What happens when teams find out that in the new-look UEFA Champions League, draws don't help you and losses don't necessarily hurt? They go for it. Maybe they score a lot of goals in the process, maybe they give up a lot. Either way, we win.
In 18 matches this week, we got 71 goals (3.9 per match), including 43 on Tuesday alone. We got three 4-0 matches, two 5-1s, a 6-1, a 7-2, a 6-2 and a 4-2, plus a pair of 3-1s and a 3-0. And the three 0-0 matches we got were completely accidental -- they averaged 3.1 combined xG as well.
Action may be down in the Premier League, but Champions League Matchday 3 brought the thunder.
Of course, it also brought blowouts. Aside from the accidental 0-0s, only two other matches were decided by one goal. It appears that the sport's heavyweights remember the way Manchester City (22nd in last year's League Phase) and PSG (15th) struggled in the early-going last season, and they know that there's no time like the present to hit the gas. Of the top 10 teams in the world, per the current Opta rankings, five have taken a perfect nine points from their first three matches, and the others have all taken at least six.
- UCL Talking Points: Conte's rant, Liverpool's best XI
- Ogden: Ekitike should be Liverpool's No.9
- Olley: Arsenal's statement win makes them front-runners
Granted, plenty of celebrated clubs are still struggling -- Napoli and Atletico Madrid have three points each, Juventus and Bayer Leverkusen have two and Benfica and Ajax have zero -- but the best of the best are leaving little doubt early on. As we approach the midway point of the League Phase, let's look at the best teams, players and matches (well, match) of Matchday 3 and take stock of where everyone stands.
TEAMS OF THE WEEK
Arsenal, Paris Saint-Germain
Arsenal 4, Atletico Madrid 0; Bayer Leverkusen 2, PSG 7
The two best teams in Europe at the moment both very much looked the part, winning by a combined 11-2 against a pair of opponents that have won Big Five league titles in the 2020s.
Arsenal used a 15-minute burst to pummel Atletico. They were the superior team through 55 scoreless minutes, though Atleti's Julin lvarez hit the post with a glorious long shot in the 49th minute. If that goes in, and Atleti could have properly parked the bus, maybe things play out differently. Or maybe Arsenal was inevitable either way.
Things naturally opened up with a brilliant set piece because while it sure seemed like Atleti had the numbers advantage on a Declan Rice free kick, Gabriel Magalh�es escaped from the pack for a clean header anyway. And once Atleti's resistance broke, it was broken: Just seven minutes later, Myles Lewis-Skelly skated through a number of defenders to find Gabriel Martinelli for a first-strike goal.
Viktor Gykeres scored twice within six more minutes. It was suddenly 4-0, and Mikel Arteta hadn't even dipped into his deep bench yet.
This one was decided by intensity and athleticism as much as anything. Arsenal defend better than the forever defense-minded Atletico, but they can defend the entire pitch, too -- they forced 20 high turnovers to Atleti's three, and their average possession start was 14.1 meters further up the pitch. Absolute domination. Oh, and they've now allowed just three goals in 12 matches in all competitions, zero in three Champions League matches.
There's a version of PSG's 7-2 win over Bayer Leverkusen in which PSG misfires in front of goal -- think of their shocking semifinal loss to another Bundesliga team, Borussia Dortmund, two seasons ago -- Leverkusen counterattacks beautifully and pulls a smash-and-grab. PSG dominated possession (70.4%) and attempted 24 shots to their hosts' six, but xG totals ended up about the same: 2.8 for PSG, 2.5 for Leverkusen. Despite two goals from Leverkusen's Aleix Garca, however, PSG won with absurdly clinical finishing: They put eight shots on goal, with seven going in.
The match opened up late in the first half, with both teams suffering red cards within six minutes of each other and Garcia tying the game with a penalty in the 38th minute. But Dsir Dou scored twice, and Khvicha Kvaratskhelia scored once -- while assisting one of Doue's goals -- and it was suddenly 4-1 at halftime. Then they just ... kept going. Even Ballon d'Or winner Ousmane Dembl got in on the action, returning from injury with a substitute appearance and scoring within three minutes.
Injuries and extreme squad rotation from Luis Enrique have meant that we've barely actually seen PSG's best XI on the pitch at the same time yet. Granted, that's meant some dropped points in Ligue 1 play -- they've won only one of their last four league matches and are a point behind Marseille -- but they've still cruised to three wins with a +10 goal differential in the Champions League.
