After an entire week of drab and near insignificant international matches, the weekend saw the return of club football and some very interesting results to the delight of fans.
Cristiano Ronaldo, for one, got his first goal for Juventus. Scratch that, make that two.
Eden Hazard got a hat-trick for Chelsea against Cardiff. To cap it all, sadly, was Douglas Costa elbowing, attempted head-butting and spitting in the face of Sassuolo forward, Federico Di Francesco.
Yes, the UEFA Champions League is back.
In a space of five days, fans are up for an entertaining and what promises to be an interesting and undiluted dose of club football.
UEFA seems to have tweaked the scheduling of the fixtures a bit to be in conformity with the Europa League.
Some games will be kicking off earlier than we’re used to. Kick off time for all group stage matches used to be 6:00am (AEST). Some games will now kick off at 3:55am (AEST) while others will commence at the traditional time.
It’s been said by the football body that the early kickoff will enable fans to watch multiple games. There have been whispers though that it is also aimed at capturing more viewers in Asia and Australia.
How much of a success this revenue push will be – only time will tell.
Teams in Group B which comprises of Barcelona, PSV Eindhoven, Inter Milan and Tottenham will be kicking off their games early.
If history is to repeat itself, the game between Inter and Tottenham promises to be a thrilling encounter.
Eight years ago, this fixture introduced a certain Gareth Bale to the world stage.
With Tottenham four goals down in 45 minutes to the defending champions Inter, the second half turned out to be – you guessed it – the Gareth Bale show.
At the end of 90 minutes, the winger had scored a hat-trick giving Maicon a forgettable a night to forget in the process.
There have been a lot of changes since that game at the Giuseppe Meazza.
Bale has since moved on to Real Madrid and Philippe Coutinho now dons the colours for the Catalan Giants.
The ownership of Inter has also changed hands from the Moratti family to Suning Holdings Group with Indonesian businessman, Erick Thohir, as its chairman. The thought of being defending champions is all but a distant memory.
Both teams have not had the best of starts to the season so far.
Inter’s poor beginning sees them sitting 14th on the table having gathered four points from a possible 12, while Spurs have nine points from five games. The game should promise to be an interesting fixture.
The second game to look out for is the Group C game between Liverpool and PSG.
The Anfield outfit and the Parisians will be entering the game on the back of blistering form after taking maximum points from their opening five games of the season in the respective leagues.
PSG has scored 17 goals so far in the league and sit on top of Ligue 1.
The usual personalities will be expected to rise to the occasion with one of such players being World Cup winner Kylian Mbappe. It should also be a cracker as both teams favour an attacking style of play.
It’s still early days in the season and the Champions League promises to be interesting as ever and doesn’t seem like slowing down anytime soon. The usual contenders will contest for the coveted trophy.
As far as predictions go, Real Madrid are not in my pick to lift the trophy and they weren’t last season.
Having won it three times, going for a fourth will be a massive task especially without the talismanic goal machine, Cristiano Ronaldo.
Ronaldo was an X-factor – and now he’s taken his magic to the Serie A giants Juventus, with conquering Europe in Juventus colours top of his agenda.
For what it’s worth the Champions League has brought with it countless memories of joy, excitement and sadness.
This season isn’t going to be an exception. Hold on to the edge of your seats and enjoy football in all of its glory.
Are you the ultimate team manager? Pick your own superstar team and go head to head with other football fans for glory and cash prizes on Draftstars. Imagine what you could be buying instead. Set a deposit limit.
Manchester City have chalked up another big win in their hunt for an unprecedented fourth straight Premier League title, with Phil Foden continuing his…
Here is the way the Roar expert panel sees all the action unfolding across the final weekend of play prior to the semi-finals.
Despite the short nature of his tenure as a professional manager, Arne Slot has established himself as arguably the most impressive manager outside of…
Everton won the Merseyside derby 2-0, with Toffees supporters taunting Liverpool after the game at their home ground Goodison Park.
Jarrad Branthwaite and Dominic Calvert-Lewin have blasted a hole in Liverpool's Premier League title challenge as Everton powered their way to a priceless derby…
The real concern comes down to football's growing trend of big corporations taking up slices of the world game at the expense of smaller teams.
