Champions League: 5 things we learned from Matchday 1
By Doug McIntyre
FOX Sports Soccer Writer
The first match day of the 2022-23 UEFA Champions League is complete following Wednesday’s eight-game, group stage slate.
Here are five things we learned.
Liverpool don’t look like contenders
With three appearances in the final and one win since 2018, Liverpool have been almost as good in the Champions League as they have been in the Premier League. You wouldn’t have known it watching them at Napoli on Wednesday.
The Italian side utterly dismantled the toothless Reds in a 4-1 win. It was already 4-0 before halftime, with only a penalty stop by keeper Alisson Becker and a goal line clearance by Virgil Van Dijk preventing a more lopsided score line. Luis Díaz pulled one back five minutes into the second half, but it was all the resistance Liverpool could muster.
It's now officially a worrying start for Jürgen Klopp's team, which hasn't been convincing domestically, either. Liverpool sit seventh in the Prem standings with just two wins from six games. Take out their 9-0 rout of Bournemouth, and they've managed just six goals from six competitive matches in 2022-23, including Wednesday. One silver lining: their next two Champions League games, against Ajax and Rangers, are at Anfield.
Barcelona, Bayern Munich, Spurs roll
The stakes this year were always going to be high after Barcelona failed to reach the knockout stage last season. Consider their first test passed.
With the drama of the transfer window behind them, Barça took care of business in their 2022-23 Champions League opener on Wednesday, outclassing Czech side Viktoria Plzeň 3-1 at a rocking Camp Nou. Robert Lewandowski scored a hat-trick — his first three Champions League goals for his new team.
Next week's trip to Bayern Munich — Lewandowski's former club — will provide a better sense of where the five-time European champs stand. The Germans thrashed Barca 8-2 in the 2020 quarterfinals, then beat them 3-0 twice in the group stage last year.
Six-time winner Bayern also got their Champions League campaign off to a flying start on Wednesday, with an impressive 2-0 win at Inter Milan that could be consequential in what many consider the Group of Death. Leroy Sane's opening goal was worthy of the winner:
Meantime, Tottenham Hotspur eventually topped Marseille on Richarlison’s first two goals for the club.
Erling Haaland makes Man City favorites
Manchester City have been arguably the most consistent team in Europe over the last five years, winning the title in England — home to the richest, most competitive, most scrutinized league in the world — four times.
But what City's cash flush ownership group wants the most is the Champions League trophy. And while they've come close, losing in the final to Premier League rival Chelsea in 2021, Pep Guardiola's billion-dollar squad ultimately has underachieved.
Enter Erling Haaland. The man-mountain of a striker arrived in Manchester this summer with an outrageous scoring record in the competition: 23 goals in just 19 games over the last three seasons with Borussia Dortmund and RB Salzburg.
On Tuesday, Haaland picked up right where he left off. In his first Champions League appearance for City, the Norwegian scored twice in a 4-0 rout of Sevilla — in Spain. Haaland's performance and the eye-popping result puts the rest of the field on notice. There's a reason City are the favorites to finally win the biggest prize in the club game this season: it's Haaland.
The future is now for Kylian Mbappe
While Haaland will succeed Lewandowski and Real Madrid's Karim Benzema as the best pure center forward in the sport in the next few years — if he hasn't already — the title of world's best overall player already belongs to Kylian Mbappe.
In the marquee contest of the week, Mbappe made a statement of his own Tuesday in the first half of Paris Saint-Germain's 2-1 win over fellow heavyweight Juventus. The 23-year-old French star scored twice in the opening 22 minutes to send his team on their way. Both goals were spectacular displays of speed, precision and power. His first was particularly spectacular.
It's scary to think how dominant Mbappe might be against Benfica or Maccabi Haifa, which round out Group H. Before the knockout stage begins early next year, there's the small matter of Mbappe trying to defend Les Bleus' World Cup title in Qatar. He'll then return for the business end of the Champions League, where a deep run for PSG is in the cards. (See below.)
Add it up, and Mbappe appears poised to take over from Cristiano Ronaldo and club teammate Lionel Messi as soccer's preeminent superstar in the months to come, with his inevitable first Ballon d'Or award not far behind.
PSG should go deeper this year
Mbappe is their catalyst, but he's not the only reason the Parisians should make a real run for their first European title this year. There's Messi, who looks far more comfortable in PSG's colors this year than he did last season, the first of his long and otherworldly career that he didn't spend with Barcelona. Neymar completes PSG's three-headed attacking monster. Behind them is one of the deepest, most stacked rosters around.
Like Man City, PSG is desperate to win the Champions League. Like City, they came close recently, losing to Bayern Munich in the pandemic-delayed finale in 2020.
PSG were also extremely unlucky to run into Real Madrid last season in the round of 16. Two goals by Mbappe had them up 2-0 on aggregate at halftime of the second leg before Benzema scored a 17-minute hat-trick and Real, the most decorated club in European history, went on to hoist the hardware for a record 14th time.
Sometimes you need to lose to win, though. Under new manager Christophe Galtier, PSG looks like more cohesive, more experienced, and hungrier than ever. It's early, but the eye test tells you that this season represents their best chance yet to win it all. The bookies agree Man City is the only contender they like more.
One of the leading soccer journalists in North America, Doug McIntyre has covered United States men’s and women’s national teams at multiple FIFA World Cups. Before joining FOX Sports in 2021, he was a staff writer with ESPN and Yahoo Sports. Follow him on Twitter @ByDougMcIntyre.
