Champions League day 3
Liverpool and Real Madrid were in the front line of the 3rd day of the Champions League group stage as we reach the halfway point.
Atalanta 0-5 Liverpool
Liverpool made sensation by scoring 5 goals at Atalanta with notably a hat-trick from Jota. The Portuguese player, transferred from the Wolves, has been the best player thus far for Liverpool in the 2020-21 season. The Reds have taken all of the 9 points in the first three matches with 8 goals scored and none conceded. The Premier League champions are in the best position to win the group. Coach Klopp comments on the large win:
“We defended Atalanta on an incredibly high level and played ourselves top football and scored the goals. That’s how it looks. We scored five goals, could have scored maybe two or three more, I don’t know. But Alisson had to make three world-class saves as well. So, you see how big the threat is if you let them do what they are good in. The overall performance of my team tonight was really good, that’s why we won the game. The result is not that important, we only wanted to win.
Real Madrid 3-2 Inter Milan
One of the games of the night saw 5 goals at LaLiga champions’ training facility estadio Alfredo di Stefano where Real Madrid faced the Italians. It was the reunion of the two former Juventus players now manager of each respective team (Zidane for Real and Conte for Inter). Real Madrid was winless in the group before the game and had to win to stay in the qualification race. This game was back and forth with Real Madrid scoring the first two goals. But Internazionale fought back and the nerazzurri got two goals to tie the game at 2-2 and had chances to score the winning goal.
Ultimately Rodrygo gave the win for Real Madrid as they get back in the group led by Borussia Monchengladbach with 5 points following their dismantle of the Shakhtar 6-0 in Ukraine. Coach Zidane comments on the big win:
“It was a good performance from us. We scored two goals and applied a high press, which is what we wanted to do. It was a Champions League game, a tight affair and they pegged us back to 2-1 very quickly. The second half was a bit tougher for us, but that’s to be expected when you’re up against a side like Inter. It was a really good game. It was a match in which we had to get the three points and we did just that. I’m delighted for the players after the effort they put in, we fought to the end and deserve our win”.
RB Salzburg 2-6 Bayern Munich
Tee most prolific game of all saw the UEFA Champions League champions taking over in the last 10 minutes when the game was tied at 2-2. Four goals from FC Bayern between the 79th and 90th minute gave this inflated score that was nowhere near a walk in the park for the Bundesliga champions.
Coach Flick celebrated his one year anniversary as FC Bayern coach with the win:
“Salzburg were exactly what we expected them to be when we analysed them. When they won the ball they had a very good transition game, good runs in deep. They caught us cold at times. Nevertheless, in the end we showed our strength. For the fans it was definitely a top game, for the coaches not quite so great. We have to live with that. I am very satisfied with the mentality of my team. We came back after we were pegged down to 2-2 and finished the game well.”
