentioned it

“Some gamers aren’t glad to be substituted, they don’t react nicely, and we kind these items out within the locker room.” Ivan Juric, Atalanta’s coach, performs down the ferocious touchline altercation with Ademola Lookman after the participant was subbed off throughout the crew’s 1-0 win at Marseille. Whereas Atalanta’s gamers celebrated at full-time, Juric and Lookman resumed their heated dialogue. “Everyone knows these conditions, we’ve all had them as gamers, as coaches, they occur within the warmth of the second,” Juric added.

The pundit’s chair

“As Virgil is captain I feel that’s your alternative to go and lead the gamers and that’s what I used to be saying. That occurs in soccer and I feel the response has been nice from Virgil and the crew.” Awkward for Wayne Rooney, as Virgil van Dijk confronts him in Amazon Prime’s post-game present. That got here after Rooney had been crucial of the defender’s management and physique language on his BBC podcast. Level made, Van Dijk signed off with a “we transfer on” and an embrace with Rooney.

Trying forward

There isn’t any relegation within the Champions League however the fifth spherical of matches, which begins on 25 November, opens with a six-pointer between two fallen giants, Ajax and Benfica. John Heitinga, the most recent Ajax youth product to wrestle to revive the membership’s former glories, was fired on Thursday. Benfica’s loss to Bayer Leverkusen noticed José Mourinho revert to sort. He blamed “a referee who, sadly, I do know nicely and I do know doesn’t have a lot affection for me”. Mourinho’s return to Lisbon could not final lengthy, both.

Enzo Maresca drew criticism for Chelsea’s efficiency in Baku: his squad price £1.6bn in comparison with Qarabag’s £21m. A defeat of Barcelona on the Bridge would assist his trigger. The fixture recollects fond recollections of conferences between the golf equipment: Ronaldinho’s sensible 2005 flick, Lionel Messi coming of age the next 12 months, Andrés Iniesta’s winner in 2009, and a titanic semi-final in 2012.

Arsenal have had some robust nights towards Bayern Munich on this competitors. 26 November will see a gathering of the desk’s high two, with Arsenal but to concede, and rampant Bayern having scored the joint-most objectives.