The Holy grail
Season 2019/2020 Group Stage
Day 1 Analyzed games
17/09 Borussia Dortmund - Barcelona 0:0
18/09 Atletico Madrid - Juventus 2:2
THE GREATEST OF ALL, THE POT OF GOLD, THE QUEEN OF QUEENS, THE CUP OF ALL CUPS !!!
FINALLY ... The Champions League season is BACK in all its glory. When I looked at the fixtures for Sep 17th there were three games that attracted my attention: Napoli-Liverpool, Dortmund-Barcelona and Chelsea-Valencia. After switching back and forth between channels it became quickly evident that the game at Signal Iduna Park was my preferred option.
Why? Well it's like this. Sometimes things are complicated but very often they could be very simple if we know to ask the right question. Let me give you an example of what I mean. In order to determine whether anything we do in life is good or bad we only need to ask ourselves one simple question. And that is what would happen if everyone does it? If the answer is that it will be good for our society and for our planet then this means that what we do is good. If the answer is that it would create chaos, disturbance and disruption of our way of life then this means that what we do is equally bad. So let's try to apply the same logic in football to determine which game is worth watching.
Only we ask a different question. How does the ball move on the pitch? Does it move horizontally or does it move vertically? If the answer is the latter that would be a clear sign of the quality, intensity and the drama any such game could potentially offer. If on the contrary the answer is the former then I'd rather spend my valuable time in a more efficient manner. Dortmund-Barcelona was surely the best scoreless game I have ever watched and even much better than many of all the others I've seen. It offered really everything else except goals. The opportunities created were in-numerous, the tempo was high throughout the whole game, one missed penalty, two crossbars, great goalkeeper savings and many many more that one could wish for. Here I must point out that the numbers in those statistics which I will not bother you with were all in favor of Dortmund. They were the team who clearly deserved and wanted the win more than their opponents. This is where sometimes you need a little chance to be on your side. And chance that night was on the side of Barcelona.
The penalty shot by Marco Reus in the 57th minute was very well taken but the reaction of Ter Stegen was simply outstanding. Maybe because he is also german he was able to read Marco's mind to where he will attempt to score. Ter Stegen is the player to whom Barcelona should be most thankful for the one point that they managed to steal on Iduna Park. Even the appearance of Messi in the 59th minute didn't change anything. It was obvious he needs some time to recover his previous form so it's normal that he was not at his best. In any case Barcelona took what they had come for. This group is very tough and unpredictable. Dortmund will have to leverage the loss of points against teams like Inter and Slavia Praha both of which are very difficult to play against.
The fixtures for Wednesday also offered few options but I narrowed it down between PSG-Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid-Juventus. By applying the same technique as already explained I quickly settled on the latter. And I was glad I did. This game was even more intense and dynamic than the one I watched the previous night only that it didn't lack any goals. Plenty of opportunities for both teams, lots of tackles, great atmosphere in the stadium. On few occasions there were sparks between the players but the referee managed to keep the game under control. Juventus was the team that took the initiative from the beginning.
They kept their opponents under pressure and missed few good chances. Atletico had also some opportunities but at end nothing was materialized and the first half finished goal-less. The second half started with a blast for Juventus which scored an early goal in the 48th minute. It was a masterpiece by Cuadrado. The precision and power of his shot made Atletico's goalkeeper rooted to the spot. Even Messi with his killer left foot would have given big applause to the skill shown by Cuadrado. Juventus used their moment and doubled the score in the 65th minute when an attack started by Ronaldo finished with a great cross from Sandro and a header by Matuidi. At that moment Atletico looked totally defenseless and ready to accumulate even a higher score. The game could have been really over when a counter-attack by Juventus left Higuain almost alone against Oblak but at an awkward angle. Ronaldo was free on the other side ready to score should Higuain had chosen to pass the ball.
He decided to take a shot and missed which made Ronaldo furious. His anger was so obvious it led me believe that both players might not get along too well. This was the braking point for Atletico's come back. As we all know this is a team that always fights until the end. This difficult for them game made no exception. However this didn't happen without the help of Juventus defense who let two very easy goals the second one of which fell in the last minute of the game. We can conclude that this was a fair draw where each team deserved their point although I believe that the Juventus players probably felt that they've lost two.
In any case in my opinion both teams will continue ahead in the competition without too much difficulty since the other two teams in the group are no match to their class and potential. Who knows this might be the year for Juventus to finally win the Champions League. Liverpool are really focused in the Premier League where their fans have been waiting for 30 years since the last time they were champions. Real Madrid will have a difficult season unless Hazard suddenly starts playing as he used to in Chelsea. Manchester City are also another very good and balanced team. Together with Barcelona and Bayern Munich I think we have the magic four between which in my view the Champions League title this season will be decided. From all the rest Borrussia Dortmund, PSG and Ajax will be the teams to beat. Many interesting games ahead of us so we will definitely continue to follow closely what happens next.