Football Matchday Preview and Review

 There were no pre-match surprises for this game. Bayern was riding high on confidence and to a certain extent, Lyon, too, were the same. Unfortunately for Lyon, the odds were stacked against them. But it wasn't the first time in the competition that they were not favourites. In fact, all three Champions League games Lyon has played after the lockdown, they were expected to lose; they defied those odds every single time. Still, facing Bayern Munich and facing Manchester City - there's a big difference as to how both teams play and while Bayern has mostly been consistent, Manchester City hasn't. In the beginning, Lyon pressed. They pressed hard. And in the first 10 minutes, Lyon should have scored. It was only when Lyon hit the pole during an attack did Bayern realise that they will have to up their games. And they did. In the same move, Gnabry treated to all Bayern fans to a goal they had only seen legend Arjen Robben scored. In the 17th minute, Bayern was leading 1-0. Gnab...

A game that was hotly anticipated to be one of the games of the season regarding the kind of attacking threat both teams got. By the end of that game, people who had seen Leipzig play before knew that they were not even close to the kind of football they can produce. Based on the scoreline, 3-0 to PSG, you would expect that this match was one-sided, and for the majority of the game it was. With only Leipzig's defence performing well, their midfield and attack will be questioned regarding what went wrong throughout the 90. It all started in the 13th minute when PSG received a foul near Leipzig's box and Angel di Maria whipped the ball in. Marquinhos met the ball with his head to put it past the goalkeeper to make it 1-0. Di Maria's quality ball was replayed again and again.  Check out the goal here. Goalkeeper Gulasci will have to take the blame for PSG's second goal just before half-time, where his poor pass lead to the goal. An interception by PSG then played in the bo...

The only worthwhile pre-game news was the absence of ace striker Timo Werner for his departure from Leipzig to Chelsea. As the news of his absence spread, lesser people began to even look at Leipzig to win this game. Unfortunately for Athletico fans, players like Marcel Sabitzer, Youssef Poulsen and goalscorer Daniel Olmo. Not to mention, goalkeeper Peter Gulacsi also came in with vital saves during the game. After a pretty dull first half, where Leipzig did a bunch with continuous attacks on the Athletico defence, with plenty fouls being drawn in. The goalless first-half lead to an exciting second half, where Leipzig scored in under six minutes, with 51 minutes on the clock. With a great number of passes among the players before the goal, all Olmo had to do was head in a perfectly weighted ball from Sabitzer.  Cue to the moment wonderkid, Joao Felix was subbed in by the manager, Diego Simeone. Cue his link-up play with Olivier Giroud. And cue the penalty given the moment after. It...

Before the game, all anyone could talk about was how PSG's wonderkid, Kylian Mbappe had made a miraculous recovery from his injury. Atalanta laid out a formation that suited their attacking style. They played their 3-4-1-2 style, with the captain, Alejandro Gomez distributing balls to the two strikers ahead of him. It was certain that they weren't afraid of PSG's attack. PSG lined up with their usual 4-3-3, with Neymar and Icardi swapping their roles while going forward. PSG started the game on the front foot with Neymar dribbling past the Atalanta defenders like they didn't even exist. He played out two world-class balls that should have been converted by Pablo Sarabia and Mauro Icardi, but both lacked the bit of pace Mbappe got into the game. Neymar, too, missed two sitters that a player of his calibre should have scored. Eventually, PSG was made to rue their missed chances as Atalanta striker, Pasalic scored a brilliant first-touch goal into the corner of Keylor  Nav...