The UEFA Champions League enjoyed a wonderful Matchday 3, with 74 goals across 18 games, a 4.1 per game average, and plenty to talk about. Paris Saint-Germain, Real Madrid, Liverpool, Real Betis and Aston Villa all remain perfect at 3-0-0 after big wins, while Como thumped Manchester United, putting Michael Carrick's future in doubt.
The other big game saw Bayern Munich and Arsenal draw 2-2 at the Allianz Arena, with Bukayo Saka limping off early with an injury. ESPN writers Gab Marcotti, Sam Tighe, Mark Ogden and Beth Lindop break down the action.
PSG beat Barcelona 4-2 at home in the league phase, but the win came at a cost. Ousmane Dembélé hobbled off after just 20 minutes, and Marquinhos and Khvicha Kvaratskhelia both exited with injuries on the hour mark. Kvaratskhelia has since been ruled out for the rest of the season with a torn ACL. Ogden argues that injuries can happen at any time, and that Luis Enrique was right to field his big names against a team capable of challenging them.
Lindop agrees that PSG vs Barcelona is always a marquee fixture and that PSG's approach of resting players in domestic competition has paid dividends. Still, she calls losing Kvaratskhelia a huge blow, as PSG remain favourites to retain their trophy.
Source: ESPN General · Summarized by HeadlinesBriefing