Galatasaray
Galatasaray 3, Bodo/Glimt 1
It's hard to respond to a stumble better than Galatasaray have. They were humiliated by Eintracht Frankfurt, 5-1, in Matchday 1 soon after spending nearly 150 million in transfer fees -- half of which went to landing Victor Osimhen on a permanent deal. But they have since reminded us that in front of the home crowd at Rams Park, they can beat the best teams in the world -- they beat Liverpool 1-0 in Matchday 2 -- and they can blow out anyone else.
Their 3-1 win over Bodo/Glimt on Wednesday was almost understated; they took 23 shots worth 4.1 xG, meaning only iffy finishing prevented them from the type of garish scoreline we saw elsewhere this week. Bodo/Glimt has a lovely possession game, but Galatasaray have perfect counterattacking personnel -- the visitors managed only eight shots from 62% possession and 594 pass attempts; Galatasaray attempted 23 shots while barely possessing the ball.
That loss to Eintracht, by the way? Their only defeat since March 29. They've only dropped two points in Turkish Super Lig play thus far and despite that rough start, they're back up to 14th in the Champions League table. In the power rankings below, they've made the biggest jump of any team, from 23rd to 14th.
I'm starting to trust them quite a bit, and that trust will multiply if they manhandle Ajax away like they should in Matchday 4.
MATCH OF THE WEEK
Real Madrid 1, Juventus 0
As two of the last three Super League holdouts, this pair tried to blow up the structure of European soccer in part because they wanted to play each other more. And to their credit, they played Wednesday's match at the Bernabeu like intense old rivals.
Unfortunately for Juventus, they just couldn't match Real Madrid's speed. The Blancos are playing a pretty strong version of Xabi Alonso's high-energy possession game -- they had 65.1% possession, averaged nearly 10 passes per possession and started their possessions nearly 12 meters further up the pitch than Juve on average. Their passing connections map looks like they were trying to sew a pattern into the pitch.
(The thicker the line, the more frequent the connection. Virtually all of Real Madrid's connections were frequent.)
Beyond that, Real Madrid also allowed just 7.1 passes per defensive action (PPDA), a solid measure of defensive intensity. Only Athletic Bilbao had a lower average (6.5). That's a devastating combination. And yet, Juventus counterattacked pretty well and forced four solid saves from Thibaut Courtois in the first 47 minutes. Real Madrid couldn't take the lead until Jude Bellingham knocked in a rebound in the 57th minute.
That was Bellingham's first goal since he scored against Pachuca in Charlotte, N.C., in the Club World Cup in late June. That had to feel pretty good.
It was going to be interesting to see how Bellingham, recently back from injury, fit in with the increasingly impressive duo of Kylian Mbapp and Arda Gler in the middle of the attack. Bellingham scored, while Guler and Mbappe combined for seven shot attempts and 14 chances created. I'd say that worked out relatively well.
You'd love for the best match of the week to be a little more back-and-forth -- final xG totals: Real Madrid 2.8, Juve 0.6 -- but it was intense, it was a fun watch, and Real Madrid's best players looked like they were supposed to. There are worse ways to spend two hours.
PLAYERS OF THE WEEK
Victor Osimhen, Galatasaray
The Nigeria international opened the scoring with that lovely piece of transition work, then stole a second by jumping in front of a back pass and quickly putting the ball in the net. He attempted nine shots, most of anyone in Matchday 3, and he only played 73 minutes.
Galatasaray's philosophy is basically "Defend hard and get the ball to Victor," and it's working beautifully.
Pedri, Barcelona
Pure pivot-man perfection. Pedri recorded 27 combined progressive carries (12) and progressive passes (15), and he had a team-leading six ball recoveries. This touch map tells you everything you need to know about his role against Olympiacos (and how well he played it).
Anthony Gordon, Newcastle
One goal from four shots, one assist, 15 progressive carries, 7-for-14 on duels and a team-high eight ball recoveries. Gordon was utterly relentless in Newcastle's 3-0 win over Benfica. He might have been their best attacker and defender.
Konrad Laimer, Bayern Munich
Find yourself a left back who does it all. Laimer had two first-half assists against Club Brugge, recorded 12 progressive carries and eight progressive passes, won four of seven ground duels and made a team-leading 11 defensive interventions. Bayern outhustled the Belgian underdogs and erased a good attack, and Laimer had a huge role in that while also making a pair of goal contributions.
Dominik Szoboszlai, Liverpool
Like Laimer, Szobozslai has spent quite a bit of time as a fill-in fullback this season, and like Laimer, he did absolutely everything on Wednesday: He scored, he assisted, he recorded 12 progressive carries and 17 progressive passes, and he made a team-leading seven ball recoveries too.
Liverpool almost made him redundant with their extreme spending on attackers this summer, but the Hungary international is consistently proving too important to bench.
