1.
Two managers came into the games last night (Tuesday) under a lot of pressure: Jurgen Klopp saw his Liverpool disintegrate a week ago and were beaten 4-1 at Napoli, while Julian Nagelsmann received some tough criticism, including from his sporting director, after three straight draws in the Bundesliga .
Liverpool started the season with a limp.
It is only ranked seventh and has won only two of its six league games.
And that's even before the collapse in Naples.
It was clear to everyone, and especially to Klopp, how necessary a victory in the home game against Ajax is.
A draw, let alone a loss, would have put the whole season in jeopardy.
And once again everyone would talk about the "curse of the seventh season" of the German coach, who failed in Mitz and Dortmund, after six great seasons.
And this is his seventh season at Anfield.
Liverpool won last night, barely, but won.
Joel Matip scored his first ever Champions League goal in the 89th minute to give Klopp a breather.
He may have scored the winning goal, but the best player on the pitch was Spanish midfielder Thiago Alcantara.
Thiago was injured in the previous weeks and without him the Liverpool link looked confused and ineffective.
His return is perhaps the second most important thing that happened to Liverpool yesterday, after the victory.
It was not easy for Bayern either against Barcelona, who were superior to them in the first half and missed time after time.
Robert Lewandowski, who scored hundreds of goals at the Allianz Arena, failed this time and missed two safe ones.
Bayern is only two points off first place in Germany and it is still their worst start to the season in the last 12 years.
So not that anyone really thinks they won't win 11 consecutive championships this season, yet the main question is how the Germans will manage this season without Lewandowski.
Neglesman.
can be calm, photo: AP
So that's it, here and there there are squeaks, but in the end they get along, and the goals are shared between 13 different players.
Yesterday it was the turn of the defender Lucas Hernandez to score his first goal in almost two years.
Neglesman can be calm.
He has a strong, energetic and quality team, with quite a few players who are capable of deciding games.
And yesterday, 19-year-old Jamal Musiala stood out above all, who was also chosen as the man of the match.
2.
Barcelona lost for the first time this season, which brought coach Xavi and the team's fans back to reality.
With all due respect to the victories over Viktoria Plzen and Cadiz, last night it was the real test for Barca, against an opponent of the caliber of Bayern Munich.
The Catalans did not play badly, absolutely not.
In the first half they were even better.
In the first 45 minutes they had 10 kicks and shots at the opponent's goal, but something was still missing in Xavi's cohesion.
And it would be too simplistic to excuse the loss on Lewandowski's misses.
Barca is still a team under construction, and this process takes time.
No fewer than five players who arrived this season played in yesterday's lineup;
That's almost half a team.
In Bayern, on the other hand, there was only one such (Sadio Mane).
Xavi.
His team was not sharp and paid for it, photo: EPA
The loss could complicate Barcelona since their next two games in the Champions League will be against Inter, first at San Siro and then at Camp Nou. And right now it seems that the battle for second place at home will be decided in these two games. Barca did not qualify from the group stage last season for the first time in 21 years, and this It will be a very painful blow, even more so than last season, if she fails once more.
3.
Sporting Lisbon is meanwhile the unofficial refresher of the Champions League.
After defeating Frankfurt 0:3 away last week, they stepped up and beat Tottenham 0:2, with two goals in extra time, which were scored by two substitutes.
This is the first time in history that Sporting opens the Champions League with two wins and many compliments go to the 37-year-old coach Ruben Amorim.
For Antonio Conte's Tottenham it was the first loss of the season, and in fact the first since April.
Now she will have to fight against Frankfurt, her opponent in the next two rounds, for second place at home.
Sporting players.
The new refreshers, photo: AFP
4.
Last night's victory over Barcelona was Bayern Munich's 30th game in a row in the group stage of the Champions League without a loss.
In doing so, she equaled Real Madrid's record, set between 2012 and 2017.
It is likely that Bayern will not lose in their next two games against Viktoria Plzen, so they are on their way to setting a new historical record.
The Bavarians' last loss in the group stage was five years ago, when they were defeated 3:0 in Paris by PSG.
And that's not all.
It was also win number 36 of the last 38 home games in the group stage.
They lost to Manchester City 3:2 9 years ago and ended in a draw against Ajax 4 years ago.
In all other games during this period at Allianz Arena - she won.
5.
Everyone knows that Barcelona have the hardest time against Bayern Munich.
In the 14 meetings between the two teams, the Germans won 10 times and the Catalans only twice.
Last night it was the Bavarians' fifth win in a row, with the goal difference standing at 4:19.
And that's not all - she lost all five games against her in the group stage, while at the same time she didn't lose against any other team in the group stage more than twice.
Ter Stegen.
Everything has been said, photo: AFP
And the most miserable?
Goalkeeper Marc-Andre Ter Stegen, who with yesterday's pair has already scored 30 goals against Bayern during his career.
He played against them in Borussia Monchengladbach and Barcelona 13 times, losing nine.
At least there is a return match at the Camp Nou on October 26.
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