Grading Every 2014/15 Champions League Team on Matchday 3
The 2014-15 Champions League campaign continued this week with a healthy supply of continental drama, and those already impressing in the competition hoped to maintain momentum in their most recent outings.
Tuesday's action saw a staggering 40 goals scored between the eight fixtures played, and it proved to be a particularly successful week for the Bundesliga sides. Bayern Munich, Borussia Dortmund, Schalke and Bayer Leverkusen each won their respective games.
Taking into account the standard of opposition played, quality of their display and a host of other factors, we've graded each participating team on their Matchday 3 showing. As you'll see, not every giant is succeeding under pressure.
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Group A
| Club | Grade |
| Juventus | E |
| Olympiacos | B+ |
| Atletico Madrid | A |
| Malmo | D |
Having netted just three goals over the course of their two previous Champions League games, Atletico Madrid found their attacking stride in the process of hammering Malmo 5-0 at the Vicente Calderon.
Diego Simeone's men took time in breaking the deadlock, saving all five finishes for the second half. Five different scorers ensured a rout was the end result as Malmo barely made their presence felt.
Koke has stood out as very possibly Atleti's best player so far this season, and Spanish newspaper AS (h/t Goal.com) quotes the playmaker as proclaiming in his post-match comments:
"We have to go and win our remaining games to avoid relying on others. We have six points, we're at the top and that's what's important. We tried in the first half, but they didn't give much space. We tried with a lot of crosses, and we had bad luck when Griezmann hit the crossbar.
We tried to score from close range, from distance; in the end we worked hard and I was lucky to score the first, and from there the goals came.
"
Los Rojiblancos were deserving of such a heavy victory, too, totalling 28 shots on the enemy goal, more than three times the nine that their Swedish visitors managed on Wednesday.
That result wasn't a substantial shock, but Juventus falling to Olympiakos 1-0 in Piraeus certainly was as the Greek hosts ascended to the top of Group A against all odds.
In wake of that damaging defeat, Football Italia quoted Paul Pogba in admitting the Champions League has not been a platform for success:
The Bianconeri had the better share of possession and troubled the home team's net more frequently, saving them some face in our grading. Still, there's only so much to say of Juve without a result backing them.
It was far from a pretty win as far as Olympiakos will be concerned, spending just 37.4 percent of the fixture with the ball. Massimiliano Allegri's side defeated themselves perhaps more than the hosts reigned triumphant.
Group B
| Club | Grade |
| Real Madrid | A+ |
| Liverpool | D |
| Ludogorets Razgrad | A- |
| Basel | C |
Cristiano Ronaldo scored his first-ever goal at Anfield to set Real Madrid on their way to a 3-0 win over Liverpool on Wednesday evening.
It was an encapsulating performance from Los Merengues to show that Europe's reigning champions are still very much in the ascendancy. It led Gary Lineker to question the Premier League's quality while praising La Liga:
Carlo Ancelotti's men deserved the tie in all respects, and although Raheem Sterling and Philippe Coutinho made their best bids to trouble the Spaniards, Real were a more potent and clinical force in every area of the pitch.
Karim Benzema also bagged a brace to help on the clear-cut victory, while in Sofia, Ludogorets Razgrad saved it until late on to clinch a 1-0 success over the 10 men of Basel.
Serey Die's 17th-minute sending off might have turned the fixture in favour of the home outfit, but Ludogorets still had a job on their hands. They eventually claimed the first-ever Champions League points for a Bulgarian club.
As Paul Little of the Irish Daily Star suggests, they've been no pushover this season, either:
With a tight defence providing some foundation, Ludogorets astonishingly find themselves second in the pool after three games and have given themselves a strong chance of advancing after getting off the mark.
In fairness to Basel, the Swiss champions did well to hold off the threat of the enemy for as long as they did. Yordan Minev's 92nd-minute winner ultimately dashed their hopes of what would have been an admirable point.
Group C
| Club | Grade |
| Zenit St. Petersburg | B- |
| Monaco | C |
| Bayer Leverkusen | B+ |
| Benfica | C+ |
Group C remains an incredibly open race between three even-looking parties, but Bayer Leverkusen were the pick of the bunch this week after doing away with Zenit St. Petersburg on Wednesday.
Roger Schmidt's side went in scoreless at the break, but half-time encouragement seemed to do its part in spurring on the Factory Squad. It was Hakan Calhanoglu who set up each of his team's goals on the night.
