Champions League review: PSG take a hit, Man City’s empty seats and teenage hope for Liverpool

Prefer the Guardian on GoogleA big week for …Paris Saint-Germain beat Barcelona 4-2 on Tuesday, but the reigning champions lost the best player in last season’s tournament, Khvicha Kvaratskhelia. This autumn has seen much lobbying for the Ballon d’Or, with the Georgian a popular choice, despite his absence from the World Cup. He is expected to be out for six months, although Rodri’s comeback from serious injury – he was rested by Barcelona on Tuesday until coming off the bench in the 60th minute – shows it can take far longer than that for players to rediscover their highest level.

“Why me?” Kvaratskhelia asked his Instagram followers. The PSG policy of resting players in Ligue 1 to save them for the Champions League failed to protect him. By resting Rodri, Barcelona followed a wider practice among major clubs in European competition of saving stars’ legs for big domestic occasions. Barcelona face Real Madrid this weekend though Lamine Yamal is not being spared; his brilliant goal in Paris made it 10 goals, matched by 10 assists, from 10 matches.

Another heavyweight battle saw Arsenal lose Bukayo Saka to a first-half quad injury in an entertaining 2-2 draw at Bayern Munich. Declan Rice powered in a late equalizer after Harry Kane had put on a show that included a goal and an assist. Does the Ballon d’Or beckon for Kane? The prediction markets suggest so.

Matching Barcelona’s perfect record this season at home and abroad are Manchester City, who continue to thrive amid infamy. A resurgent Phil Foden scored a hat-trick and new signing Allan impressed. The official crowd for their 5-1 defeat of AEK Athens was 40,402, but it looked smaller, and mockery duly descended on the club. There is mitigation for those who stayed away, including high ticket prices for Champions League matches in tough economic times, and a run of five home matches in 17 days. Still, City remain in the crosshairs, and the empty seats raise eyebrows for a club reporting record revenues. Equally, it is fair to point out that Anfield was not full, either, for Liverpool’s 4-3 defeat of Villarreal.

Liverpool were a mess in the first 30 minutes against Villarreal and it was Rio Ngumoha who led the recovery. The 18-year-old played off the right, supplying two assists with his left foot: the long-term replacement for Mohamed Salah may already be at Anfield. Liverpool have nursed Ngumoha along, though this was his fifth start of the season. “Everyone is chipping in but for him to work with Mo [Salah] last year was obviously massive,” Virgil van Dijk said of the teenager.

With traditional Serie A giants Juventus and Milan in the Europa League, Como are enjoying their first season in the Champions League. If Manchester United were dreadful on Wednesday, Como’s rise hit its highest point yet. The club’s success carries echoes of Brighton and Bournemouth’s ascents, although Como’s is even more remarkable. They were a Serie D club in 2008, and the city is now known for something beyond its glorious scenery. Champions League winner Thierry Henry is among the investors in the club as is Como’s coach, Cesc Fàbregas, although the prime financiers are the Indonesian billionaire Hartono brothers.

Jamestown Analytics, the Brighton owner Tony Bloom’s company, has been consulting Como. Arsène Wenger, Pep Guardiola, José Mourinho and Antonio Conte are the elite coaches Fàbregas played under, and he has forged a high-pressing style against Italian orthodoxy. As United labored, they were swarmed by Como’s worker bees. Real Madrid have a buy-back option for Nico Paz, bought by Como in 2024, and the scorer of two fine goals against United. Argentina’s latest Messi replacement is rather beefier than his country’s idol.

As Como deepened Michael Carrick’s plight, thoughts moved to potential replacements. Fàbregas has been mentioned, though United fans will recall the summer of 2013’s unsuccessful chase for him. Had a deal been done, his midfield partner would have been … Carrick.

Another week, another Manchester United PR crisis. This one involved Carrick hitting back at his players, a rarity in his managerial career. “It’s a decision from the staff to not press man-to-man and sometimes leave space behind and try to get the ball, wait for them, but sometimes when you give space to these teams they get confidence,” Bruno Fernandes said.

Carrick’s riposte: “If you don’t run and you don’t run forward and you don’t run back, you ain’t going to win.”

On CBS, Jamie Carragher weighed, saying of Fernandes: “They all think he’s working hard. He’s not. He’s killing the rest of the team doing it.”

The Amazon All or Nothing documentary series currently in production for United’s season will be appointment viewing.

After two consecutive weeks of action, we have a fortnight off. Will Carrick still be at United by the time they host Roma on 3 November? Aston Villa, who have three wins from three and are second place in the table, have a glamour trip to Barcelona. Real Madrid, another side on three wins, travel to AEK.

After defeat to Inter, Shakhtar’s adopted home, Stamford Bridge, hosts Sporting Lisbon, who this week were on the wrong end of Lask’s first ever group-stage win.