Champions League Check-In: City, PSG, and Liverpool Bounce Back As Juve and Chelsea Stall

Manchester City and PSG went down early in the UCL yesterday, leaning on big names like Messi and Haaland to finish on top.

Liverpool bounced back from their opening day loss as Chelsea stalled, drawing 1-1 against RB Salzburg.

Juventus looks completely out of it, and head coach Massimiliano Allegri may be about to get the Italian boot.

Here’s what happened during week 2 of the Champions League group stages.

Manchester City and PSG get what they paid for in come-from-behind victories.

Manchester City and PSG, two of the most infamously rich European clubs, certainly got their money’s worth out of their big-name signings yesterday. Everyone knows about Haaland’s instantly iconic high-kick by now (as they should), but all three members of PSG’s triumvirate got in on the action, too.

After Mbappe assisted Messi above, Messi tagged him back for the second goal.

Never one to miss a good party, Neymar got in on the action for PSG’s dagger.

Money may not be able to buy happiness, but with PSG and Manchester City looking unstoppable so far, money may just buy a UCL Championship.

Serie A teams won every match yesterday until Juventus played Benfica.

Napoli, AC Milan, and Inter Milan all won their matches by a combined score of 8-1. Serie A was set to have a dominant day in group play action until Juventus stepped up and whiffed it.

To be sure, Benfica is not an easy team to beat. But the loss is more about Juventus’ steady decline. The legendary Turin side hasn’t won a game since August, has lost their two opening UCL matches, and has only won one of their last five league matches. The Juve squad is jam-packed with talent, like USMNT star Weston McKennie. It might be time for HC Allegri to go.

Liverpool bounces back from opening day loss as Chelsea shows they haven’t changed a bit.

Ajax was an excellent test for The Reds, who barely passed the exam. In a back-and-forth affair, Klopp’s men proved Kloppy enough for the late win, continuing Liverpool’s up-and-down pattern from this season. LFC is back in the mix in Group A, while Chelsea is at the bottom of Group E.

We had a successful Pulisic sighting late in Chelsea’s 1-1 draw against Salzburg, though Captain America’s excellent appearance wasn’t enough to save his team’s anemic attack. Raheem Sterling found the net for CFC off a gaping defensive error from RBS. New manager Graham Potter is a coach, not a wizard, and needs more time to mend CHE’s attacking woes. Potter may be singing The Blues if his side can’t figure out how to finish before exiting the group stages in shame.

Check out our other UCL coverage from this week here:

WATCH: Barcelona Still Unable To Slay Bayern in Champions League Loss

Erling Haaland High Kicks a Classic – Top 5 Champions League Goals of the Week

Featured Image: Pexels/Rodolfo Clix/ManchesterCityFC/PSG/Liverpool/Interbrand/Juventus/ChelseaFC/DM

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