Champions League Briefing: Decisive Duran, David downs Real Madrid and Juventus’s classic comeback

By
James BAOUCH
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0
15

Sometimes, fairytales come true in the Champions League.

On the second night of matchday two, Aston Villa’s super-sub extraordinaire Jhon Duran stole the show as he produced another trademark slice of magic from the bench to guide his team, in their their first home match in Europe’s elite cup competition for 41 years, to a 1-0 win over German giants Bayern Munich.

Bayern weren’t the only heavyweight to fall on Wednesday, with Canada striker Jonathan David proving the difference as Lille upset Real Madrid by the same scoreline.

Elsewhere, Liverpool ground down Bologna, running out 2-0 winners at Anfield, while over in Germany, 10-man Juventus beat RB Leipzig 3-2 in a match that contained more quality goals than you can shake a stick at.

Here are the best stories from Wednesday’s action.

Dread it, run from it – Jhon Duran arrives all the same

With the scores level in the dying embers of a game, is there currently a player in world football who’s more inevitable than Jhon Duran?

Twenty minutes from time, Unai Emery replaced Ollie Watkins with Duran. Nine minutes later, he scored a world-class goal befitting his seemingly prodigious talent to set Villa on course to a 1-0 win over Bayern Munich. That’s the same scoreline as the last and only other time Villa played the German giants — in the 1982 European Cup final.

With Duran peeling away from Bayern centre-back Dayot Upamecano near the halfway line, Villa centre-back Pau Torres played a long pass in the channel between Upamecano and Konrad Laimer, Bayern’s right-back.

The ball was bouncing and slowing, and your average striker might have taken a touch, put their body in front of an opposition defender, and attempted to bring his team-mates into play. But if it wasn’t clear already, it is now: Duran isn’t your average striker.

The 20-year-old watched the bouncing ball with Upamecano in pursuit, spotting Manuel Neuer well off his line.

Then, in one move, the Colombia international swivelled on his right foot and struck a looping shot on the half-volley with his left over the Bayern goalkeeper from 30 yards out and into the goal.

It is Duran’s sixth goal of the season, with five coming after starting on the substitutes’ bench. As explored by The Athletic, he’s sometimes difficult and distant, but there is no denying his incredible talent.

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David spoils Endrick’s big moment

Real Madrid’s dominant history in the Champions League is such that club records in European football’s most prestigious tournament are not broken easily.
However, Endrick, who became the youngest player to score for the club in the Champions League in last month’s 3-1 win over Stuttgart, broke another record on matchday two.

The 18-year-old striker became the youngest player to start a match for Real Madrid in the tournament in Wednesday’s shock 1-0 defeat to Lille. He replaced Kylian Mbappe in Carlo Ancelotti’s starting line-up, with the Frenchman only fit enough to start from the bench, and takes that record from club legend Raul, who had it since 1995.

Real Madrid’s youngest CL starters

Player Age Year Opponent

Endrick

18y & 73d

2024

Lille

Raul

18y & 78d

1995

Ajax

Iker Casillas

18y & 118d

1999

Olympiacos

Vinicius Junior

18y & 153d

2018

CSKA Moscow

Raphael Varane

18y & 155d

2011

Ajax

If the rest of the top five is anything to go by, these could be the first of many records the Brazilian breaks at the Santiago Bernabeu. Iker Casillas, considered the greatest goalkeeper in the club’s history, is next on the list, followed by Endrick’s countryman and Ballon d’Or favourite Vinicius Junior. Raphael Varane, who won four Champions League trophies during his decade-long spell in Madrid, rounds out the quintet.

But if anyone will have been aware of the record it’s Endrick, who is seemingly obsessed with football history. When he was selected to play for Brazil against England at Wembley, Endrick named World Cup winner Bobby Charlton, who retired in 1980, as an idol and inspiration. As a result, his Madrid team-mates, including Englishman Jude Bellingham, have nicknamed him ‘Bobby’.

He could not help Real Madrid on the night, though, as Lille recorded a famous victory over the reigning European champions. Endrick was substituted shortly after half-time for Mbappe, but the Frenchman could not cancel out Canada international Jonathan David’s first-half penalty.

David has started the season in electric form with five goals from six league matches, and with his contract expiring next summer, he will be on the radar of some of Europe’s biggest clubs.

