UEFA Champions League, Matchday 1: Roma and Porto spectacular, Chelsea slip up

PSG’s poor away form continued on Wendesday when the Parisians gave up a late goal against Ajax and were forced to settle for a draw. Edinson Cavani put PSG ahead in the 14th minute, cleaning up a rebound from a Zlatan Ibrahimovic shot. The lead held until the 74th minute when Lasse Schöne took advantage of some poor goalkeeping by Salvatore Sirigu to grab a point for the Dutch side.

Nani’s wicked strike in the 81st minute looked to have Sporting on their way to three points, but Luka Zahovič grabbed a deserved point for Maribor in stoppage time. With Chelsea and Schalke also drawing, it’s not the worst result for Sporting, but they’ll be disappointed at failing to get a leg up in the race for the knockout round.

Schalke came to London with just one point in the Bundesliga, and having been tipped out of the domestic cup by a third-division side. Despite very little to commend them, they took a point from their Champions League group stage match at Chelsea.

It should’ve been a warning to the hosts. Instead, they showed little urgency in finding a second goal. And with Schalke’s increased confidence and pressure, their equalizer came as little surprise. Draxler nipped in to take the ball off Fàbregas in midfield, speeding down the pitch before sending off to Klaas-Jan Huntelar. The forward cut inside before placing his shot just inside the near post, evading Courtois.

The second half was similar, if a bit less open. Bayern had most of the possession and chances, though they looked a bit vulnerable at the back, and were lucky that City weren’t at their best on the counter. Hart had to make further solid saves on Götze in the 55th minute and Jerome Boateng in the 88th minute, but Boateng was finally able to break the deadlock shortly afterwards.

Boateng’s winning goal came off a very poorly defended corner, which City had numerous chances to clear away. It took a dozen flicked headers, attempted shots and attempted clearances before the ball fell to Boateng 15 yards from goal, and he surprised everyone by unleashing a perfect half-volley towards the far post that Hart had almost no chance to save.

The opening goal was the first sign of a chronic offside trap weakness that would continue to haunt the visitors throughout most of the match. Indeed, it revealed itself once again just four minutes later, when Iturbe and Gervinho reversed roles and the latter calmly slipped away and doubled the hosts’ advantage.

It would prove to be a costly miss, as Roma netted a third five minutes later. This time it wasn’t so much a defensive error as a goalkeeping one, with CSKA’s shot-stopper Igor Akinfeev palming Maicon’s tight-angled shot weakly into the back of the net.

Despite dominating the match from the opening whistle, Barcelona struggled a bit to break down APOEL’s stubborn nine-men behind the ball defense. Perhaps it was all the exhaust fumes from the idling bus in front of goal that caused the problems, but it really was only a matter of time before the Blaugrana scored.

Messi had a brilliant chance of his own to double Barca’s lead in the 40th minute when Neymar brought the ball to a dead stop, throwing off his marker, and feeding Messi who was all alone 16-yards out. Messi’s shot was palmed away by Pardo, keeping APOEL within a goal.

Yacine Brahimi was brilliant at the World Cup so Porto thought, “we should buy him.”

They were wise to do so.

City’s formation is a lot more straightforward, but their team selections might dictate what they’re trying to accomplish. If both of Sergio Aguero and Edin Dzeko play, they probably feel like they can score against Bayern’s patchwork defense. If only one plays and David Silva is in the hole, they’re aiming to keep the ball. And if one plays while Yaya Toure, Fernando and Fernandinho are all selected, City are aiming to defend and play on the counter.

Chelsea couldn’t be happier with their marquee new signing, Diego Costa. He’s scored seven times in his first four games, becoming the first player to ever do that in the Premier League. Cesc Fabregas has been excellent as well, and the Blues’ attack is looking a bit unstoppable. Schalke, meanwhile, are missing five senior defenders through injury. Ouch.

There are two options for watching the game online in the United States, both through FOX. This is not one of the games that was sublicensed to ESPN, so it’s not available on any of their channels or services.

Unfortunately for American fans of the Blaugrana, this game is not one of the ones that ESPN has as part of their sublicensed package for the UEFA Champions League, so it’s not on ESPN3 or Watch ESPN. There are two ways to watch the game online, both through FOX.

The first is FOX Sports Go, where you can watch the game for free if you are a subscriber to FOX Deportes or one of the regional networks that will be showing the game. If you don’t have access to that service, your other option is FOX Soccer 2 Go, a paid service that does not require a TV subscription.

In the United States, there are three options for watching the game online. While FOX has sublicensed some Champions League games to ESPN, this is not one of the games that is available on ESPN3. However, it is on the Watch ESPN app for subscribers to ESPN Deportes.

There are two different streaming options through FOX. The first is FOX Sports Go, where you will be able to watch the game for free if you are a TV subscriber to FOX Sports 1. If neither of those options works for you, there’s also FOX Soccer 2 Go, a paid service that does not require any television subscription.

For the first time since 1998, Athletic Club have reached the group stages of the biggest European club football competition. It’s a huge moment for the Basque Country club, but now comes the hard part ... advancing. There’s every reason to believe that Athletic Club could get out of Group H, but they need to get off to a good start at home against Shakhtar Donetsk.

