A look at what’s happening in the Champions League on Tuesday as the competition heads into the third round of group games:
A look at what’s happening in the Champions League on Tuesday as the competition heads into the third round of group games:
GROUP A
A 4-1 thrashing of Liverpool. A 3-0 win at Rangers. An undefeated start to Serie A and 11 different scorers across both competitions. Napoli has been highly impressive and brings its high-powered attack to Ajax looking to stay top of the group. While Victor Osimhen remains out at center forward, reserves Giacomo Raspadori and Giovanni Simeone have filled in more than capably. Liverpool recovered from that heavy beating in Naples to defeat Ajax 2-1 thanks to a late goal, reviving its campaign ahead of back-to-back games against Rangers. Jurgen Klopp’s team is still struggling for confidence, however, with defensive vulnerabilities exposed again in a 3-3 draw with Brighton in the league on Saturday. “It is a bad moment,” Liverpool left-back Kostas Tsimikas said. “It is not a tactical issue or something because we do exactly the same thing as the previous years, with the same players. It’s not possible that everybody forgets the tactics and game plan of the manager.” Rangers have lost both of its opening games.
GROUP B
It has been a dream start for Club Brugge. The Belgian champion has delivered consecutive wins in the group stage for the first time, and done it in style: With no goal conceded, and a resounding 4-0 win at Porto. Brugge got ready for a match with Atlético Madrid with a 3-0 win on Saturday against KV Mechelen that featured yet another goal from Ferran Jutgla. The center forward joined the Belgian league this summer from Barcelona and has been in impressive form. Jutgla likes to move a lot and play outside the box. He is good with both feet and has a good presence in the air. Making the most of the freedom of movement he enjoys in the system set up by coach Carl Hoefkens, Jutgla has been rewarded with seven goals and four assists. Atlético coach Diego Simeone is likely to count on defender Nahuel Molina, who was injured in the team’s win over Sevilla in the Spanish league on Saturday. In the other group march, Porto will try to earn its first point when it hosts Bayer Leverkusen.
GROUP C
Barcelona visits Inter Milan knowing it will be a crucial match to maintain a good chance of advancing in a group that has been dominated by Bayern Munich. To get an edge against Inter, the Catalan club hopes its attack, led by Robert Lewandowski, will remain red-hot after outscoring opponents 24-4 in nine matches in all competitions. Inter enters in crisis following a 2-1 home loss to Roma that left the Nerazzurri with as many losses in Serie A (4) as wins. Coach Simone Inzaghi’s job appears in jeopardy entering the game at the San Siro against Barcelona. Bayern Munich leads the group on maximum points and hosts Viktoria Plzeň. Inter and Barca are each on three points after wins over Plzeň.
GROUP D
Marseille coach Igor Tudor rested striker Alexis Sanchez over the weekend after he played two friendly matches with Chile. The aim was to keep him fresh for the game against a Sporting team that has already beaten Eintracht Frankfurt and Tottenham in group play, without conceding. Marseille, on the other hand, is in last place and has yet to score. The French team will hope Sanchez can score his first goal on the European stage in more than a year. Tudor said defender Sead Kolasinac will be missing the match because of an injury likely to rule him out for three weeks. Tottenham travels to Eintracht in the other game.