Despite the two-goal differential, Zenit might feel they deserved at least a point. They enjoyed almost an even share of the ball but failed to assert themselves on the Leverkusen goal.
WhoScored.com shows that while possession was even, a failure to create chances was ultimately Zenit's downfall:
The second-half goals seemed to demoralise the Russians, but that doesn't take away from several of their stars having impressive outings in German territory.
On the French Riviera, there was no pulling apart Monaco and Benfica, who saw out a 0-0 stalemate after an evenly matched 90 minutes.
ESPN FC's Jonathan Johnson saw positives in Monaco's defensive record, but their lack of firepower may be considered a cause for concern:
Eagles defender Lisandro Lopez was sent for an early shower in the second period to diminish any hopes they might have had in taking three points away from their Ligue 1 hosts.
However, taking a first point of the European season was an amicable way for the Portuguese club to end matters. Monaco may rightly feel like the more disappointed party, failing to score for the second time in as many Champions League games.
Group D
| Club | Grade |
| Borussia Dortmund | A |
| Anderlecht | C+ |
| Galatasaray | E- |
| Arsenal | B- |
Marco Reus was in fine form for Borussia Dortmund en route to the Black and Yellows' 4-0 demolition of Galatasaray on Wednesday. Domestic form might be lacking, but Jurgen Klopp's men are having no trouble in Europe, it seems.
Reus followed up a Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang brace to give his side a 3-0 lead at half-time. Despite seeing a bigger portion of the possession, Gala were unable to break down their guests' resistance.
BBC's John Bennett heaped praise on this most recent showing from the Gelsenkirchen club, quizzing as to why their Bundesliga form is suffering quite so much:
Dortmund now have three wins from three and are superbly placed to win Group D. Arsenal, meanwhile, carried on their lacklustre form of late in Anderlecht, just about managing to scrape a 2-1 win from Belgium.
The Gunners were far from convincing as Anderlecht kept the tie scoreless for some time, eventually opening the scoreline themselves through Andy Najar with just 20 minutes left to play.
The possession ratio almost made for unfair reading as Arsenal accounted for more than 60 percent. Arsene Wenger's side saved the tie, thanks to goals from Kieran Gibbs and Lukas Podolski in the dying minutes.
Jack Pitt-Brooke termed the escape as "floodlit robbery":
Three points might be their reward, but Arsenal left it disappointingly late at Constant Vanden Stock Stadium in a performance that will by no means inspire the fans moving ahead.
Group E
| Club | Grade |
| Roma | E |
| Bayern Munich | A+ |
| Manchester City | B- |
| CSKA Moscow | B |
Arguably the most talked-about result of any on Matchday 3 was that of Bayern Munich's 7-1 triumph over Roma at the Stadio Olimpico. It was a win which proves once again the might of Pep Guardiola's side in Europe.
It was difficult to pick fault in Der FCB's display. After going in at the break with a 5-0 lead to their name, the Germans could afford to canter in the second period, at least by their own stellar standards.
So impressive were the Bundesliga champions that James Masters of CNN is already tipping Bayern, along with Real, to make it all the way this season:
For all the improvements Rudi Garcia's squad have made in 2014, they were outclassed in all regards. Even against one of the best teams in the world, their grading must suffer as a result.
Roma were made to look particularly amateurish in defence. Ashley Cole, Mapou Yanga-Mbiwa and Kostas Manolas each had their moments to forget, and the Italians fell in dramatic fashion.
Earlier on Tuesday, Manchester City had given a good account of themselves in front of an empty Arena Khimki crowd, but they allowed a 2-0 lead to slip through their grasp, eventually drawing 2-2.
The closed-door fixture had small sections open for fans as a result of UEFA punishing CSKA for racist fan abuse, but City captain Vincent Kompany wasn't pleased his team's fans were barred from the tie, per The Telegraph:
The result speaks more highly of CSKA Moscow, who showed great resolve to complete the comeback and salvage a point, having come into the fixture as underdogs in any case.
A first point of the Champions League campaign will be welcomed by the Russians, but in truth each team showed their weaknesses, with not much to pull them apart in terms of performance quality.