Ramy Bensebaini and Waldemar Anton, Borussia Dortmund
On the left and right side of Niko Kovac's three-man back line, the two veterans combined for 31 defensive interventions, 27 progressive carries, 27 progressive passes and 14-for-18 success on duels in a 4-2 BVB win at Copenhagen. Bensebaini netted a penalty goal (which offset Anton's own goal), too. They were the key to both BVB's defense and attack.
Fermn Lpez, Barcelona
It's hard to steal attention for yourself when Lamine Yamal is doing Lamine Yamal things (and when Pedri is playing perfect ball in the midfield), but I'd say bagging your first career Champions League hat trick -- and doubling your career Champions League goal total in a single evening -- is a pretty good way to do it.
Aleksandr Martynovich, Kairat
Only one player in Matchday 3 had more than 20 progressive carries, and only one had more than 16 progressive passes. It was the same guy: Kairat's 38-year-old who, along with goalkeeper Temirlan Anarbekov, did some absolutely heroic work to earn the team its first Champions League point.
They probably wanted more when Pafos suffered an early red card, but they got something because of these two.
Ricardo Pepi and Couhaib Driouech, PSV
It's the super-subs! In just 12 combined minutes, they each managed to score in PSV's 6-2 rout of Napoli: Driouech assisted Pepi in the 87th minute, then Pepi assisted Driouech in the 89th.
Jan Boril, Slavia Prague
We love hustle in this column, and Slavia may have hustled more than anyone in Matchday 3. They couldn't create nearly enough in attack and allowed Atalanta 22 shot attempts, but all 22 came with at least two defenders between the ball and goal, and nine of the 22 were blocked.
The main main behind the defensive effort? Boril, who led the competition with 26 defensive interventions.
RANKING ALL 36 TEAMS AFTER MATCHDAY 3
(Note: These rankings are based on my personal opinions for where teams stand at the moment: it's not intended to directly reflect the current table.)
1. Arsenal (9 points, +8 goal differential)
Opta's supercomputer gives the Gunners a more than 20% chance of winning the Champions League, and a more than 50% chance of winning the Premier League at the moment. Injuries and plot twists will always play a role in how things play out, but they couldn't be better positioned for a special season at the moment.
2. PSG (9 points, +10)
The scariest thing you can say about PSG is that despite a huge run of recent injuries, they look better than they did at this point last season. You know, when they won the Champions League.
3. Bayern Munich (9 points, +10)
They were the most statistically dominant team of the first two months of the season, and they've returned from break with a win over Borussia Dortmund and a throttling of Club Brugge. They attempted 26 shots and allowed five; they created 4.1 xG and allowed 0.3. They made 64% of the match's ball recoveries (43-24), and they even committed 82% of the match's fouls (14-3). They take the fight to teams like an underdog, but they have Harry Kane, Michael Olise up at the front of the attack.
Oh yeah, and Lennart Karl, too. Can't forget the 17-year-old.
Just a ridiculously good team.
4. Internazionale (9 points, +9)
They're just about the most mature team in Europe. Union Saint-Gilloise came out firing on Tuesday and dominated the first 12 minutes or so. Then Inter solved them.
- First 12 minutes (0-0): USG 7 shots (0.41 xG), Inter 2 shots (0.06 xG)
- Last 78 minutes (4-0 Inter): Inter 19 shots (4.48 xG!), USG 8 shots (0.54 xG)
Inter actually underachieved in the finishing department -- 4.5 xG to only four goals -- and still won by four goals on the road. Four different players scored, and three different players recorded an assist. Very, very Inter.
5. Real Madrid (9 points, +7)
It's pretty scary to think of what this team might be capable of if they're running that hard while their stars are looking like stars.
6. Manchester City (7 points, +4)
It never really felt like they shifted out of third gear in Tuesday's 2-0 win over Villarreal, and they attempted only 10 shots on the evening. But Erling Haaland opened things up with a goal in the 17th minute -- he had only 12 touches, but four were shots, and three were shots on goal -- and Savinho finished things off with this nasty assist for Bernardo Silva.
Savinho finished the evening with 14 progressive carries, four chances created and eight defensive interventions. It's hard to ask for much more than that.
7. Liverpool (6 points (+4)
People often say that a 2-0 lead is the most dangerous in the sport, but 1-0 was enough to wake Liverpool up on Wednesday.
Liverpool sleepwalked through the first 30 minutes in Frankfurt, but once Hugo Ekitike evened things up against his old team, it was one-way traffic.
