Champions League: Winners and Losers from September 30, 2014
The first half of UEFA Champions League Matchday 2 provided eight fascinating matches, with the best fare supplied by Paris Saint-Germain and Barcelona in the French capital.
PSG picked up all three points following a riveting 3-2 victory, and given the 1-1 draw between APOEL Nicosia and Ajax in Group F’s other contest, they now sit alone atop the standings.
Porto delivered the evening’s late drama, scoring a pair of late goals to earn a 2-2 draw against Shakhtar Donetsk in Lviv—the Ukrainian side’s temporary home. BATE Borisov defeated Athletic Bilbao 2-1 in the section’s other match.
Group E saw Bayern Munich edge CSKA Moscow 1-0 and Manchester City come back to draw Roma at a goal apiece. In Group G, Chelsea beat Sporting CP 1-0 in Lisbon while Maribor earned a surprise 1-1 draw away to Schalke.
Following are some of the winners and losers from Tuesday’s matches.
Winner: PSG’s 1st-Time Goalscorers, Who Helped Vanquish Barcelona
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Both David Luiz and Marco Verratti scored their first goals for Paris Saint-Germain on Tuesday.
After just 10 minutes, Luiz—who was acquired from Chelsea for a world-record fee for a defender during the summer—controlled a free-kick and beat Barcelona goalkeeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen for the opener.
Then, after Lionel Messi had equalised for the guests, Verratti found the back of the net with a header in the 26th minute.
Blaise Matuidi would end up scoring the winner nine minutes after the restart, but Neymar would pull one back for the Catalan giants shortly before the hour mark.
The win also brought relief for PSG head coach Laurent Blanc, who had been under pressure after an indifferent start to the Ligue 1 campaign.
Victory over Barcelona will act as a major fillip for Blanc and his team ahead of a crucial league encounter with Monaco at the weekend.
Loser: Bayern Munich’s Traveling Fans, Who Were Unable to Watch Their Team
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Bayern Munich’s Champions League match away to CSKA Moscow was played behind closed doors on Tuesday, after the Russian club was penalised for the racist chanting of some of its supporters.
The thing is, Bayern Munich’s traveling fans ended up being punished as well, given that they were prevented from buying tickets for the encounter.
Incredibly, a contingent of the Bundesliga champions’ supporters rented some space in an office building overlooking Arena Khimki so as not to miss any of the action, according to Thomas Hautmann of Fox Soccer.
Winner: Golden Oldies, Who Set 2 Impressive Marks on Tuesday
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Francesco Totti and Xavi Hernandez each established new Champions League records on Matchday 2.
In the 23rd minute of AS Roma’s clash with Manchester City at Etihad Stadium, Totti’s superb equaliser made him the oldest goalscorer in the history of the competition at 38 years, three days old.
The veteran striker was quoted by Sky Sport, via Goal.com, as saying, "In all honesty, I wasn't thinking about the record. I always think of the team more than myself, that's what kept me going so long. When I score for the team, then the personal records come as a consequence."
In Paris, Xavi’s second-half introduction in place of Ivan Rakitic saw the veteran pass-master become the Champions League’s most experienced player with 143 appearances.
Raul held the previous mark of 142.
Loser: Barcelona’s Clean-Sheet Record, Which Was Destroyed by PSG
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Coming into Tuesday’s match at Parc des Princes, Barcelona had yet to concede a single goal this season—in either La Liga or the Champions League.
Their streak ended because of an inability to defend set pieces.
First it was David Luiz controlling Lucas Moura’s delivery before beating goalkeeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen; then Marco Verratti—all 5'5" of him—was somehow able to head the ball into the back of the net.
Blaise Matuidi rounded out the scoring for PSG when he latched on to Gregory van der Wiel’s exquisite ball and notched what proved to be the winning goal.
Winner: Jackson Martinez, Who Was a Last-Minute Hero for Porto
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For much of Tuesday’s Group H match, Shakhtar Donetsk appeared comfortable in their temporary digs in Lviv.
Brazilians Alex Teixeira and Luiz Adriano seemed to have the Ukrainian champions en route to the three points, which would have served them well given their scoreless draw at Athletic Bilbao on Matchday 1.
Jackson Martinez had other ideas.
His first goal—scored in the 89th minute—came from the penalty spot after Yaroslav Rakitskiy was penalised for handball, and his equaliser followed deep in second-half stoppage time when he got on the end of Cristian Tello’s cross.
Porto now lead the section with four points from two matches.
Loser: Athletic's Champions League Start, Which Has Them Bottom of Group H
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First of all, full credit to BATE Borisov.
The Belarussian outfit rebounded from a 6-0 trouncing in Portugal with a massive win at home over Athletic Bilbao on Tuesday, riding first-half goals from Denis Polyakov and Aleksandr Karnitski to a 2-1 decision.
Athletic’s only strike came from Aritz Aduriz on the stroke of half-time.
Since drawing 0-0 with Shakhtar Donetsk on Matchday 1 of the Champions League, Athletic have struggled in all competitions.
They lost 1-0 to Granada and 2-1 to Rayo Vallecano in quick succession before drawing Eibar on September 27.
Then came Tuesday’s defeat to BATE.
Having come into the season with so much ambition, things are quickly getting away from the Basque side.
