It was another sobering week for Arsenal, Man United
& Man City who all tasted defeat while Rafa Benitez faces the first
big test of his Bernabeu tenure amid an injury crisis
The Champions League was back with the a bang this week...Lionel Messi was unable celebrate 100 appearances in Europe's Premier club tournament with a victory as Barcelona were held to a draw by Roma, after Alessandro Florenzi scored a goal that already looks nailed on to be goal of the competition.
Aside from Florenzi Fever, Goal dissects the five major talking points from the first round of matches...
Di Maria set to shine for Paris Saint-Germain
It did not work out for Angel di Maria at Manchester United for a lot of reasons that have been well-documented. His personal life was not the same following a break-in at his home last winter, his football was incompatible with Louis van Gaal's system and the United coach saw the Argentine as not one of his own - that is signed by Ed Woodward and the club foremost and not Van Gaal himself.
It looked inevitable that he would end up at Paris St-Germain; last summer he would have joined the Ligue 1 club had they been able to meet their Financial Fair Play obligations. As it was, he was made to wait before taking his place alongside compatriots Javier Pastore and Ezequiel Lavezzi in the French capital for a fee of around €63 million. Following a break after the Copa America, in which he was injured, Di Maria is back and looking close to his best. He was head and shoulders the most effective player on the field on Tuesday night as PSG overwhelmed Malmo on opening night.
He struck a terrific opener inside four minutes, demonstrating the class which helped secure this title for Real Madrid in 2014, before tormenting the Swedes all evening long.
"Di Maria is rising to the top," PSG coach Laurent Blanc said. "He arrived late to pre-season and he was injured too. I think we were right to put him to work physically and rest him. He will need it. He needs competitive action right now.
"He didn't play 90 minutes but you can see his abilities in front of the goal already. This boy can bring us quality and assists but also a certain number of goals."
When fit and happy, not always the case for Di Maria at Old Trafford, he is an devastatingly effective player. He has those favourable conditions now with Laurent Blanc at PSG while United count the costs of failing to get the best from him following their own pedestrian display in the 2-1 defeat to PSV.
Javier Hernandez was also on the scoresheet this week, for Bayer Leverkusen against Bate Borisov as they ran out 4-1 winners and demonstrated his knack for goalscoring once again. He looked like a man on a job interview every time he played for Van Gaal, such was the pressure to perform.
That pressure got the best of the Mexican when he missed from close range, and also a penalty kick, in that playoff round win against Club Brugge. Now though with that burden lifted he might be able to show his class on a consistent basis.
Real Madrid count cost of tame transfer window
In the first game of the Champions League season, at home against a Shakhtar Donetsk side still reeling from the loss of Douglas Costa, Real Madrid ran out predictable winners, 4-0.
The victory came at a heavy cost, however, with captain Sergio Ramos, Raphael Varane and Gareth Bale all having to be replaced due to injury. Ramos has suffered a dislocated shoulder, Varane a knock to the ankle and Bale a strain in his left calf. He will be assessed later on Thursday.
Obviously, Rafael Benitez wanted his team to make an impression on the opening night of the group, which they did courtesy of a Cristiano Ronaldo hat-trick, but ideally he would not have to start all his stars in all four matches against Shakhtar and Malmo.
Real Madrid had an extremely tame summer in the transfer market by their standards and, consequently, beyond the starting XI and a few substitutes there really is not a lot of depth.
At a club like Real Madrid, there should be sufficient in reserve to ensure that Ramos and Bale, in particular, are not having to kick every ball all season.
Atletico Madrid, in la Liga, and Paris St-Germain, in the Champions League, are two big games looming on the horizon for los Blancos and they might have to face both of them without Ramos, Varane and Bale in their ranks. Suddenly, Madrid's failure to furnish the squad in the summer looks not only complacent but reckless.
Draxler has Wolfsburg fans asking "Kevin de Who?"
Had Juventus not been as parsimonious in negotiations with Schalke then Julian Draxler could well have lined up against Kevin De Bruyne on Tuesday night, the man he was eventually bought to replace.
Schalke knew Wolfsburg were desperate after losing De Bruyne to Manchester City, as well as Ivan Perisic to Inter late in the transfer window. Consequently, the cash-rich Volkswagen-backed side were minded to pay the best part of €40m to sign Draxler from his boyhood club.
It did not take Draxler long to make an impression for his new club even if seeing him in colours other than Schalke's will take a little bit of getting used to.
