{"id":571206,"date":"2020-11-04T17:46:27","date_gmt":"2020-11-04T22:46:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/?p=571206"},"modified":"2020-11-04T17:46:27","modified_gmt":"2020-11-04T22:46:27","slug":"champions-league-five-takeaways-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/2020\/11\/04\/champions-league-five-takeaways-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Champions League: Five Takeaways"},"content":{"rendered":"

Three round of matches are already in the book in this seasons\u2019 Champions League<\/a>. Matchday three delivered in the shape of some headline performances.<\/p>\n

Champions League – Five Talking Points<\/h2>\n

Matchday Three Full of Talking Points<\/h3>\n

There were the teams who had started their campaign strongly. Such as Manchester United<\/a>, who won convincingly at home against Red Bull Leipzig 5-0 to secure six points from six. In addition, Barcelona<\/a>, who are struggling for form in La Liga<\/a>, won impressively at Juventus<\/a> by two goals to nil.<\/p>\n

And then there were the teams yet to find their form so far. Spanish Champions Real Madrid<\/a> being prime examples of this with scrapping a comeback 2-2 draw at Borussia Monchengladbach.<\/p>\n

We are halfway through this year\u2019s group stage with three fixtures done and dusted. So let\u2019s check out the five takeaways from matchday three of the Champions League:<\/p>\n

Diogo Jota’s Purple Patch<\/h3>\n

The Portuguese winger has taken to Liverpool<\/a> like a duck to the Merseyside water. Liverpool won convincingly against a talented Atalanta side 5-0. But it was Jota<\/a> who grabbed the headlines. He bagged his fourth and fifth goals and six goals in four games as he scored a memorable hat trick. For his first, he scored with a clever dink over the opposition goalkeeper. His second of the night was through bringing the ball down with aplomb and firing a crisp right-footed strike. For the hat-trick goal, he successfully outwitted and rounded the keeper to stroke the ball into the empty net.<\/p>\n

In addition, Jota has a taste for this competition – scoring in the Reds’ previous game vs FC Midtjylland. And it was a milestone goal considering this was Liverpool’s 10,000 goal in their history.<\/p>\n

Real Madrid Edge Inter Milan in the Champions League Clash of the Heavyweights<\/h3>\n

Real Madrid secured a much needed three points by overcoming Inter Milan in a five-goal-thriller 3-2. Goals by Karim Benzema<\/a>, Sergio Ramos<\/a>, who scored his 100th goal for the club, and Rodrygo<\/a> were enough to hold off Antonio Conte’s men. So Madrid are back in contention to progress from Group B with four points. Meanwhile, Inter have just two points and have it all to do to get through to the next round.<\/p>\n

Turkish Delight for Istanbul Basaksehir<\/h3>\n

The Turkish outfit secured a famous victory over Manchester United<\/a>. The Red Devils, after two consecutive wins in the competition, slipped to a surprise defeat. Ex Newcastle<\/a> United, West Ham United<\/a> and Chelsea<\/a> man Demba Ba<\/a> opened the scoring as the side from the capital earned their first win in Group H. Dean Henderson<\/a> made his Champions League bow but couldn\u2019t toast it with a win. Not even the second half intervention of Paul Pogba<\/a> and Edinson Cavani<\/a> could save United from defeat. Their up and down irregular season continues.<\/p>\n

Paris Saint-Germain Pay the Penalty<\/h3>\n

The Parisians remain behind the eight ball in their Champions League campaign. Although they took the lead in Leipzig, \u00c1ngel Di Maria<\/a> missed a penalty to double their advantage. And that came back to haunt them with losing a penalty of their own to be scored by Emil Forsberg<\/a>. Paris\u2019 night got worse, going onto finish the game with nine men.<\/p>\n

Sevilla Comeback Kings<\/h3>\n

The Andalusians, going through a retched spell in La Liga after three straight defeats, looked to be heading for another loss. 2-0 down at one stage and later with Jesus Navas<\/a> sent off, the Europa League champions came roaring back to win an entertaining encounter 3-2. Their pedigree in Europe on was on show for all to see once again.<\/p>\n

Main Photo
\nEmbed from Getty Images<\/a>