Thirty-two teams this week continue their journey towards the UEFA Champions League final next May at Milan’s San Siro with Matchday Two of the group stage.
Here are five key stories to watch…
Draxler vs. Martial
A tasty matchup at Old Trafford on Wednesday between Manchester United and Wolfsburg brings together two of the games brightest young stars in Anthony Martial and Julian Draxler. Both youngsters made big-money transfer moves in the summer—Draxler from Schalke, Martial from AS Monaco—and have already made an impact at their new clubs. Draxler scored the winning goal for Wolfsburg in their opening Champions League game against CSKA Moscow, while Martial has three goals in the Premier League for United. Red Devils manager Louis Van Gaal knows all about Draxler from his time managing in the Bundesliga, telling United’s official website “He has to go on a long road like Martial, although it could be a little bit shorter because he has been playing longer on that level. He is a very good player.”
Europe a refuge for Juventus
The reigning Serie A champions and last season’s Champions League finalists are coming off a rough week, settling for a draw against newly-promoted Frosinone, and losing away to Napoli. All told, the Bianconeri have just one win and five points through the first six matches of the Italian campaign. But last time out in Europe they earned a come-from-behind victory away to Manchester City, helping to calm a bit of the uproar over their slow start in Serie A. Their assignment on Wednesday isn’t nearly as daunting as Manchester City (undefeated in the Premier League at the time), as Juventus welcomes Sevilla (with one win in their first six La Liga matches) to Turin. More good news for Juve: midfielder Sami Khedira has returned to first-team training after he suffered a thigh injury last month and could make his debut on Wednesday.
More on the UEFA Champions League: Sportsnet’s panel predictions || Mourinho suffers from ‘3rd Season Syndrome’ || Five stories to watch this week || ‘Gladbach a trick test for Man City
Barca moves on without Messi
Barcelona’s worst nightmare came true on the weekend when Lionel Messi suffered a torn ligament in his left knee against Las Palmas in La Liga play. The Argentine ace is expected to miss seven to eight weeks of action, ruling him out for most of the remainder of the Champions League group stage, starting with Tuesday’s tilt against German outfit Bayer Leverkusen at Camp Nou. It’ll be interesting to see how the Catalans do without Messi, especially as they’re already missing Rafinha (who suffered a torn ACL in Barca’s previous Champions League contest away to AS Roma) and are still feeling the effects of Pedro’s departure to Chelsea. Brazilian teammate Neymar tends to shine when he doesn’t share the spotlight with Messi, and Luis Suarez scored twice without the Argentine on the pitch vs. Las Palmas, so maybe Barca will pull through just fine. But you never know.
Casillas set to break record
Spanish goalkeeper Iker Casillas is expected to start for FC Porto on Tuesday against visitors Chelsea. When he does take to the field Casillas will surpass Barcelona icon Xavi as the all-time leader in Champions League appearances with 152. And the fact it will come against Jose Mourinho has to be extra sweet for Casillas. This season marks Casillas’ 17th in the Champions League, the previous 16 coming at Real Madrid, where he made his European debut on Sep. 15, 1999 against Greek side Olympiacos. Casillas was one of Los Blancos’ all-time greats but he was dropped in favour of Diego Lopez during Mourinho’s time in charge of Real Madrid. When the Portuguese left, Casillas’s standing at Real never fully recovered, leading to his move to Porto this off-season. Now they meet again!
Lethal Lewandowski
Robert Lewandowski is in the form of his life right now. That’s not hyperbole, it’s a fact. The lanky Polish striker scored seven goals last week—seven!—in 135 minutes of action for Bayern Munich over the course of two Bundesliga matches. Amazingly, five of those goals came in a truly remarkable 10-minute span against Wolfsburg (no slouches) after coming off the bench to start the second half. And there were no fluke goals among the five—each of them was taken with aplomb and skill. Bayern manager Pep Guardiola likes to rotate his squad, but it’s hard to imagine the Spaniard won’t start Lewandowski at home on Tuesday in light of the form he’s in at the moment. Be afraid Dinamo Zagreb. Be very afraid.
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