Key Player: Beñat (Athletic Club)

Paris Saint-Germain have spent a lot of money over the past few seasons as they attempt to become one of the biggest clubs in Europe. While that financial investment has brought them success in Ligue 1, it still hasn’t translated to the Champions League. It might be safe to say that Laurent Blanc needs a deep run in Europe this season, or PSG’s owners could change direction again.

Key Player: ZLATAN (PSG)

Luis Enrique leads Barcelona into the Champions League for the first time on Wednesday against Cypriot side APOEL Nicosia. It’s easy to immediately dismiss APOEL as the smallest of minnows, but this team did win their group in 2011, finishing ahead of Zenit Saint Petersburg, Porto and Shakhtar Donetsk. While this certainly isn’t the same group, the point is more that no one should be underestimated.

Key Player: The Barcelona Defense

Francesco Totti turns 38 in just over a week, but he’s still quite possibly Roma’s most important player. The captain is invariably used through the middle of Rudi García’s attacking trident, with his incredible vision and incisive passing meaning he’s always able to pick out runs from his deeper teammates. Keeping him quiet is essential to disrupting the giallorossi’s attacking play.

Key matchup - Ahmed Musa vs. Roma’s right-back

It has been almost half a century since Schalke 04 last failed to win any of their opening four games of a new season, with the Gelsenkirchen club looking in a very real crisis at present. They sit 16th in the Bundesliga, and have already been dumped out of the DFB-Pokal by minnows Dynamo Dresden. Pressure is already building on manager Jens Keller, who isn’t helped by a massive injury list.

Key player - Diego Costa (Chelsea)

Last season was a pretty poor one by Porto standards, though much has changed at the Estádio do Dragão this season. The most notable change is the arrival of new coach Julen Lopetegui, who has led his side to five wins in his first six competitive matches, including a comfortable aggregate victory over Lille in the Champions League playoffs. They open their group stage campaign against Belarusian minnows BATE Borisov, and nothing less than a win will suffice.

Key player - Jackson Martínez (Porto)

It has been 15 years since Slovenian champions Maribor were last in the Champions League group stages, but a playoff win over Celtic has ensured the Purples are finally back in the big time. In their opening match they play host to another team back from Champions League exile, with Portugal’s Sporting Lisbon having last participated back in 2008-09. However, the Primeira Liga club head into the tournament with a strong squad, and they should have enough to kick off their campaign with a win.

Key player - Nani (Sporting Lisbon)

The Champions League proper got underway on Tuesday, and it sure didn’t disappoint. There really was something for everyone, from upsets to very-nearly-upsets to not-at-all-upsets. Let’s hope the excitement continues when the action resumes at the same time Wednesday.

Juventus were dominant in their match at home against Swedish champions Malmö, though they relied on a second half brace from Carlos Tévez to kick off their Champions League campaign with a win.

Only near the end of the first half did Juve really turn up the heat, and spend the game camped in the final third. Still, they had nothing to show for their dominance, with the final pass agonizingly lacking. Their best opportunity came when Lichtsteiner danced into the box in the final minute of normal time, though no one was on hand to tuck his square pass into the empty net.

After opening the scoring, Juve started to play with much more freedom. It momentarily looked like they’d doubled their advantage within four minutes of taking the lead, though Fernando Llorente’s goal was chalked off for offside. Still, Malmö had to be wary of the floodgates opening, with their hosts looking more dangerous than ever.

Laurent Koscielny: Oh no my goalkeeper is in trouble, I’ll just block this ...

Post: Hello, Laurent. Thank you for the nice hug.

Gareth Bale is one of the best around at: 1) running fast 2) taking a good first touch at full speed 3) scoring. So he ran fast, beautifully chipped the keeper and put it in the goal.

And when you combine those two your jaw drops.

The Champions League returns to Anfield for the first time in nearly a decade, and the Liverpool fans are sure to be making a ton of noise as they welcome Bulgarian side Ludogorets to their Group B clash.

Brendan Rodgers isn’t prepared to underestimate the group’s minnows, putting out a strong side fronted by Mario Balotelli. There’s just one change from the weekend’s 1-0 loss to Aston Villa, which is Raheem Sterling coming in for Lazar Markovic.

Paulo Sousa sticks with his preferred 3-4-2-1 formation, making a couple changes from the lineup that defeated Young Boys back on August 31st. Walter Samuel moves from left back to central defense, allowing Marek Suchý to return. Taulant Xhaka shifts out of the defense, into a wide wing role in the deep midfield.

FC Basel (3-4-2-1): Tomáš Vaclík; Marek Suchý, Walter Samuel, Fabian Schär; Behrang Safair, Fabian Frei, Mohamed Elneny, Taulant Xhaka; Luca Zuffi, Derlis González; Marco Streller

Malmö appear to be trying to beat Juve by mirroring their formation. Coach Åge Hareide has set his side out in a 3-4-1-2 formation, despite them tending to use a 4-4-2 in domestic competition.

Malmö (3-4-1-2): Robin Olsen; Filip Helander, Markus Halsti, Erik Johansson; Pa Konate, Emil Forsberg, Magnus Eriksson, Anton Tinnerholm; Enoch Adu; Isaac Thelin, Markus Rosenberg.