Florian Wirtz finally got on the board with a pair of assists, his first two as a Red -- further progression to the mean will soon come, considering he's attempted shots worth 1.4 xG with no goals -- and Cody Gakpo had a goal and an assist as well. If your attack can't wake up against Eintracht Frankfurt's destitute defense, it's not going to wake up. Liverpool's woke up.
8. Barcelona (6 points, +5)
Granted, they needed a (pretty shaky) red card and a man advantage to fully break Olympiacos' resistance, but they made it ugly very quickly, scoring four times in 12 minutes. Marcus Rashford scored twice, Fermin Lopez bagged a hat trick, Lamine Yamal added a penalty to his 13 progressive carries (and 4-for-5 success in 1v1s in the box) and Barca cruised, 6-1.
9. Chelsea (6 points, +3)
Enzo Maresca's team were playing an awful-looking Ajax team that went a man down after just 17 minutes. They were always going to have it easy in this one, but they looked good, and more importantly, the kids looked good. Estv�o (18) scored on a penalty and attempted eight shots with 14 progressive carries, and Josh Acheampong (19) went 4-for-8 on duels with seven progressive carries and 12 progressive passes in less than one half!
10. Newcastle United (6 points, +6)
Like good hosts, they let Benfica hang around for a little while. Twenty-six minutes, to be exact.
- First 26 minutes (0-0): Newcastle 5 shots (0.37 xG), Benfica 3 shots (0.21 xG)
- Last 64 minutes (3-0): Newcastle 15 shots (2.54 xG), Benfica 4 shots (0.12 xG)
They never really dominated in terms of ball progression or possession -- those stats were all about equal -- but they allowed Benfica just four progressive passes in the attacking third. Kieran Trippier generated that many by himself. Throw in a menacing Anthony Gordon and an assist from goalkeeper Nick Pope, and Newcastle crafted an easy three points.
11. Borussia Dortmund (7 points, +5)
They've still only lost to Bayern and Real Madrid over the last six months. They're cruising right along. Tuesday's 4-2 win over Copenhagen was simultaneously impressive and frustrating, but that's basically the BVB way. They were unnecessarily conservative over the first 60 minutes but hit the gas after Bensebaini's penalty put them ahead.
- First 60 minutes (1-1): Copenhagen 10 shots (0.70 xG), BVB two shots (0.41 xG)
- Last 30 minutes (BVB 3-1): BVB seven shots (1.23 xG), Copenhagen one shot (0.12 xG)
Youngsters Jobe Bellingham (two assists, four blocked passes) and Carney Chukwuemeka (one assist and two chances created in 28 minutes) put in nice shifts, and Felix Nmecha scored twice. His first goal was an absolute missile.
12. Tottenham Hotspur (5 points, +1)
At his best, manager Thomas Frank toes the line between sturdy possession play and a nice defense-and-counter game. In Wednesday's 0-0 draw at Monaco, they got stuck in defend-and-defend land. They won only 43% of ground duels and 33% of aerial duels, and they allowed 23 shot attempts.
They alternated between exciting performances and duds this year. This was a lucky-to-get-a-point dud.
13. Atletico Madrid (3 points, -1)
They were shaky in August and spectacular in September, but they have not really built on that momentum. Tuesday's trip to London was awfully demoralizing.
14. Galatasaray (6 points, -1)
They play exactly the type of counterattacking ball you probably want as an underdog in this tournament, but they have one of the world's best forwards at the top of the attack. This can work.
15-16. Marseille (3 points, +2) and Sporting CP (6 points, +3)
Marseille led 1-0 and controlled the first half against Sporting on Wednesday before Emerson's foolish second yellow card for simulation. That, and a severely deflected go-ahead goal, eventually flipped all three points to Sporting.
I'm keeping Marseille ahead here, though, because they've been the better overall team in the competition.
17. Juventus (2 points, -1)
Two points after three matches is not a great place to be, but they've already played two of the top 11 on this list, and the rest of their slate is against the teams ranked 17th, 21st, 24th, 28th and 34th. The points should come.
18. Atalanta (4 points, -3)
They created all the dangerous shots (xG: Atalanta 2.0, Slavia 0.7) and had plenty of the ball, but they just couldn't ever get behind Slavia Prague on Wednesday. Nothing came easy. Charles De Ketelaere (six chances created, 10 progressive carries, 11 progressive passes) was pretty fantastic, though.
19. AS Monaco (2 points, -3)
Like Galatasaray, the Monegasques began with a dud -- a 4-1 loss to Club Brugge that made me overreact like crazy to Brugge's potential -- but rallied. They've taken draws from both Manchester City and Spurs now, and they very much deserved all three points against Spurs.
