Champions League Spectacle: City Dominate Napoli, Barcelona Spoil Toon Party (Night 3) | OneFootball

Champions League football has certainly delivered this week and that was no different on Thursday night with Manchester City and Newcastle United in action against two top-level European teams. With a fascinating tactical battle in one and an electric intensity in the other, let’s take a look at what took place on the third night of the first matchday in the Champions League.

Newcastle United 1-2 Barcelona

The atmosphere prior to kickoffwas very loud, absolutely electric at all ends. The Newcastle United fans and their team were definitely up for such a gigantic game against a side they hadn’t met since March 2003, when they were beaten 2-0 at St James’ Park.

Newcastle United got off to a fantastic start in the opening 15 minutes or so, getting on the front foot and in the faces of Barcelona. By being so tight and so aggressive, it allowed Newcastle to push up the pitch and pin Barcelona in. It also meant that Barça’s more technical players, like Pedri and Frenkie De Jong, couldn’t get on the ball to dictate.

They had some good moments throughout by getting balls in behind for Anthony Elanga, who really showed how rapid he really is on a few occasions. Anthony Gordon had a massive chance early on when Elanga put a cross in but Gordon totally missed the ball. Despite all that early pressure, Newcastle just couldn’t find that early goal.

Barcelona weathered that early storm and after 20 minutes, they were able to get themselves on the ball, start dictating and really control every aspect of the game. Raphinha got into some good positions on a few occasions, Rashford had a fantastic battle down the left with Trippier, and Pedri and Frenkie De Jong were quite simply outstanding in the midfield. Once Barça settled, the gulf in class was so evident to see.

The 2nd half wasn’t much different, with Barcelona in total control and eventually they reaped the rewards of that with Rashford scoring a lovely header past Nick Pope to open his Barcelona account and break the deadlock after 58 minutes. A few minutes later he then scored again and this one was just simply outrageous. It was such a wonderful clean hit and it just flew past Nick Pope, who reacted after the ball went in. The strike was that powerful, that pure, that outrageously good. This is what some fans had to say about the strike and Rashford’s performance in general.

Well, it’s definitely clear they enjoyed his 2nd goal and his overall performance too. He seemed like his old self again and considering everything he has gone through the last few months or so, that is really good to see. He has a strong case now after the game vs Newcastle to be a main starter for Hansi Flick moving forward, even after Lamine Yamal returns from his injury.

Newcastle United were stunned; Thomas Tuchel was in attendance and even he couldn’t believe what he just saw. The home side needed to regroup and find a way to get back into the match. In the end, they really struggled until the 90th minute when Anthony Gordon pulled a goal back, a wonderful delivery from Jacob Murphy to pick him out.

Ultimately in the end, despite a positive start, Newcastle United were just never there with Barcelona, who went on to prove just how good they really are under Hansi Flick. The scoreline doesn’t do it justice, really, because Barcelona was absolutely outstanding.

Manchester City 2-0 Napoli

Just looking at this fixture before the game, it was clear it would be quite a fascinating battle from a tactical perspective with Pep Guardiola and Antonio Conte in either dugout.

There weren’t any surprises from the start, with Manchester City dominating the ball with lots of possession and up until the red card, Napoli seemed like they were defending well. It was all Giovanni Di Lorenzo’s fault that saw him get sent off. He didn’t keep control of the ball; Haaland got ahead and then the Napoli captain denied a goalscoring opportunity, which left the referee with no choice after a VAR check. In an attacking sense that cost Napoli; they only had one shot all game.

With Di Lorenzo sent off, Conte had to sacrifice an attacking player so he could bring on Mathias Oliveira as defensive cover. Kevin De Bruyne was the one who had to go off, seeing an early end to his return to the Etihad. But the supporters in the stadium made sure he got the reception he hugely deserved after everything he did for Manchester City.

Napoli were then forced to sit in a really low block with the player disadvantage, just to contain Manchester City. The good thing was the fact it worked all the way through to half-time and in the first 15 minutes or so in the 2nd half. The bad thing was the fact that Manchester City eventually found a way through and of course it was Erling Haaland, who scored his 50th Champions League goal in his 49th game in the competition. That also broke the record Ruud Van Nistelrooy set: 50 goals in 62 games.

It didn’t take Manchester City too long to find their 2nd goal, only nine minutes after the opener. Jeremy Doku receives the ball from an inside position; he goes through the Napoli defence and finishes it brilliantly. That was a top-level goal by a top-level player and with ten men, Napoli looked well beaten at that stage since they had no attacking threat whatsoever after the red card.

Manchester City had 23 shots, 8 of them on target but that only generated 2.12 xG. Even though Napoli had just the one attempt, which was on target and only generated 0.17 xG, it’s fair to say, at least from a defensive perspective, Manchester City were restricted to shots that had less chance of going in. Manchester City never really created a big quantity of clear-cut chances, which is shown in the expected goals.

What will matter most to Pep Guardiola is the fact that in the end his side picked up an important three points against a very tough and well-organised Napoli defence to get off to the perfect start in this season’s Champions League.

It was another fantastic night of Champions League, with Barcelona and Manchester City coming away from their respective matches with three big points.

With Club Brugge thrashing AS Monaco, Bayer Leverkusen rescuing a point against FC København, Eintracht Frankfurt coming from behind to thrash Galatasaray, and Sporting CP beating Kairat Almaty, the third night of games on the opening matchday of this season’s UEFA Champions League was once again thrilling and fascinating, with great moments and great goals being scored.