Matchday 3 of the Champions League group stage is wrapped up, providing fans with plenty to talk about and more to look forward to. After an exciting third round of games, we asked our writers Sam Marsden, Gab Marcotti and Julien Laurens to answer some of our burning questions.
– Stream on ESPN+: LaLiga, Bundesliga, MLS, more (U.S.)
What caught your attention from Matchday 3?
Marcotti: Napoli hammering Ajax 6-1 away and the other team few expected to be perfect at this stage: Club Brugge, who have yet to concede a single goal (take a bow, Simon Mignolet.) Manchester City’s Erling Haaland continuing to score isn’t really news, is it?
Laurens: What caught my eye is that we only saw two away wins this week in the Champions League, but they were incredible. First, the demonstration by Napoli at Ajax and the humiliating result. Apart from Manchester City, no team are playing better football than Luciano Spalletti’s men right now. The second one is Borussia Dortmund at Sevilla (4-1), where 19-year-old midfielder Jude Bellingham was outstanding once again with a special goal while wearing the captain’s armband. Sevilla boss Julien Lopetegui knew before kick off that he was going to be sacked and that Jorge Sampaoli would replace him, yet he still took charge of the team for what was a dreadful send-off.
Marsden: The surreal scenes in Sevilla — where Lopetegui took charge of the defeat to Dortmund despite knowing he was set to be sacked after the game — and Club Brugge, in particular their striker Ferran Jutgla. The Belgian side have nine points from nine following a 2-0 win over Atletico Madrid. Jutgla, a summer signing from Barcelona‘s B team, scored one and made another, doubling his goal and assist tally in this season’s competition. Just four years ago he was playing against Atletico Madrid in the Copa del Rey for Sant Andreu, who play in the regionalised fifth division of Spanish football. On Tuesday, he plunged Atleti into real danger of an early Champions League exit.
