Matchweek One of the 2022/23 Champions League saw eight brilliant matches across the continent as we welcomed back Europe’s premier club competition. Records fell in Rhône-Alpes and Catalonia, close contests thrilled fans in Paris and on the Appian Coast, and European giants returned to form in Piemonte, Albania and Germany… but what will this week bring?
From the group stage all the way to the final in Eindhoven, Beyond90 will bring you the three biggest stories from each match week as we find out who will eventually lift that famous ribboned cup.
Comebacks Make A Comeback
There are few things in sport more thrilling than a comeback: whether it’s watching a player return from injury, a coach turn a failing season around, or a team claim victory from the jaws of defeat, every fan knows how these unlikely outcomes can tantalise and torture in equal measure.
Two fine examples of the genre played out across Matchweek Two, the first in northern Austria where underdogs St.-Pölten held a convincing 2-0 lead against a Roma side dominating possession and attacking at every opportunity. That pressure would eventually pay dividends for the Italian club with a quarter-hour remaining, as the Giallorosse scored three unanswered goals in five minutes before adding a fourth with three minutes to play to claim a 3-4 victory away from home.
Not to be outdone, German powerhouse Bayern Munich called “lights, camera, action!” on a similar late, late show in Lisbon against Portuguese champions SL Benfica, who took a 2-0 on the hour mark, sending players and fans alike into raptures at the Benfica Campus. Bayern however were never out of the contest, pulling a goal back on 67 minutes through fullback Maximiliane Rall, with newly-signed English midfielder Georgia Stanway crowning herself the Bavarians’ hero scoring a late equaliser before landing a dagger in the eighth minute of stoppage time to crush Benfica’s dreams once again.
Sam Kerr: Very Good At Football
If there was one thing the past several seasons have shown fans, it’s exactly how far Sam Kerr has come in terms of her finishing ability. Always a talented player, Kerr’s nous around the penalty area has been honed to a fine point in her time at Chelsea – a theme well-covered in ABC Sport’s recent deep-dive into her goalscoring history and put on full display during Chelsea’s 8-0 thrashing of Albanian side Vllaznia.
While plaudits could just as well go equally to winger Guro Reiten’s assists, Kerr’s intelligent runs off the shoulder of and between her opponents were the sign of a player at the peak of her game, and although her third goal wasn’t exactly a Renaissance masterpiece, the other three of her four-goal haul were masterclasses in the understanding of space and attacking timing among a crowded Vllaznia defence.
Now the leading goalscorer in the 2022/23 group stage, Kerr has already equalled her tournament-best tally after just two matches, and with four games of the group still remaining, the Matildas captain will be looking to give Ada Hegerberg’s single-season scoring record of 15 goals in 2017-18 a real shake as Chelsea charge into the knock-out stage.
Can The Big Five Go Into Four?
2013 in Sweden, 2015 in Germany, 2016 in Rio, 2017 in the Netherlands, and 2019 at home: at every international tournament since Olympique Lyonnais’ first Champions League title in 2011, the French national team has consistently flattered to deceive. Beaten quarter-finalists at each tournament – aside from Euro 2022, where they placed third – Les Bleues has traditionally been built around a crushingly-successful Lyon team and the always-second Paris Saint-Germain, with a sprinkling of outside talent from the United States or abroad in continental Europe filling in the gaps where needed.
That consistency of colleagues at both club and international level has held Lyon and PSG in good stead in previous seasons, as at least one of the two clubs have featured in 10 of the 12 finals since 2010, with Lyon famously winning eight of those deciders. However, with the rise of Spain and Italy in recent years, along with England and Germany’s continued consistency in continental competitions, as well as increased investment by more-established men’s football clubs, the gap between the “have wons” and the “have not wons” is narrowing at a rapid pace.
Currently winless and with just two points between them after as many matches, Lyon and Paris Saint-Germain’s current predicament means Division 1 Féminine is in real danger at this point of being without a representative in the quarter-finals for the first time in its history, as well as marking the first time a defending champion wasn’t present in the Final Eight. While a changing of the guard would be for many welcome in the wider context of European women’s football, such an outcome could signal a paradigm shift in Champions League history and show once and for all that clubs willing to invest in their players and improve infrastructure off the pitch will be rewarded with results on it.
Group A
Chelsea 8 Vllaznia 0
Real Madrid 0 Paris Saint-Germain 0
Standings: Chelsea 6 (+9) Madrid 4 (+2) PSG 1 (-1) Vllaznia 0 (-10)
MW3 (24 Nov): Paris Saint-Germain vs Vllaznia, Chelsea vs Real Madrid
Group B
Wolfsburg 2 Slavia Prague 0
St-Pölten 3 Roma 4
Standings: Wolfsburg 6 (+6) Roma 6 (+2) Slavia 0 (-3) St-Pölten 0 (-5)
MW3 (24 Nov): Slavia Prague vs St-Pölten, Roma vs Wolfsburg
Group C
Juventus 1 Olympique Lyonnais 1
Arsenal 3 Zürich 1
Standings: Arsenal 6 (+6) Juventus 4 (+2) Lyon 1 (-4) Zürich 0 (-4)
MW3 (25 Nov): Juventus vs Arsenal, Zürich vs Olympique Lyonnais
Group D
Rosengård 1 Barcelona 4
SL Benfica 2 Bayern Munich 3
Standings: Barcelona 6 (+12) Bayern 6 (+2) Rosengård 0 (-4) Benfica 0 (-10)
MW3 (25 Nov): Barcelona vs Bayern Munich, SL Benfica vs Rosengård
Top Scorers
4 – Sam Kerr (Chelsea)
3 – Pernille Harder (Chelsea), Ewa Pajor (Wolfsburg), Aitana Bonmati (Barcelona), Mariona Caldentey (Barcelona)
