The beginning of each UEFA Champions League season restores the true rhythm of a European campaign, in which the continent’s top teams mix in competition against each other and undergo new litmus tests as they aim to answer one question: Does their ambition match the ability to pull off their goals?
For Matchday 1 in particular, though, teams are tasked with answering a more specific question: Is the small stretch of domestic games they played in the buildup to their European campaign indicative of their true selves? The good news after three jam-packed days of games is that the results are inconclusive – some, like AC Milan’s Christian Pulisic, proved they were trending in the right direction. Things were actually quite complicated for a handful of Europe’s top teams, though, with the much-hyped Manchester City and Arsenal hitting some stumbling blocks, raising a new series of questions along the way.
As we begin to learn more about Europe’s top teams, here’s a first batch of Champions League questions ahead of a long season.
Can Man City be stopped?
The answer just might be yes. City had all the makings for a routine win but despite playing a first-choice lineup for the first time this season, posting 22 shots and registering 2.35 expected goals, they came out of Wednesday’s clash with Inter with a 0-0 draw. City seemed imbalanced as their 18-game scoring streak in Europe came to a close, not only misfiring on a few clear-cut chances but also lacking cohesion in most areas of the pitch. Pep Guardiola’s side were also the beneficiaries of a few poorly-taken but meaningful shots from Inter, overall delivering a mixed bag that’s unusual from the team that kicked off the week as the oddsmakers’ favorites to win the whole thing. By beginning to answer one question, though, City have lined up a Russian doll of other questions – Is this performance a one-off, or is this a first sign that the juggernaut-style City is running out of gas? Additionally, will the absence of Kevin de Bruyne hurt like it did this time last season?
Is Christian Pulisic the real deal?
He just might be. For almost a decade, U.S. men’s national team star Pulisic has been assigned some weighty and sometimes unfair expectations, but charting a career at Europe’s top clubs in a way few American men have is no small feat. The last year and change, though, may have proved a simple hypothesis to be true – all Pulisic was in need of was steady playing time. He may have over-performed expectations with his 16-goal, 10-assist season for AC Milan last season but with three goals and two assists in the opening five games of this season, there’s plenty to suggest that Pulisic is the player many hoped he would be. The onus is naturally still on him to keep it up but it’s hard to ignore his value as he becomes the most dependable player for club and country (especially as he trades one team in poor form for another).
How effective are Arsenal without Martin Odegaard?
The jury’s still out, but the answer might not be a pleasant one. Mikel Arteta is building a defensive juggernaut with Arsenal but that does not mean they are known to struggle for goals – they scored 91 goals in the Premier League last season, second only to Manchester City’s 96. It also is not uncommon for them to play tight games against the best teams, as last spring’s 0-0 draw at City is a testament to. This was a match that should have fallen in the former category, though, but the Gunners mustered just six shots and 0.79 expected goals at Atalanta on Thursday without the injured Martin Odegaard in the lineup. Things were not actually much better in Sunday’s 1-0 win at Tottenham Hotspur despite Arsenal’s victory lap in the North London derby – the Gunners were limited to just seven shots and 0.74 expected goals after scoring five goals in two games against their rivals last season. The good news for Arteta is that he has enough attacking talent in the squad to make up for Odegaard’s loss to some degree, but an attacking lull without their captain in the lineup feels like a real problem for Arsenal, especially ahead of a game against Manchester City this weekend.
Do we know who the best team in Europe is?
Not yet. In theory, it’s a silly question to ask after Matchday 1 but before a ball was kicked, it felt like a foregone conclusion that either Manchester City or Real Madrid might win the whole thing. That feels like less of a certainty now that the first round of games is in the books, chiefly because the progress reports are all over the place for Europe’s top teams. Real Madrid won but still feel like a deeply imbalanced team. City, as documented above, finally showed signs of weakness and Arsenal were equally uninspiring in a scoreless draw. The jury’s still out on Barcelona after Eric Garcia’s 10th-minute red card played a big part in their loss to Monaco. Bayern Munich won, but a 9-2 demolition of Dinamo Zagreb offers little in terms of insight and the same might be true for Liverpool after their 3-1 win over a poor AC Milan team. It might be a sign that this trophy is still Real Madrid’s for the taking, since they were equally unimpressive last season and it did not matter much in the end. The optimist take on Matchday 1, though, is that no clear favorite has emerged just yet in the Champions League, adding a layer of unpredictability that makes every competitor better.
