UEFA Champions League

A fascinating tactical battle between Lucien Favre’s Bundesliga-leading Dortmund and Diego Simeone’s Atletico (currently averaging 0.55 goals conceded per game in LaLiga) was bossed by the home side at the Westfalenstadion on Wednesday, BVB putting four past Europe’s misers while limiting the visitors to only two shots on frame.

Achraf Hakimi registered a hat-trick of assists while the moves were finished by Axel Witsel, Jadon Sancho and Raphael Guerreiro (x2). Marco Reus wasn’t on the scoresheet, but his deployment in the false nine role murdered Atletico’s shape. 

Paris Saint-Germain was moments away from dropping a Champions League match in Group C, with Lorenzo Insigne and Dries Mertens putting Napoli in front with about 13 minutes to play. Then Ángel Di María saved the French club with an absolute golazo in the 93rd minute.

PSG had already lost to Liverpool in Group C play and another loss would have put the Parisians on the brink of elimination. Neymar and Kylian Mbappé couldn’t get anything to go in, with PSG’s lone score in the opening 90 minutes coming off an unfortunate own goal. 

The ball looped up into the air and time slowed down. Goalie Hugo Lloris watched helplessly as a deflected shot sailed just out of his reach. Tens of thousands of fans inside the Philips Stadion in Eindhoven held their collective breath. Then the Hirving Lozano goal vs Tottenham fell into the net and the crowd exploded into jubilant celebration.

Mexico international Chucky Lozano scored against the run of play with his first Champions League group-stage goal on Wednesday in Group B action, and it all came down to a poor piece of play from Spurs defender Toby Alderweireld. 

When Cristiano Ronaldo last went up against David de Gea, the Portuguese striker put three past the Spanish keeper in a virtuoso performance during the 2018 World Cup this summer. The Ronaldo vs de Gea matchup went in the opposite direction on Tuesday, with the latter making some impressive saves to deny the former.

With El Clásico looming on Sunday, the only good news for Real Madrid at the present is the absence of Lionel Messi. Yes, Real climbed to the top of Champions League Group G on Tuesday after narrowly defeating Czech First League side Plzeň 2-1 at the Santiago Bernabeu, but you could easily argue that Los Blancos looked better during last weekend’s shock 2-1 defeat to Levante.