Group F
| Club | Grade |
| Barcelona | B+ |
| Paris Saint-Germain | C+ |
| Ajax | D+ |
| APOEL | C+ |
Following on from a 3-2 loss against Paris Saint-Germain in Week 2 of the competition, Barcelona recovered to give an account of their abilities far closer to what one would expect of Luis Enrique's team, beating Ajax 3-1.
It was a steady, crippling performance from the Catalan hosts, who controlled more than 57 percent of the position and had 16 shots on goal compared to the visitors' nine.
The Blaugrana led 2-0 for a majority of the match, but an 87th-minute lapse in concentration saw Anwar El Ghazi bag an away goal for Frank de Boer's men. Not long after, Sandro Ramirez restored Barca's two-goal lead.
At times, the home side looked capable of making a bigger statement in attack but instead chose to conserve possession, preventing their grade from reaching the highest marks.
The Godenzonen did their best in putting up a fight and by no means rolled over for their opponents, but the gulf in class was clear for all to see.
If Barca were calm and collected in collecting their win, though, PSG were anything but. They had to wait until the 87th minute for Edinson Cavani to net their 1-0 breakthrough against APOEL Nicosia.
Johnson reported after the result that most of the French media's assessment pointed toward a disappointing PSG display:
That's how the score would finish as the Ligue 1 champions took a valuable win from Cyprus. In credit to the hosts, APOEL have been a tougher opponent to break down than some might assume, Tuesday evening's being just their third goal conceded in Europe this term.
With only 40 percent of possession and a significant lack of threat in attack, APOEL can only climb so high in our ranking. Laurent Blanc's men, meanwhile, showed an ability to win scrappily, an important attribute for any elite team.
Group G
| Club | Grade |
| Chelsea | A |
| Schalke | B- |
| Sporting Lisbon | C+ |
| Maribor | F |
No pool produced more goals on Tuesday evening than Group G's tally of 13. It was a figure which came largely thanks to an incredibly open affair between Schalke and Sporting Lisbon, ending 4-3 in the Germans' favour.
We saw the best and worst of both outfits, with defensive nuances seemingly nonexistent for great stretches and Sporting in the end unfortunately not able to escape the Veltins-Arena with a point to their name.
On one hand, Roberto Di Matteo's men reacted wonderfully to conceding the first goal, mounting into a 3-1 lead. However, after seeing the scoreline come back to 3-3, there are also negatives to be taken from their display.
Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting netted a stoppage-time penalty to ensure Di Matteo's side took the three points, but the 10 men of Sporting—centre-back Mauricio having been sent off inside 33 minutes—fought admirably.
As Tancredi Palmeri of beIN Sports suggests, the spot-kick was a debatable decision at best, leaving Schalke to count their blessings:
Chelsea contributed the other six of those 13 goals, trouncing Maribor without response to top the grading of their pool this week.
Eden Hazard surged to score late on and finish his fixture with a brace. As Betway depicts, the Belgian winger was in confident form against the Group G minnows:
Without Diego Costa, the Blues might have struggled to find their touch in front of goal. However, Loic Remy and Didier Drogba each got on the scoresheet as they filled in, and Maribor failed to assert any genuine pressure.
Group H
| Club | Grade |
| Porto | B+ |
| Shakhtar Donetsk | A+ |
| Athletic Bilbao | C |
| BATE Borisov | E- |
Luiz Adriano scored five against BATE Borisov on Tuesday night to aid Shakhtar Donetsk tremendously en route to a 7-0 demolition of their Belarusian hosts.
Per the official Champions League Twitter account, the Brazilian's haul is enough to tie Lionel Messi for most goals scored in a single Champions League match. Adriano's 12-minute hat-trick is also one of the fastest scored in the tournament's history:
Perhaps more valuable than the number of goals scored, however, is the clean sheet that gives Shakhtar a major confidence boost, having drawn 2-2 at home to Porto in their previous outing.
And the Dragons maintained their spot atop Group H, thanks to a 2-1 victory against Athletic Bilbao. Hector Herrera and Ricardo Quaresma netted the crucial finishes in that one.
As a result of that win, Porto remain unbeaten in this season's tournament and keep up a 100 percent record at home, although Athletic aren't in the strongest vein of form lately.
Nonetheless, moving past the often stubborn Spaniards is a result to be celebrated. While the Basque visitors managed to keep matters tight for portions, points once again evade them.
All statistics come courtesy of WhoScored.com.