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Sesko and Conceicao have a golazo competition

Benjamin Sesko’s future threatened to be one of the transfer window’s biggest stories in the early weeks of the summer before he tied down his immediate future to RB Leipzig by signing a contract extension until 2029.

He was linked to some of Europe’s biggest clubs, including Manchester United, Chelsea and Arsenal in the Premier League. If you’re a fan of one of those sides, look away now. This is what you might have had.

Leipzig fell victim to a stirring comeback from Juventus at the Red Bull Arena but Sesko kicked things off by making a splitting run through the heart of the Italians’ defence. His strike partner Lois Openda played a diagonal chipped pass into the Slovenian’s path and the 6ft 5in frontman outstretched his right foot to  perfectly cushion the ball into his path.

Juventus keeper Michele Di Gregorio, who was later sent off for handling outside the box, closed the angle, but Sesko struck a shot which cannoned off the crossbar and into the goal.

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Sesko wasn’t done yet, though. Juventus levelled the scores through Dusan Vlahovic in the second half but Leipzig took advantage of the extra man to earn a penalty, which the 21-year-old calmly struck past Mattia Perin, who had replaced Di Gregorio in Juventus’ net. Vlahovic hit back soon after, striking a powerful left-footed effort from distance in the 68th minute.

And there was still time for one more great goal in Saxony. Francisco Conceicao, who Juventus signed from Porto in the summer, opened his Champions League account for his new side with a mazy run in the box, knocking past Leipzig defender David Raum, and then sliding home the winner.

This was a proper Champions League tie.

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Two penalties, two own goals and two lookalikes with flags

It was a first Champions League home game in Girona’s history and their supporters will be excused for getting suitably inebriated for the occasion. But when the assistant referees led the players out either side of referee Urs Schyner, the fans at Girona’s Estadi Municipal de Montilivi might well have thought that Catalonia’s finest tipple had caused them to see double.

For the first time in tournament history, there were identical twins on an assistant refereeing team. Swiss duo Marco and Benjamin Zucher supported Schyner for Girona’s 3-2 defeat to Feyenoord, their second loss in as many games after falling to a late 1-0 defeat to Paris Saint-Germain on matchday one.

As it transpired, the officials had their work cut out for them.

David Lopez opened the scoring for Girona in the 19th minute before an own goal from Yangel Herrera brought Feyenoord back on level terms four minutes later. Within 10 minutes, Feyenoord took the lead through Antoni Milambo and were then awarded a penalty after an unsuccessful attempt to play out from the back.

It was the first of two saved penalties on the night, with Ayase Ueda’s penalty stopped by former Tottenham Hotspur goalkeeper Paulo Gazzaniga in the Girona goal.

Feyenoord stopper Timon Wellenreuther returned the favour on the 67th minute, saving Bojan Miovski’s attempt from 12 yards. Girona found an equaliser through Donny van de Beek minutes later, but, in what proved to be another double, the Catalan club scored their second own goal of the evening through Ladislav Krejci.

After losing 4-0 to Bayer Leverkusen in their opening Champions League tie, Feyenoord have got their European campaign on track. Girona, however, are on zero points from two games and have the ignominy of already equalling the record for most own goals conceded in a single Champions League campaign with three.

Atletico Madrid are savaged in Portugal

Atletico Madrid: stable, resilient, defence-first, right? Right?

Since becoming manager in 2011, Diego Simeone has built Atletico in the image of himself as a player. Simeone was a tough-tackling, tenacious midfielder who fought for every loose ball, and Atletico’s success in the last decade has largely been due to these factors. None of that was on show, however, as Benfica dismantled them 4-0 on Wednesday.

If anything, Atletico were slightly fortunate that it was only four. Benfica scored two penalties through Angel Di Maria and Orkun Kokcu (Kerem Akturkoglu and Alexander Bah got their other goals), and accrued an expected goals tally of 4.21 from 19 shots and 10 on target. In contrast, Atletico recorded an xG of just 0.21 and did not register a single shot on target in the tie.

Still, the lack of hustle is likely what will frustrate Simeone most. They won 29 duels compared to Benfica’s 54 at a 34 per cent success rate. Ahead of the game, Atletico had not lost in 14 matches and nine away from home. Perhaps it’s an anomaly, but Simeone won’t let that go quickly.

(Top photos: Getty Images)



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