Barcelona hosting Inter Milan at the Camp Nou was supposed to be one of the most anticipated clashes of the Champions League group stage. But that was before Lionel Messi suffered an arm injury on Saturday and was ruled out with a fractured arm.
So Messi watched the game from the stands on Wednesday, with cameras watching his every reaction to the action on the pitch.
The ball looped up into the air and time slowed down. Goalie Hugo Lloris watched helplessly as a deflected shot sailed just out of his reach. Tens of thousands of fans inside the Philips Stadion in Eindhoven held their collective breath. Then the Hirving Lozano goal vs Tottenham fell into the net and the crowd exploded into jubilant celebration.
Mexico international Chucky Lozano scored against the run of play with his first Champions League group-stage goal on Wednesday in Group B action, and it all came down to a poor piece of play from Spurs defender Toby Alderweireld.
When Cristiano Ronaldo last went up against David de Gea, the Portuguese striker put three past the Spanish keeper in a virtuoso performance during the 2018 World Cup this summer. The Ronaldo vs de Gea matchup went in the opposite direction on Tuesday, with the latter making some impressive saves to deny the former.
With El Clásico looming on Sunday, the only good news for Real Madrid at the present is the absence of Lionel Messi. Yes, Real climbed to the top of Champions League Group G on Tuesday after narrowly defeating Czech First League side Plzeň 2-1 at the Santiago Bernabeu, but you could easily argue that Los Blancos looked better during last weekend’s shock 2-1 defeat to Levante.
Cristiano Ronaldo was full of flicks and tricks early on in his first visit to Old Trafford since joining Juventus. He made Ashley Young look silly with an early move and even had an admirer invade the pitch to see him (though he was tackled before he reached the former Manchester United winger.
Then Ronaldo made an actual imprint on the game, setting up Juventus’ first goal in the 17th minute.
Rome was witness to a horrifying escalator malfunction ahead of the Champions League match between Roma and CSKA Moscow on Tuesday.
While carrying fans headed to the match, an escalator at a metro station in Rome appears to have collapsed, sending riders careening to the bottom and a high velocity. Reports of serious injuries have already surfaced and the images are both terrifying and gruesome (so be warned).
Here’s video of the escalator malfunction. You can see one escalator working normally while others fly by, creating a massive pile-up at the bottom.