UEFA Champions League 2018-19: Rating the English clubs' performances in Match Day 1

The picture for the English clubs was pretty mixed overall in the first week of the 2018-19 UEFA Champions League. Manchester United and Liverpool got key victories, whilst Tottenham Hotspurs and Manchester City suffered defeats.

A United win, despite their recent "crisis", was expected and welcome. Liverpool beat the star-studded PSG - with Neymar and Mbappe et al - whilst Tottenham collapsed to Inter Milan at the San Siro.

Defeats for Spurs and City are not terminal for their CL hopes. But they are self-evident setbacks. They have time to recover, naturally. Liverpool and United can build on their performances, of course.

But how exactly, despite there being five more games to play for each side, can they take lessons from each game?

Are the managers or players to blame? Are they to be praised also?

Liverpool did enter a difficult group. They were the finalists last season, whilst Napoli have challenged Juventus strongly in Serie A lately. PSG are a strong side, with world-record signing Neymar, and World Cup winner Mbappe.

Spurs' group was more moderate, though Barca will be a challenge. Inter have a pedigree in the competition, of course.

Man United faced Young Boys, which will be followed by meetings with Valencia, and old boy and legend Ronaldo, by way of Juventus.

City's group is possibly the easiest of the English sides, and Pep Guardiola will be judged primarily on his ability to challenge for the CL this season. City have won multiple Premier Leagues since the Qatari Sheikh took over.

No English team has won the CL since Chelsea in 2012. A few have attained quarter-finals, such as Spurs, Leicester City, Man United, City, Liverpool, etc. But could this year be different? Klopp has never won the CL, but Liverpool would want to do one better than last season. Pep hasn't won it since 2011, with his legendary Barca team. Mourinho hasn't won it in a while either, with his 2010 Inter side.

Here's an analysis of the English clubs' performances:

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INTERNAZIONALE 2-1 TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR

VERDICT - 4/10 FOR SPURS

Spurs controlled this game for much of its duration. Eriksen opened the scoring, and they conceded two ready goals in the latter stages. But they warrant this rating for these reasons:

• Pochettino made some bad tactical decisions. This included poor substitutions and taking off people who could defend from set-pieces.
• The team showed another symptom of a bad mentality and game management. This is after years of the same mistakes, which even predate Pochettino.
• Kane was quiet, as was Alli. The former was said to be tired but didn't impact the game much.

Despite being nearly men for several years now, and their position being in the high league, Spurs are not improving on the pitch. There are still five games to go, however, this was a sign that Spurs need to progress in tactical and psychological terms.

MANCHESTER CITY 1-2 LYON

VERDICT 3/10

They've won the Premier league in 2012, 2014, and 2018. They've also won multiple FA and League Cups, so the next step has to be the CL. The Qatari owners have this goal too much in their minds, and it's pretty much telling that Guardiola wants to win his first CL since 2011. He can be the greatest CL manager of all-time, but to attain this, he needs to progress this season with Man City. The CL has now become the club's new holy grail.

But their loss to Lyon, a team who aren't mugs - as it were - is not in tune with their plan.

Yes, it's early days still, and they could still in the group.

But then their attacking play, and more so their defensive work, was very slack by their usual high standards.

This will need to rectify in short order. They are still on paper the strongest team in the group, so possibly they will recover from this accordingly. Could Pep not being on the touchline be a factor? Possibly not.

Pep would have had a gameplan and merely the players, Arteta, and he, would have agreed that Arteta would implement it and make the requisite changes. He also could have spoken with them at half-time, as it was just a touchline ban.

If City are to win the CL this year, they cannot afford defensive errors as the ones that occurred in this game. Barca, Real Madrid, Bayern, Juve, or even another English team, would exploit them to a great measure,

YOUNG BOYS 0-3 MANCHESTER UNITED

VERDICT 7/10

Young Boys were never going to be a strong opposition, with respect to them. Yes, they have earned their place in the competition by merit, as have all the sides involved. But United's talent and Mourinho's managerial skills proved too much for them.

But amidst the current furore surrounding Mourinho, Pogba, and the overall club direction, this win is welcome.

Pogba got two goals, and in some part, silenced the critics. Yes, he needs to do things more consistently. However, he took his time to make a mark here, and it showed.

A good run in this year's competition would put most United fans' minds at ease, and bide Mourinho more time to challenge Man City. United's form of late has improved, and Mourinho, for now, is not under as much pressure.

LIVERPOOL 3-2 PSG

VERDICT 8/10

Liverpool generally outperformed PSG, with their star-studded line-up, including Neymar and Mbappe. After the slump under Rodgers, and the return of King Kenny (now Sir Kenny) Dalglish, Liverpool under Klopp look the strongest in years.

Their attacking prowess showed here, and Klopp really has got them to be a primed team.

Whilst Salah didn't score, and a goal was disallowed, it was their under-stated midfielder Milner, seemingly forgotten boy Sturridge, and regular forward Firmino, who got them the win.

PSG got two good goals in return, with Mbappe netting an equaliser from close range.

However, Liverpool will take great heart from this win, though they still have to face Napoli home and away.

So far so good for Mr. Klopp and his side, and whilst Napoli and serial CL-winning manager Ancelotti will be another group test, Liverpool surely are amongst the favourites to win this year.