The UEFA Champions League returned this week with a lot of scintillating action across 18 venues in Europe. Real Madrid and Arsenal maintained their perfect starts to the Champions League season. Collated Champions League results Top of the bunch was Arsenal’s demolition job of Atletico Madrid as they ran out 4-0 victors against the La Liga giants. It was a clinical second-half performance from Mikel Arteta’s men, with Gabriel Magalhaes, Gabriel Martinelli and Viktor Gyokeres (2) all breaching Diego Simeone’s defence. In Spain, Jude Bellingham scored his first goal of the season to help record winners Real Madrid beat Juventus.
Defending champions Paris Saint-Germain continued to score with reckless abandon, putting seven past a hapless Bayer Leverkusen to go top of the table on goal difference. Bayern Munich are in second place after beating Club Brugge 4-0, while last season’s finalists Inter Milan also kept their perfect start going, beating Union SG by a similar scoreline. Liverpool returned their season on track, thrashing Eintracht Frankfurt 5-1 to snap a four-match losing streak, while Chelsea also put five past a 10-man Ajax at Stamford Bridge. Erling Haaland scored for an 11th straight match to lift Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City over Villarreal. On the other end, Ajax and Jose Mourinho’s Benfica are the only teams that are yet to get any points this season.
Who will win the Champions League? After these collated results, Opta’s supercomputer has now predicted who will win the title this season. Opta has backed Arsenal to win their maiden title, giving the Gunners a 21.40% chance. PSG have been given a 15.35% chance. English sides Manchester City and Liverpool are third and fourth, respectively, with 12.01% and 10.92%. Erling Haaland celebrates with his teammates after scoring against Villarreal. Bayern Munich, Chelsea, Real Madrid, Barcelona and Inter Milan are the other teams in the top 10. “In terms of the next games, obviously, we’ve got great opponents in PSG and Arsenal, but we want to win every game. The path to the next round isn’t easy, we know that,” said Bayern head coach Vincent Kompany via the club’s website. “Now it’s about continuing to pick up points – in the league, in the cup and in the Champions League. The winners of the Champions League won’t be decided yet. What counts for us is progressing – that’s our job.”
By Amondi Aroko