Wolfsburg coach Dieter Hecking must devise a new attacking strategy on the fly, integrating as he is new players like Draxler and Max Kruse with those already on the books such as Andre Schurrle, but the Wolves nonetheless got off to a perfect start courtesy of Draxler's solitary strike on matchday one against CSKA Moscow.
“There is not much space for complaining," Draxler said after. "We won at home and I myself scored a goal, that is nice of course. Especially in the first half we played very good football and won deservedly.”
Once those three Germany internationals settle into the rhythms of each others' play then Wolfsburg will be a good match for Bayern domestically and, moreover, any team in their Champions League group.
Manchester United are already three points in arrears following defeat to PSV in Eindhoven. Worse teams than Wolfsburg have beaten United at Old Trafford in recent years with the Louis van Gaal project still very much a work in progress. Draxler and Wolfsburg will be fancying their chances.
Morata remains Juve's lucky charm
One point from three matches in Serie A had left Juventus fans fearing the worst as they contemplated a trip to the Etihad to face a Manchester City side who had won five from five in the Premier League and who were already looking like champions in waiting in England.
Things looked to be going to plan for Manuel Pellegrini's men when Giorgio Chiellini scored an own goal in the second half to leave Juventus one behind.
Nonetheless, a fight-back instigated by a terrific Paul Pogba through ball to Mario Mandzukic, who finished tidily past Joe Hart, put the Old Lady level before Alvaro Morata teed up victory with a terrific goal late on.
The Spanish striker has quickly developed a reputation as a man for the Champions League occasion with goals in each of his last four matches. Not only that but his strikes have come against Real Madrid, twice, Barcelona in the final and now the best team in England.
He had scant opportunity to carve out chances for himself on Tuesday night but powered the one half-chance he did get into the bottom corner to seal the game for Masimilliano Allegri's side.
It's been a summer of upheaval at Juve with Andrea Pirlo, Arturo Vidal and Carlos Tevez all leaving while the injuries to Sami Khedira and Claudio Marchisio mean that they are still effectively operating short-staffed.
However, the consistency of Morata and his ability to turn big matches around is a valuable commodity for a side in transition.
"This competition has come at the right time for us," said Allegri after. "It is fascinating and gives us extra motivation. This victory will boost our morale, also for the league."
Negotiations are known to be ongoing to ensure Morata stays at Juve long-term with Real Madrid still possessing a stake in his future. A future fee of €30m to take him back to the Santiago Bernabeu could yet be exercised.
If Juve do manage to tie him down, however, it would prove to be a shrewd piece of business for the man who could take on Alessandro Del Piero's mantle of Juve hero.
The suggestions have ranged from the improbable - the Premier League is so good that the Champions League teams are exhausted by the time they have to play in Europe - to the more direct - Franz Beckenbauer saying that the English game was unable to attract the best players in the world. But whatever the reasons, the English Premier League teams are giving a poor, poor account of themselves in the Champions League season after season.
"I think it's sad," said Jose Mourinho, whose Chelsea side were the only English team to win this week. "I think it's bad. I'm not happy with that. I want City, United, Arsenal to lose in the Premier League, I don't want them to lose in the Champions League. Season after season it's difficult for English teams to be successful, when you can make 12 points and you make only three it's bad news for the English game."
Arsenal were outdone by Dinamo Zagreb - who had not won a group stage game in the Champions League since 1999. Manchester United were beaten by PSV, whose best player last season, Memphis Depay, lined up against them. Manchester City could not avoid defeat against a Juventus side who have taken one point in three Serie A matches against Udinese, Roma and Chievo. As far as winnable games go, these were three. Chelsea's 4-0 humbling of Maccabi Tel Aviv was expected, even in light of their own recent poor domestic form.
City's loss against Juve was a direct playoff for precious Uefa coefficient points. Those totals determine how many clubs a national association is entitled to send to European competition. At the moment, England is represented by four teams in the Champions League while Italy supplies only three.
Juventus's run to the Champions League final last season as well as Fiorentina and Napoli's progress to the latter stages of the Europa League came at a time when no English team passed the quarter-final stages in either competition. That meant that Italy outperformed England in the coefficient race and moved closer towards snatching a precious Champions League place.
If English teams perform as badly this season - already Southampton and West Ham have been eliminated - and Italian clubs have another sound year then by the time the 2017-18 Champions League kicks off Serie A will have four places in the Champions League while the Premier League will have three.
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