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Matchday three of Champions League play brought a heavy dose of the injury bug, and both Tuesday and Wednesday taught us plenty. Paris Saint-Germain stayed perfect, but their star man, Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, is done for the season while Ousmane Dembele also picked up an injury. Bayern Munich also lost Luis Diaz in their draw against Arsenal, and how teams cope without their stars will be telling in the next few weeks. Barcelona's perfect start to the season also came to an end against PSG while Manchester United's spiral deepened.
Bruno Fernandes is the latest Red Devil to speak out after they fell to Nico Paz and Como, and it feels like only a matter of time until a change has to be made. Aston Villa and Real Madrid are quietly climbing up the ranks while Liverpool's attack is also doing just enough to get past their own defensive concerns in Champions League play.
Club Brugge and Real Betis also kept their good runs going while Sporting CP and Stuttgart stumbled, meaning that in the middle of UCL power rankings, there have been some shifts around by these teams. Let's take a look at where things stand after three matchdays of action:
Biggest Movers
6 Napoli
9 Manchester United
Rk |
Teams |
Chg |
Rcrd |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | PSG | Keeping their top spot, but at what cost? Ousmane Dembele left their victory over Barcelona with an injury and Khvicha Kvaratskhelia ruptured his ACL, ending his season. Luis Enrique's management will be put to the test. | -- | 3-0 |
| 2 | Real Madrid | Yan Diomande scored off the bench facing his former club, and Real Madrid put up another crooked number in UCL play. It's not pretty, but this team is on to something under Jose Mourinho. | 2 | 7-2 |
| 3 | Barcelona | Even with a setback against PSG, Barcelona won't drop far considering that the teams behind them weren't exactly stellar either. Rodri may be the most important player on the team at this stage, but as long as he's healthy, this team has a chance. | 1 | 2-1 |
| 4 | Arsenal | Another side to suffer an injury to a key player, Arsenal saw Bukayo Saka exit. Although they held strong against Bayern Munich, the lack of finishing from their forwards will be something that needs to improve. | 1 | 2-0 |
| 5 | Liverpool | They had us in the first half going behind 2-0 to Villarreal before storming back. Liverpool's defense will keep them a tier behind the true contenders, but they're still prone to making things interesting. | -- | 3-0 |
| 6 | Manchester City | They took care of business, putting five goals past AEK Athens. With Phil Foden bagging a brace, this will come as a confidence-boosting match. | 2 | 2-1 |
| 7 | Bayern | Harry Kane scored in his 10th consecutive Champions League match to tie Arsenal and is now one game behind Cristiano Ronaldo's record of 11 consecutive games with a goal in UCL play, but with Luis Diaz now out with an injury, Bayern's depth will be pushed to the limit. | -- | 1-0 |
| 8 | Real Betis | Another game, another Betis victory. Look out because this team is rising fast. | 1 | 3-0 |
| 9 | Sporting CP | Losing to LASK at home isn't what Sporting needed when they were in line to secure a bye to the round of 16. They'll have to have short memories. | 3 | 2-1 |
| 10 | Aston Villa | Unai Emery has this team cooking. When Ross Barkley is among your scorers in Champions League play, you're doing something right. | 2 | 3-0 |
| 11 | Atletico Madrid | Maybe it is just playing Manchester United that brings out the best in teams facing them, Atleti were able to hold out for a draw with 10 men but they'll have wanted all three points. | 1 | 1-1 |
| 12 | Como | See, moving Nico Paz back to being a 10 worked to great effect. With a brace, Como were able to get it done although much of this also goes to United's struggles currently. | 1 | |
| 13 | Borussia Dortmund | It was more interesting than it should've been facing Sabah but job done for Dortmund. | 1 | 2-1 |
| 14 | Roma | It's hard to know exactly where to rate Roma but putting four goals past a struggling side is just what the doctor ordered. | 3 | 1-1 |
| 15 | Stuttgart | Part of turning into true Champions League contenders is the ability to take care of advantages that you're given. Stuttgart didn't do that going up a man. | 4 | 2-0 |
| 16 | Inter | Inter were able to survive Alessandro Bastoni's red card to win but they haven't looked like themselves in European play at all. | 1 | |
| 17 | Club Brugge | Handed yet another challenge at home, Brugge were able to see it out while having three different goal scorers in the process. That'll play in the long run. | 3 | 2-1 |
| 18 | PSV | A massive win over Porto for the Dutch side. In what was essentially a must win, they did what they needed to do in order to stay alive. | 5 | 1-1 |
| 19 | Shakhtar Donetsk | A valiant effort away to face Inter but another team that has to take advantage of the chances that they're given. | 3 | 1-1 |
| 20 | RB Leipzig | Most teams in UCL play can't hang with Real Madrid, and RB Leipzig were no different. It did lead to some fun social media posts by their English-language account that are worth checking out. | 1 | 1-2 |
| 21 | Napoli | Scott McTominay is back, and the squad is also back to where you'd expect them to be, which should be no surprise as he netted a brace. | 6 | 1-2 |
| 22 | Villarreal | You never know what you're going to get from the Spanish side, which makes for great television but not so much winning soccer. | 1 | 1-2 |
| 23 | Fenerbahce | Fenerbahce picked up a point this time but a disappointing result yet again. | 1 | 0-1 |
| 24 | Galatasaray | Defense is an issue but it's not one that matters when you score four goals in UCL play. More of this. | 5 | 1-2 |
| 25 | Lens | It's unfortunate, but at this stage, the French side seems to be overmatched in this competition. Florian Thauvin has done what he can but it can only take Lens so far. | 3 | 3-3 |
| 26 | Porto | Faced with back-to-back winnable games, Porto weren't able to get anything from it and are more than a step behind Sporting in this competition. | 1 | |
| 27 | Manchester United | Last week it was Lisandro Martinez airing grievances with the club. This week it's Bruno Fernandes. It's going from bad to worse at United, and something needs to change quickly because the squad is too talented to struggle like this. | 9 | 1-2 |
| 28 | Feyenoord | There were chances, but Betis' attack overwhelmed the Dutch side. | 2 | 1-2 |
| 29 | Bodo/Glimt | A valiant effort away from home, even if it ended in a loss. This team will not be stopped easily. | 1 | |
| 30 | LASK | Scoring six goals in their last two Champions League games is something that shows that LASK are finding their way in this competition, but will it be enough? We'll have to strap in and see. | 5 | 1-2 |
| 31 | Sabah | Another strong performance, even if it ended in a loss to Dortmund. | 1 | |
| 32 | Viking | Running into a buzzsaw in Aston Villa, even with their amazing result against Bayern Munich, UCL attacks are overwhelming this defense. | 1 | 0-2 |
| 33 | Slavia Praha | A late equalizer is progress but they need to perform like this against better teams. | 1 | 0-2 |
| 34 | AEK Athens | Even without Haaland, City were too much to handle. | 2 | 1-2 |
| 35 | Lille | Another rough defensive showing for the French side. They'll need to turn it around soon, going winless in three matches. | 2 | 0-3 |
| 36 | Slovan Bratislava | Three games played, one goal scored, and 13 conceded. Thanks for coming. | -- | 0-3 |
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