The new "semi-automated offside technology" that's going to be used at the 2022 World Cup made its Champions League debut this week, and guess what, controversy and existential questions regarding humankind's dwindling agency in its own game — at the hands of the robots! — reigned supreme.
After a long summer, Europe’s premier club competition is back and did not disappoint. From Lisbon to Amsterdam, some fantastic goals were scored in the opening week of the Champions League, so let's take a look at the top five.
Napoli dio una de las grandes sorpresas en la primera semana de la Champions League. No porque le ganó a Liverpool, sino por la forma en que despedazó al equipo dirigido por Jürgen Klopp, con un 4-1 que será difícil de olvidar.
Los aficionados del conjunto italiano celebraron con júbilo y razón la victoria, pero curiosamente hubo varios que hicieron una pausa a los festejos para continuar su campaña de hate hacia uno de los suyos: el mexicano Hirving Lozano.
NAPLES, Italy — Jürgen Klopp said he needs to "reinvent" his Liverpool team after they suffered a 4-1 hammering at the hands of Napoli in their Champions League Group A opener on Wednesday.
Klopp's side were outplayed in the first half and fortunate to only go in 3-0 down at the break and the German, who won the competition with Liverpool in 2019 and led them to the final last season, said there was plenty to be fixed.
Chelsea parted ways with its UEFA Champions League winning manager Thomas Tuchel on Wednesday shocking just about everybody. A slow start to the season coupled with a disastrous loss to Croatian club Dinamo Zagreb in the Champions League opener was enough for Tuchel to get the axe.
No es secreto que Edson Álvarez quedó desilusionado luego de su frustrado traspaso al Chelsea. Sin embargo, una vez cerrada la puerta de la Premier League, Machín prometió que volvería a concentrarse en los objetivos que tiene el Ajax para esta temporada, dando lo mejor de sí dentro del campo.
The Chaaaaaaaaaampions pic.twitter.com/muNj6K4ZPg
— AFC Ajax (@AFCAjax) September 7, 2022
Real Madrid started its Champions League title defense Tuesday with a bittersweet 3-0 victory over Celtic in Scotland. Bitter because Karim Benzema suffered a worrisome knee injury, sweet because Eden Hazard showed up to become the night's unexpected hero, providing an assist and scoring a goal.
The trip to Glasgow didn't start well for Real Madrid. The Bhoys put on a good performance in front of their fans and were close to upsetting the champions on a couple occasions.
The gulf in class between Juventus and the best sides in Europe has never been more clear. Despite a second-half goal from Weston McKennie, Massimiliano Allegri’s side was humbled in Paris as Kylian Mbappé, Neymar and Lionel Messi imposed their will on the Juve defense, winning 2-1.
The story of American keeper Matt Turner has been widely publicized over the last year after the late-blooming New Jersey native went from collegiate afterthought to USMNT hero over a few short years. While Turner will hope to play in the Europa League this year with Arsenal, another American keeper will be taking center stage in the UEFA Champions League — Maccabi Haifa's Josh Cohen.
Cohen's soccer career mirror's that of Turner's, and though he has not received the recent fanfare, Josh Cohen is more than deserving of American soccer fans' attention.
ZAGREB - Dinamo Zagreb claimed a shock victory over Chelsea in their Champions League group stage opener on Tuesday as they beat the 2021 European champions 1-0 at home thanks to a blistering solo run from Croatian forward Mislav Oršić.
Zagreb had conceded in every league game this season but Ante Čačić's team kept a clean sheet against the Premier League side, who topped Europe's transfer spending charts with an outlay of over $299.62 million this summer.