20. Villarreal (1 point, -3)
They gave themselves a chance against Manchester City, attempting more shots and nearly matching their xG (1.5 to 1.4), but only City was able to finish. Former Arsenal forward Nicolas Pp had a solid evening, with both four chances created and seven defensive interventions.
21. Napoli (3 points, -5)
Antonio Conte's team ran into a spirited PSV in Tuesday's 6-2 defeat, but aside from the ever-awesome Scott McTominay (two goals, three chances created), they were just bad. PSV won 60% of the match's ball recoveries and 69% of the aerials, and while Napoli gave PSV most of the ball (59% possession rate), they also gave PSV all of the game's counterattacking success. Kevin De Bruyne managed only one shot (0.03 xG) and one chance created in 84 minutes.
It was just a dud of a performance, and PSV ran the score up at the end.
22. Bayer Leverkusen (2 points, -5)
We all have bad weeks sometimes, but Mark Flekken had a bad week. Against Mainz last weekend and PSG on Tuesday, he faced 12 shots on goal. He saved two of them.
23. Eintracht Frankfurt (3 points, -4)
They have all the fun attackers in the world, and the defense is going to prevent them from achieving their goals this season. They've allowed 18 goals in seven Bundesliga matches (two more than anyone else), and they've now allowed 11 goals in three Champions League matches.
I'm all for the entertainment value, guys, but good lord.
24. Bodo/Glimt (2 points, -2)
The Norwegian team continue to prove that you don't need to spend billions of Euros to craft a lovely possession game and create some high-value chances. But they simply could not match Galatasaray's energy and precision on Wednesday.
25. PSV Eindhoven (4 points, +2)
Dennis Man and Ismael Saibari combined for three goals and three chances created against Napoli, then Pepi and Driouech finished the game off late. They were the younger team, but they made Napoli look ridiculously old.
26-27. Athletic Club and FK Qarabag
I thought for a moment that Qarabag were going to do it again. After wins in their first two League Phase matches, including one at Benfica, they went up 1-0 in the first minute against Athletic. But the Bilbao club handled things from there. Gorka Guzureta scored twice, and Nico Williams had 14 progressive carries in 65 minutes, and this one turned into an easy 3-1 win.
Qarabag still might already have two-thirds of the points they need to advance to the knockout rounds -- and they get Ajax at home in Matchday 6 -- but they were manhandled here.
28. Benfica (0 points, -5)
They replaced Bruno Lage with Jose Mourinho following their shocking Matchday 1 loss to Qarabag. Results haven't really changed since, domestically or in the Champions League.
29. Club Brugge (3 points, -2)
They're capable of competing well against teams ranked in the teens here (they beat Monaco and drew with Atalanta), but Bayern were just too fast and mean.
30. Union St.-Gilloise (3 points, -6)
They started brilliantly, with three shots on goal in the first four minutes against Inter, but it didn't last. Their big 3-1 win over PSV in Matchday 1 means they're still in the hunt to advance to the knockout rounds, but the last two matches have been discouraging.
31. Olympiacos (1 point, -7)
As with Union Saint-Gilloise, I really enjoyed some of Olympiacos' attacking ideas early on Tuesday, and they had a couple of nice sequences that genuinely stressed Barcelona's defense. They converted a penalty in the 53rd minute to get within 2-1, too, but after Santiago Hezze's red card in the 57th minute, they crumbled.
32. FC Copenhagen (1 point, -4)
It was encouraging that they were Borussia Dortmund's superior for much of the first 60 minutes, but failing to secure at least a point hurts.
33. Slavia Prague (2 points, -3)
A wonderfully high-effort team, but two goals in three matches limits your upside.
34. Pafos (2 points, -4)
Jo�o Correia's fourth-minute, boot-to-the-face red card meant that Pafos had to bunker down a bit more than they probably expected to at Kairat Almaty. But dominating the ball almost made Kairat more vulnerable, and in terms of xG values, Pafos created the four most valuable shots of the match. They were more unfortunate to draw 0-0 than their hosts.
35. Ajax (0 points, -10)
A four-game winless stretch in the spring cost them the Eredivisie title, and it doesn't seem like they've recovered. They've won only four of nine matches in league play, and they're headed quickly in the wrong direction on the pitch.
A 2-0 loss to Inter on Matchday 1? Reasonably understandable. Losses by a combined 9-1 to Marseille and Chelsea? Woof.
36. Kairat Almaty (1 point, -8)
Tuesday was probably their best chance for three points -- their next-best chance might be hosting Olympiacos on Matchday 6 -- but they're on the board, at least. You can't say that for Ajax.
