Go upstairs
VFB Stuttgart: In last season’s Bundesliga it was Stuttgart instead of Bayern Munich who came second to the undefeated champion Bayer Leverkusen. Following up this season has proven difficult for Sebastian Hoeness’ team, who are in tenth place in the Bundesliga. On Tuesday evening in Turin they dominated Juventus, who put in their worst performance to date under Thiago Motta and were reduced to ten men after Danilo’s red card. Deniz Undav’s first-half screamer for Stuttgart was cleared by VAR but it looked like Mattia Perin, who saved Enzo Millot’s penalty in a brilliant goalkeeping display, would deny the Germans. It took some graceful improvisation from El Bilal Touré to achieve the first Champions League victory for a club back in the competition this season for the first time in fifteen years.
Feyenoord: Arne Slot’s Liverpool finished the week second in the group stages, but the club he left behind has acquitted itself well without him. Brian Priske, a Dane, is Slot’s replacement at Feyenoord and his team recorded a famous 3-1 victory at Benfica’s Stadium of Light, with Ayase Ueda, the Japanese striker, scoring the opener and having another goal disallowed. Teenager Antoni Milambo scored the second and third as it looked like Bruno Lage’s side, who were in second place for most of the evening, might claw their way back. Hwang In-beom, the South Korean midfielder signed from Red Star Belgrade, performed excellently for Feyenoord, as did Hugo Bueno, the wing-back on loan from Wolves. Priske became the first Feyenoord coach to win two away games in the group stage, after beating Girona last time.
Lille: France’s achievements in this year’s competition continue. PSG, which drew with PSV, abandons the team in 19th place. After Monaco beat Red Star Belgrade 5-1 to finish fourth, and fifth-placed Brest continued their unbeaten start by drawing with Bayer Leverkusen, Lille produced the best performance of all by winning 3-1 at Atlético Madrid. That followed their victory over Real Madrid in the previous round. This was a comeback win, started by early substitute Edon Zhegrova’s deflected equalizer after Julián Alvarez had scored the opener for Atlético. There was clear luck for Lille’s second when VAR inexplicably ruled it a handball when the ball had hit Benjamin André’s hand, rather than a ball belonging to an Atlético player. Jonathan David, also coming on as a substitute, scored from the spot and grabbed the clincher, his 11th of the season, to follow up his winner against Real Madrid. It was another coup for Lille coach Bruno Génésio, who proved a good appointment for Paulo Fonseca.
Sliding down
Arsenal: It’s rare to see a winning team in this category, but a dead quiet Tuesday evening at the Emirates gave far more cause for concern than celebration. Mikel Arteta complained of fatigue in his team. They cannot afford to get tired on Sunday against Liverpool, their opponents. Only a late save from David Raya denied Shakhtar an equalizer after poor finishing from Arsenal’s attackers, including a missed penalty from Leandro Trossard. Worst of all was the injury to Riccardo Calafiori, who has added real class to Arsenal’s defense of late. He will join Bukayo Saka, Martin Ødegaard and Jurrien Timber on the victims list. Of the four English teams, who have conceded just one goal in three rounds, and compared to Aston Villa, Liverpool and Manchester City, who have each reached cruising speed, Arsenal are having the toughest weather of the group stage, although these things are relative.
Bayern Munich: João Palhinha is midfielder Bayern Munich’s recruitment team chasing three transfer windows. The £43.4m summer was enough to pry him away from Fulham, and yet the Portuguese presenter, one of the best players in that role in the Premier League, had played just 236 minutes in seven games for Bayern in the match against Barcelona on Wednesday. . Aleksandar Pavlović’s broken collarbone gave Palhinha his chance, but he was let down against Barcelona, especially by Lamine Yamal and Fermín López. Palhinha was not the only one to suffer in Spain, but he symbolized the failure of Vincent Kompany’s team to cope with Barcelona’s pace and creativity. He and Joshua Kimmich were exposed to their coach’s reckless tactics as Bayern were pummeled 4-1 by an opponent they usually had the better of, the 8-2 of 2020 comes to mind.
RB Salzburg: One of the many questions surrounding Jurgen Klopp’s new role at the Red Bull multi-club operation was how he might deal with the trials of his former Liverpool assistant Pepijn Lijnders in Austria. With Klopp not due to start in his new role until January 1, it appears the decision will have already been taken away from him. At home against Dinamo Zagreb, fellow strugglers at the bottom of the ladder, Salzburg put in another hapless, chaotic display, best personified by a dunce handball outside the penalty area from goalkeeper Alexander Schlager that led to his red card. Perhaps of greater concern for the incoming Red Bull supremo is that RB Leipzig are on zero points next to their Austrian cousins.
A good week for that
Vinicius Junior: Ballon d’Or, Ballon d’Or, Ballon d’Or. With the awards ceremony looming in Paris next Monday, it has been a good week for Real Madrid’s main man to step up in the competition, where his performances have made him favorite for the award. Chief? Yes, Kylian Mbappe had to watch as Madrid eventually blew Borussia Dortmund apart 5-2, with Vini scoring a hat-trick as his team recovered from two down at half-time to take control in the final ten minutes. Mbappé plowed through as a centre-forward as the Brazilian dazzled from his favored left side. The best goal of the three saw Vinícius shoot past Emre Can on halfway, before crashing the ball past Gregor Kobel.
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Christian Pulisic: This season he has become Milan’s Mr Reliable. A first victory in the group stage after Milan’s poor start in the Champions League. After a shaky opening to their match against Club Brugge, Pulisic and Rafael Leão started to attack. The American’s goal came straight from a corner, a dazzling throw that passed everyone by. A bit of luck, Pulisic admitted with a laugh afterwards. “I didn’t try that, but it was a good cross,” he smiled. Almost everything he touches currently turns to gold. It cost him ten goals in ten games, and if Tijjani Reijnders’ double secured Milan’s victory, Pulisic continued to set the standard.
Raphinha: From a player Barcelona wanted to sell this summer, the Brazilian, who wore the captain’s armband at Montjuic, has become a guiding light for Hansi Flick’s team. His thrilling hat-trick tore Bayern apart, and a match that could have gone either way during an open first half was ripped from the German giants’ grasp. The winger signed by Jordi Cruyff fitted in beautifully with Yamal in particular, as well as with the renewed, reborn Robert Lewandowski, whose confrontation with Harry Kane resulted in the two great attackers of the time scoring one goal each. Amid some ruinous spending at Barcelona in recent years, Raphinha, making his 100th Barca appearance, has proven to be a slow-burning hit. And now a leader.