Tuesday saw the start of the group stage of this year's Champions League, with holders Bayern Munich among those in action. Pep Guardio...
Tuesday saw the start of the group stage of this year's Champions League, with holders Bayern Munich among those in action.
Pep Guardiola led his new side out at the Allianz Arena against Russian league leaders CSKA Moscow, while elsewhere David Moyes got his first taste of group stage fare as Manchester United played host to Bayer Leverkusen.
Heavy hitters like Juventus, Real Madrid and Manchester City were also all in action—while Olympiakos were hoping to use a buoyant home crowd to their advantage against Paris Saint-Germain.
Here are 5 Lessons We Learnt From The Night's Action.
Aguero Is the Man For City
Alaba so Much More Than a Left Back
One of the key performances from Tuesday night's game came from talented full-back David Alaba, who scored the initial goal from a fantastic free-kick in the opening minutes and went on to dictate much of Bayern's success in the game. It was the 21-year-old's moment of magic that brought about the third and final goal, when the Austrian international picked up the ball on the edge of the Moscow defence and played a delicious lobbed ball through to Arjen Robben, who duly knocked it home to ensure all three points.
Its Good To Have Rooney Back!
After all the fuss about Wayne Rooney wanting to leave this summer, United are already reaping the reward for quite rightly standing firm.
To his credit Rooney has also knuckled down, a fact appreciated by the United supporters, who have been right behind him. Goals like tonight's can only help, even if the first one should have been disallowed. Both were well taken and he was close to another Champions League hat-trick but had to be satisfied with an asssist and reaching the rare landmark of 200 goals for the club.
Moyes Gets His Selection Right
Credit must be given to David Moyes for getting his starting team completely correct for the Red Devils' Champions League encounter. It was the perfect team for the players they were primed to come up against and it showed in the eventual result on the night.
Against a team filled with plenty of counter-attacking talent and quick ball-playing, the inclusion of Antonio Valencia on the right wing was key for the Red Devils.
That gave them an advantage in pace in both attack and defence.
The inclusion of Chris Smalling was also key. Not necessarily the most talented of ball-players, Smalling's strengths lie in his ability to read the game and in his height, which—against a strong, tall German team—turned out to be very important for the Red Devils' defence.
Moyes certainly got this one right.
Keeping Ronaldo Was Key For Madrid
When calculating the points expected to be picked up in Madrid’s Champions League group, Carlo Ancelotti must have hoped for one at best in this particular clash. Galatasaray are normally more than a little flaky away from home, but quite competent at home.
To come away with three points and in such a commanding fashion, too, would have been above and beyond any expectations for the Italian boss.
Cristiano Ronaldo grabbed a hattrick to take his tally to 206 goals in 204 official games in a Madrid jersey.
There is not much more to be said about the imperious Portuguese poacher, aside from the fact that if the footballer sees out the rest of his career at Real Madrid, Ronaldo will be the greatest player in the club’s history.
Thanks for reading!!
What other lesson did you learn from yesterday's action? Kindly leave a comment.
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