Graham Dunbar, The Associated Press
GENEVA, Switzerland – A longtime Champions League group stage critic? Too many one-sided matches and a financial gap that has led to inequality on the pitch between clubs.
It will be necessary to put fleas in the ears of the two candidates Liverpool and Eintracht Frankfurt, who suffered major setbacks on Wednesday.
Or to head coaches Thomas Tuchel and Domenico Tedesco, who lost their jobs after two shock defeats against Chelsea and Leipzig, respectively.
Liverpool were unexpectedly crushed 4-1 by Napoli. The hosts scored only four goals after 47 minutes of the match, which was held at the stadium named after team icon Diego Maradona.
If Jurgen Klopp’s men were defeated only four times in 2022, they would have been defeated three times in the Champions League. They lost 1-0 in the final against Real Madrid in May.
Eintracht won the European Cup in May, but both the German team and European Championship rivals Glasgow Rangers had returned strongly to the top of the European championships after a long absence.
Eintracht was surprisingly defeated 3-0 at home to Sporting Lisbon, just four days after their 4-0 victory over Leipzig in the Bundesliga. It is the result that led to the dismissal of Tedesco.
For their part, Rangers were out of control in the first half by Ajax Amsterdam and flexed their spine 4-0.
Robert Lewandowski was the top scorer in the Champions League in his first game for Barcelona. The Catalan team won 5-1 over Viktoria Plzen.
The day after the pair of Kylian Mbappe and Erling Haaland in the victory of Paris Saint-Germain and Manchester City, Lewandowski scored a hat-trick.
Tottenham took Marseille’s 2-0 measure thanks to two goals from Richarlison late in the game. The Brazilian striker was playing his first match in the Champions League.
In an unexpected 11 minutes of stoppage time, Atlético Madrid scored his first goal, awarded a penalty and escaped with a 2-1 victory over Porto thanks to another late net from Antoine Griezmann. The Portuguese club finished the match with 10 players.
Bayern Munich easily beat Inter Milan thanks to Leroy Sane’s goal in the first half. Belgian club Brugge won 1-0 against Bayer Leverkusen.
Two Canadians started matches on Wednesday.
Full-back Alphonso Davies was responsible for Bayern Munich’s win while midfielder Stephen Ostaccio started the match with FC Porto.
