Champions League round-up: Messi breaks record, Haaland saves City again

The Champions League didn’t disappoint this week and we’ve picked out some of the most interesting talking points to dive into.

Lionel Messi breaks record 

With his goal against Maccabi Haifa, Lionel Messi became the first player to have scored against 39 different clubs in the Champions League. 

The PSG forward was previously tied on 38 with Cristiano Ronaldo, but he has managed to take advantage of Ronaldo not being in the Champions League this season. 

PSG did fall behind in their game against Maccabi Haifa, but their star-studded trio soon managed to turn things around. 

Kylian Mbappe set up Messi’s goal before the Argentine returned the favour with an assist of his own. 

Neymar then continued on his impressive start to the season by adding a third goal, which was his 11th of the season in all competitions. 

Maccabi Haifa found it tough to contain Messi who won six ground duels and completed two key passes throughout the evening. 

With his two goal contributions, Messi also overtook Pele to become the player with the most goal contributions in the history of football with 1112 in total. 

Haaland saves Man City again 

Even when Man City aren’t at their best, Erling Haaland only needs a split second to punish the opposition. 

Borussia Dortmund had managed to keep Man City quiet for the first 80 minutes and they limited the home side to just four shots on target all game. 

Jude Bellingham put in another impressive display under the lights as he scored the opening goal whilst also winning three ground duels and completing two accurate long balls. 

Man City proved how clinical they can be though as they scored two goals from an xG of just 0.89, compared to Dortmund’s 1.16. 

Haaland’s former side had managed to keep him quiet for the vast majority of the game, until Joao Cancelo picked him out with an outrageous outside of the boot pass. 

Cancelo was heavily involved in everything Man City were doing as he took 133 touches in total, which was far more than anyone else on the pitch. 

The full-back kept things tidy on the ball with a pass competition rate of 88.8% and he also created two chances. 

Bayern edge past Barcelona 

Robert Lewandowski didn’t quite have the homecoming he would have been hopeful for as his former side managed to get the better of Barcelona. 

Bayern have proven to be somewhat of a bogey side for Barcelona as the Spanish team have failed to beat the German Champions since 2015. 

Despite losing this encounter, there were plenty of positives to take from Barcelona’s point of view. 

Xavi’s side edged the possession with 53% and they created three big chances throughout the evening. 

Barcelona accumulated an xG of 1.98 to Bayern’s 1.44, but they weren’t able to take any of their chances. 

Barcelona had been on a good run in La Liga prior to their meeting with Bayern as they had won their previous four matches, scoring 15 goals in the process. 

The win puts Bayern out on top in Group C with six points from their opening two Champions League matches. 

 

Liverpool get back to winning ways 

If ever Liverpool needed a result it was this week. 

Given how their previous game had unfolded against Napoli, Jurgen Klopp’s side needed a reaction against Ajax and they got just that. 

The Reds accumulated an xG of 2.11 and they took a total of 24 shots throughout the evening. 

The reintroductions of Joel Matip and Thiago seemed to have the desired effect as Liverpool managed to establish more control and look less vulnerable at the back. 

Liverpool’s next game will be after the international break against Brighton, before they continue their Champions League campaign against Rangers.