The first matchday of the much-awaited Champions League 2021 took place on the 14th of this month. The was the first matchday after the footballing community witnessed the craziest transfer window of all time. With the newly formed squads and with the Spanish Teams not being labeled as contenders for the first time in this decade the 1st matchday was a treat. It was filled with unexpected outcomes and underdogs beating good teams. So, here’s a quick round-up of the games: –
Manchester United 1-2 Young Boys: –
Probably the biggest shocker to the football community in the recent past, the Red Devils lost to Young Boys. BSCYB is a Swiss Club and they absolutely dominated the Swiss domestic rounds before making it to the UCL. Beating a formidable Man United squad with the likes of Ronaldo, Jadon Sancho, and Paul Pogba must have boosted them with confidence. The Red Devils looked fine in the first half when they were leading 1-0.
The Englishmen went a man down in the first half itself and that probably cost them the game. Ronaldo scored in the 13th minute and Aaron conceded the red in the 35th minute. The YB squad struck back in the second half as Ngamaleu slammed one in, in the 66th minute. And the Boys won a thriller by getting the winning goal in the 95th minute. Man United’s mid-line looked tired and that could be another reason for the loss.
FC Barcelona 0-3 Bayern Munich
FCB faced their most dreaded squad of the recent past, Bayern on Tuesday. This was the club’s first game in the UCL after Messi’s departure. However, the squad shaped well against Bayern. Bayern on the other hand will be disheartened that they didn’t put back more in Barca’s net. Bayern’s defense had little work to do since Barca pulled only 5 shots. None of the shots were on target! On the contrary, Bayern took 17! The ball possession was evenly distributed as 52-48, Bayern. The first goal came in the 34th minute from the foot of Thomas Muller. The next two goals were fired in by Lewandowski in the 56th and 85th minute.
Chelsea 1-0 Zenit
Defending Champions Chelsea continued their dream run in the UCL. They beat Zenit by a margin of one goal but on any other day they would have certainly had more goals. Romelu as usual was the star of the game. Zenit, a club from Russia always makes its presence felt at the Champions League but Chelsea didn’t allow them to spoil their party. The only goal was scored by Lukaku in the 69th minute. The game was dominated by the English Club!
