The Champions League group stage draw on Thursday was excruciatingly boring. The matches it presented to us won’t be — at least not in Group C.
The 2018-19 Champions League group stages feature some tasty matchups with a couple of thrilling groups and one shockingly easy group.
Here are the groups:
Manchester United keeps deteriorating on the pitch but the club’s value has never been higher.
Jose Mourinho’s Red Devils are off to a miserable start to the new Premier League campaign, with an embarrassing loss to Brighton and a 3-0 humiliation at the hands of Tottenham. But no one ever said you had to be good to be rich (just look at a few notable politicians).
Liverpool is making landmark moves but not in the ways you might expect. Coach Jurgen Klopp it seems has fully bought into the underutilized weapon that is the long throw, having has just signed on a specialist in the field to join his Liverpool staff in a part-time deal.
Tottenham’s position as the target of the Meme Lords soccersplaining fury came to an end today following a stirring 3-0 victory over Manchester United at Old Trafford. The internet will now turn its collective fury at Jose Mourinho, who — surprisingly for a 55-year-old and two-time Champions League winner — seems to be genuinely affected by the treatment he’s receiving from various hacks and the Twittersphere.
It’s been something of a rough summer for Belgian goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois with regards to getting chummy with his shot-stopping peers. Back on June 29, Belgium defeated England 1-0 thanks to a marvelously taken goal by Adnan Januzaj. A weird spat then commenced between Courtois and England No.
After his howlers in goal arguably cost Liverpool the Champions League crown in May, goalkeeper Loris Karius wanted to get as far away from Anfield as possible. He’s essentially done that, although officially the German is still playing in Europe.
On August 25, the slippery-handed netminder agreed to a two-year loan switch to Istanbul giants Besiktas. According to his Twitter feed, he was welcomed with open arms.
Chelsea kept pact with Liverpool and Watford at the top of the Premier League table by defeating Newcastle United 2-1 Sunday after an entirely forgettable opening 75 minutes sprang into life over the final quarter-hour.
For Newcastle supporters, the approach from Rafa Benitez harkened back to last December’s visit of Manchester City. The Magpies sat inordinately deep and ceded 81 percent of possession to the visitors while playing with five at the back and an incredibly grafting midfield pairing of Mohamed Diame and Ki Sung-Yueng.
The main talking point from yesterday’s Premier League encounter between Liverpool and Brighton — outside of further confirmation that Trent Alexander-Arnold is one of the brightest young full backs in world football and Mohamed Salah’s finely taken goal — was undoubtedly Alisson’s flick over Anthony Knockaert at the edge of his own box in the 69th minute with the Reds nursing a slender one-goal advantage.
After a 1-0 win over Brighton & Hove Albion on Saturday, the Liverpool is the only team with three wins from three in the Premier League, though a couple teams could join the Reds in the coming days. A highlight of Liverpool’s win was a five-second display of sublime skill highlighted by a Trent Alexander-Arnold pass, which shows why the Reds might just win the league.