Matchday four of the Champions League group stage treated fans with plenty of goals, drama and action. We asked our writers James Olley, Rob Dawson and Alex Kirkland to answer some of our big questions.
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What caught your attention from matchday four?
Dawson: The Premier League is starting to put its foot down. After four matchdays, three English teams — Manchester City, Tottenham Hotspur and Chelsea — sit top of their groups with another, Liverpool, well on course to qualify. While Spain and Italy are sweating on some of their teams, notably Atletico Madrid, Barcelona and Juventus, England should have four participants in the knockout rounds. Two of the last four Champions League finals — in 2019 and 2021 — were all-English affairs and you wouldn’t bet against the same thing happening in Istanbul in June. Spanish teams have dominated the Champions League over the last decade but now it’s the turn of the Premier League.
Olley: Maccabi Haifa won their first Champions League group-stage game in 20 years on Tuesday. And against Italian giants Juventus, no less, who now face a massive task to reach the round of 16 following a calamitous 2-0 defeat in Israel. They need to beat Paris Saint-Germain and Benfica to stand any chance of avoiding a Champions League exit at this point for the first time since 2013. The club continues to stand by head coach Massimiliano Allegri but he surely cannot afford many more insipid displays like this, even if Juventus habitually avoid sacking coaches mid-season.
Kirkland: Shakhtar Donetsk were seconds away from pulling off a famous win over reigning champions Real Madrid on Tuesday, only to be denied by a 95th-minute Antonio Rudiger equaliser that saw the match end 1-1. Shakhtar — exiled from Donetsk since 2014 — already face unprecedented logistical challenges, playing this season’s Champions League home games in the Polish capital of Warsaw, and here their preparations were further overshadowed by Monday’s missile strikes across Ukraine. Under such challenging circumstances, this was an outstanding performance. Madrid are now assured of a place in the round of 16; Shakhtar, a point behind RB Leipzig, are still in with a chance.
