Champions League Round up - English Teams - Week 4

Champions League Round up - English Teams - Week 4

 So this week of the Champions League so it is time to look back on how the English teams fared against the best teams in Europe.

Red Star Belgrade 2-0 Liverpool

On paper this was a must win game for Liverpool, with Napoli and PSG in their group they needed to gain 6 points against Red Star. However, they were introduced to one of the most hostile environments a team can be subjected to. Jurgen Klopp decided to make numerous changes with fringe players such as Joel Matip, Adam Lallana and Daniel Sturridge getting a chance to impress but they were poor from the start and defeated by two goals from Milan Pavkov. With this defeat Liverpool's chance of progression has reduced significantly with games left against Napoli and PSG left to come. It is most likely that the finalists from last year are going to drop down into the Europa League after christmas.

Tottenham 2-1 PSV

Spurs are in a similar position to Liverpool as they have struggled in their group this season, this home game was crucial to giving them a chance to qualify from their group. So when PSV took the lead in the 2nd minute through a goal by former Newcastle striker Luuk De Jong things looked bleak for Spurs. But thanks to two late goals from Harry Kane they managed to turn it around and gain the 3 points. However, similar to Liverpool they have two tough games with Inter Milan and Barcelona and unfortunatly I think Spurs will join them in the Europa League after Christmas.

Man City 6-0 Shakhtar Donetsk 

Man City have been the most dominant side in English football for a while now and now they are finally translating that form to the Champions League. Facing the difficult side of Shakhtar, Man City managed to score six goals in an impressive perfromance. Goals by David Silva, Raheem Sterling, Riyad Mahrez and a hat trick by Gabriel Jesus put City pretty much in the next round. This game has one of the worst penalty decisions ever seen when Strerling tripped up but was given a penalty. I think Man City have to be considered one of the favourites for this competition.

Juventus 1-2 Man Utd

Juventus have been considered one of the favourites for the Champions League this season so with Man Utd travelling to Turin there wasn't much expectation on United to get a positive perfromance. United were playing pretty well until a world class finish from former Utd striker Cristiano Ronaldo put Juve into the lead. But after bringing on Juan Mata and Marouane Fellaini the game was changed, Mata scored a great free kick and after a defensive mistake Alex Sandro scored an own goal to give United a famous victory. With this victory it is likely United will make the next round but won't be there at the later stage,

Overall it was a mixed week for the english teams in the Champions League but in Man City we have a team that is actually a contender to win the whole competition.