UEFA Champions League Week 1 Recap

Brady Vanlo, Sports Editor

Last week marked the first week of the UCL Champions League.

After having my DVR set to record just about every single game from Week 1, I’ve finally come around to give you a brief recap about the best moments of week 1.

The Magical Trio of PSG:

Now when you think of the world’s most deadly trio of world soccer, you might think of     Barcelona’s Neymar-Suarez-Messi attack force or maybe even Real Madrid’s Ronaldo-Benzema-Bale attack force, right? However, after watching PSG earn their three points against Malmo, I’m starting to think that their might be a new trio to look out for this year in Cavani-Ibrahimovic-Di Maria.

PSG manager, Laurent Blanc, finally got the chance to play all three of the stars on the same pitch on Tuesday and was not disappointed.

PSG’s newest $69 million signing, Angel Di Maria opened up the scoring for PSG in the fourth minute giving him his first goal at his new club. Edinson Cavani sealed the deal for PSG as he headed away his fifth goal in his past three games after an assist from Zlatan Ibrahimovic, giving PSG a strong start to a group that contains Real Madrid.

Ronaldo Woes Once Again:

8 goals, 2 games is the story for Cristiano Ronaldo for the past week. After an amazing performance against Espanyol, as he scored five goals. However, scoring five goals didn’t seem to be enough for the Portuguese winger as he scored a hat-trick against Shakhtar Donetsk. French striker, Karim Benzema also earned himself a goal after an error from Shakhtar goalkeeper, Andriy Pyatov. The world’s richest club earned themselves a spot at the top of Group A with a 4-0 win against Shakhtar.

Memphis Depay Returns:

Memphis Depay claimed that if he scored at Philips Stadion on Tuesday, he would celebrate. But isn’t it usual for a player to celebrate after scoring a goal? However, Depay wouldn’t be scoring a goal against any club, he would be scoring a goal against the club that he represented since he was 17 years old. The Dutch winger recently signed for Manchester United this summer for $29 million. Depay did happen to score the only goal for the Reds on Tuesday and he did indeed celebrate after. Although PSV made sure that Depay would not go home on a good note. Both Hector Moreno and Luciano Narsingh each bagged a goal for PSV giving them a spot at the top of the table for Group B.

Champions League Holders Stunned By Florenzi:

The 2014 Champions League winners were saw their perfect start of the season ended after a 1-1 tie with AS Roma on Wednesday. After Luis Suarez giving Barcelona the 1-0 lead in the 21st minute, Barcelona was sure they had the game in the bag so early in the game playing a little more passive after. However, Roma fullback, Alessandro Florenzi, left the crowd astonished as he hit home a 50 yard shot just over Barcelona goalkeeper, Marc-Andre ter Stegen. Almost similar to world cup star, Carli Lloyd’s goal this summer. Although, the aggression from Barcelona began to pick up once again towards the second half as Messi saw several shots from outside the box just go over the crossbar. The tie will mean that both teams will be in 2nd and 3rd place to start off their Champions League runs.

Week 2 of the UCL Champions League will begin Tuesday, September 29th and Wednesday, September 30th. All games will start at 1:45 pm CST.