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The UEFA Champions League group stage matches commenced from 18th September. The Matchday 1 fixtures included matches in the group of death featuring which saw PSG taking on Liverpool away at Anfield as well as Tottenham facing Inter Milan at San Siro.
Here we look at the 5 main talking points from Matchday 1 for the Groups A, B, C and D:
1. Messi's hattrick and an outstanding Dembele strike win it for Barcelona:
The first Matchday of the Champions league 2018-19 saw Barcelona take on PSV Eindhoven at Camp Nou in an early kickoff.
An entire season after starting with a 4-4-2 formation last year, Ernesto Valverde switched to a 4-3-3 as he has done in the league this season as well. This meant an attacking trio of Messi, Suarez, and Dembele started the match with Rakitic, Busquets, and Coutinho forming a formidable midfield three. PSV started with their tried and tested 4-2-3-1 with Lozano on the right of the three and Luuk de Jong up front.
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Messi started the proceedings with a customary free kick in the 32nd minute to give Barcelona the lead. PSV defenders at this stage cannot afford to give away a free kick in dangerous areas and Messi punished them with that.
Even after Barcelona was leading at halftime by a solitary goal, PSV looked dangerous enough to score on the counter and level things up. But a superb finish from Ousmane Dembele made it 2-0 and a Messi strike three minutes later from a beautiful combination play made it 3-0 and the match was out of the Dutch champions' hands.
Another goal from Messi in the 87th minute saw Messi complete his hattrick as Barcelona eased to a victory against PSV.
2. Icardi and Vecino's late goals hand Inter victory against Tottenham:
The first Matchday saw the fourth-placed team in England last season compete against the fourth-placed team of Italy at the San Siro.
There was considerable hype for this match as Champions League football was returning to the historic San Siro. Both Inter and Tottenham started with a familiar 4-2-3-1 with Icardi supported by Perisic, Nainggolan, and Politano in midfield for Inter. For Tottenham, in the absence of Dele Alli, Harry Kane was supported by Eriksen, Son, and Lamela.
The first half was a drawn-out affair for both the sides as both of them looked sharp enough to have taken the lead. Both the sides had to be clinical in the second half which is what Spalleti and Pochettino would have expected. A 53rd-minute strike from Cristian Eriksen saw the ball deflected from Miranda which Handanovic could not stop, handing Tottenham the lead away from home.
Inter made two changes in the second half bringing in Candreva for Perisic and also Keita for Politano. Inter had several half chances which they failed to convert into the equaliser until the 85th minute. Tottenham was looking to kill off the remaining time, but a cross from Asamoah, the former Juve man, saw Icardi score a brilliant volley. This goal had given Inter the hope to go all the way and win the match. Minutes later, with the game stretching into extra time Inter received a corner, Vecino scored from a close range DeVrij assist handing Inter a surprise victory. The match ended with Tottenham boss visibly disappointed and even lashed out at the media for speaking against the players.
3. Firmino's late strike secured victory for Liverpool in a thriller against PSG:
The French champions traveled to Anfield to face last season's runners-up Liverpool. The match was tipped to be a battle between two of the best front three in the world. Cavani, Mbappe, and Neymar as expected started with Di Maria, Rabiot and Marquinhos, all three of the midfield player playing out of position. With Verrati not being available for this match and no direct replacement for Thiago Motta from last season, PSG struggled in the midfield area.
For Liverpool, Firmino did not start due to an eye injury sustained in the Tottenham match, but all the rest of usual suspects started- Salah and Mane started up front with Daniel Sturridge as the target man, supported by the tried and tested Henderson, Milner, and Wijnaldum in midfield.
Throughout the match, Liverpool had a clear tactical advantage over their opponents. Blistering runs from Neymar or Mbappe would be thwarted by hard working Milner and Henderson. Additionally, the fact the PSG's front three hardly made recovery runs meant the easy ball to Alexander-Arnold was always there resulting in crosses in dangerous areas. A brilliant strike from Sturridge and a penalty won by Wijnaldum and converted by Milner saw Liverpool lead 2-0. But a counter-attack from PSG resulted in a Thomas Meunier goal before halftime to give PSG some hope.
For long stretches of play in the second half, it looked as if both the teams would score but could not. A misplaced pass from Salah was capitalised by Neymar who assisted Mbappe in getting the equalizer. Roberto Firmino who had come on as a substitute for Sturridge struck a terrific goal from inside the box in the 91st minute to hand Liverpool a sweet victory and three points for Klopp against Tuchel's men.
4. Atletico Madrid comes back from behind to defeat Monaco:
The first Matchday witnessed the 2017-18 Europa League Champions travel to Monaco in a Group A clash which also involves Borussia Dortmund and Club Brugge.
Monaco coach had to rally a very depleted Monaco squad to face the might of Atleti as most of his star players from the previous seasons have already left for bigger clubs. Monaco started with a cautious 4-1-4-1 formation with captain Falcao up front and Tielemans and new signing Chadli supporting him in midfield. Diego Simeone started in a familiar 4-4-2 with Griezmann and Costa up front.
An 18th-minute strike from Grandsir saw Monaco taking an unexpected lead against Cholo's men. But to hold off such a lead for the entirety of the match proved too much for the hosts. A brilliant combination play between Griezmann and Costa contributed to their first goal. At the stroke of halftime, Gimenez struck to give Atleti the lead from a Koke assist. Monaco failed to give any significant challenge to Atleti in the second half which saw Simeone's men collect an important three points
5. Dortmund overcomes Club Brugge in a close match, courtesy Christian Pulisic:
Borussia Dortmund started their Champions League journey with a trip away to Club Brugge in Belgium. Dortmund under new coach Lucien Favre, started with a 4-2-3-1 formation, with Marco Reus, Gotze, Wolf and Sancho forming the attacking quartet.
Marco Reus created chances in the first half along with the fullbacks Schmelzer and Piszczek. The Dortmund attack tried to break down the Brugge defense which was solid. The first half ended goalless with both sides failing to find the back of the net.
In the second half, Favre made changes bringing in Shinji Kagawa and Christian Pulisic for some much-needed pace against a stubborn and organised Brugge defense. A deflected shot from Pulisic was enough for Dortmund as they took the lead in the 85th minute.
Difficult tests lie ahead for both these teams as they will face Atletico Madrid and Monaco in the upcoming rounds. Clearly, Dortmund does not have the sharpness they once possessed but they have shown enough to advance to the Round of 16.
