Three is the magic number for PSG

Attacking used to revolve around tandems but now it’s more about trios. The undisputed best is Messi-Neymar-Suarez, unless you’re a member of Ronaldo-Benzema-Bale. But this week brought a first look at another one that could wreak havoc this season: Cavani-Ibrahimovic-Di Maria.

Laurent Blanc was able to start all three for the first time on Tuesday and, admittedly against weak opposition, they whet the appetite for feasts to come. Ángel Di Maria seems to have made a difference already. The French champions dominated Malmo from beginning to end despite an uncharacteristically subdued display from the usually fabulous Blaise Matuidi and would have won by far more than 2-0 if not for the defiance of goalkeeper Johan Wiland. And Di Maria did far more than score a fine opening goal: he brought a new dimension and vitality to PSG.

The crowd acclaimed the Argentinian when he was substituted towards the end and his team-mates acknowledged how important he already seems to their hopes of going further than ever before in the Champions League. “He does a lot of good to the team, lots of things seem easier with him,” said Thiago Silva. “With him we play more directly and get into the opposing box very quickly,” added David Luiz. Ibrahimovic’s touch and finishing were unusually ropey during the match – he seemed over-eager to impress against his formative club, would you believe – but his intentions and movement were admirable and he seemed to relish playing with Di Maria.

As did Cavani, who netted the second goal. There are signs of a beautiful relationship forming. “Di Maria plays very directly when he has the ball,” said an approving Ibrahimovic afterwards. “He offers a lot and creates a lot of space for us. He still has to gel with the team bit it’s very easy to play with him.” Of course, Di Maria made a promising start at Manchester United too and then faded, but he says life in Paris suits him better, both on and off the pitch. It looks like he has moved on to better things. PD

Astana may have given us a glimpse of the future

Those curious to see how FC Astana, the first side from Kazakhstan to participate in the group stage, got on in their debut against Benfica might have feared the worst during Tuesday afternoon. The Portuguese side’s Under-19s defeated their rivals 8-0 in the corresponding Uefa Youth League fixture and if this was a harbinger for what the eight-hour flight would do to their senior team, events in the Estadio da Luz would have made grisly watching.

But Stanimir Stoilov’s team, whose presence is probably the competition’s biggest novelty this year and is one symptom of the rapid development taking place in Kazakh football, did not fold similarly and could even have caused an almighty shock. After holding out fairly comfortably in the first half and providing the odd sortie into home territory themselves, their big chance came a minute after the restart when substitute Aleksei Schetkin found himself in front of goal six yards out and jabbed a shot against the post. The excellent Nico Gaitan’s deadlock breaker five minutes later was thoroughly predictable, then, and Benfica’s energy intensified to the extent that former Fulham misfit Kostas Mitroglou added a second afterwards.

Astana were always going to tire – their domestic league is getting stronger but can’t hold a candle to this kind of tempo – but Benfica were made to work hard for the points and you sense that nobody will have it easy journeying in the other direction to Kazakhstan’s newly-built, otherworldly capital in the middle of the steppe. It would stretch the imagination to envisage them finishing higher than fourth in the group but this was a promising first foray and, considering the atrophy afflicting so many old behemoths from the former Eastern Bloc, it was hard not to wonder whether this was the first glimpse of what one day will be a familiar sight. NA

Home comforts scarce despite Wolfsburg’s win

A return to the Champions League after five seasons away should have been something to relish for Wolfsburg, one of Europe’s best-run and most upwardly-mobile clubs, but instead the Bundesliga runners-up were left wondering why nobody seemed that excited after all.

The attendance for their 1-0 win over CSKA Moscow – achieved in comfort despite the narrow scoreline – fell 6,000 short of the Volkswagen Arena’s capacity for European games, weighing in at a modest 20,126. The sight of so many empty seats made Klaus Allofs, the Wolfsburg CEO, pull a kind of Jeremy Corbyn on proceedings. “I didn’t listen to the Champions League anthem before the match, I needed to see where all the spectators were,” said Allofs. “It is disappointing and the team does not deserve it – we will tackle it.”

If disillusionment at the sale of Kevin de Bruyne was behind any of the supporters’ reasons for staying away, those present will be quick to remind them that it was Julian Draxler, De Bruyne’s £25.5m replacement, whose goal downed the Russians. If Wolfsburg kick on and surprise – well, it wouldn’t really be a surprise – Manchester United at Old Trafford in a fortnight then you would certainly expect PSV Eindhoven’s visit in October to drum up a modicum more local enthusiasm for a team that is a dark horse to progress far. NA

Further reading

• Dinamo Zagreb 2-1 Arsenal: match report
  
• Wenger riled by Giroud’s “very harsh” red card
  
• Chelsea 4-0 Maccabi Tel-Aviv: match report
  
• Fàbregas back in the groove as changes pay off
  

• Manchester City 1-2 Juventus: match report
  
• Manchester CIty’s troubles show there is still much to do
  
• Manuel Pellegrini points finger at City’s stumbling strikers
  
• PSV Eindhoven 2-1 Manchester United: match report
  
• United riled by Moreno’s award after Shaw’s injury

Winners and losers

Winners … Zenit St Petersburg: What a spectacular way for Zenit to banish talk of a Spanish hoodoo. They had never previously won away to La Liga opposition but on Wednesday stormed to a superb victory in Valencia thanks, in particular, to two goals from Hulk. Danny revelled as Zenit’s creator-in-chief but Hulk produced the two most eye-catching moments, twice thrashing the ball into the net with power befitting his nickname before Axel Witxel struck a late winner after the Spaniards had drawn level. With Lyon only managing a draw against a bright Gent side that, because of a pair of red cards, will have two players suspended for their trip to Saint Petersburg, matchday one could barely have gone better for Andre Villas-Boas’s team. PD

Losers … English clubs: Patrice Evra showed again in Manchester that he still has much to offer at the top level and, what’s more, that he still shoots accurately from the hip. “The Premier League is the most interesting championship to watch but is tactically limited,” he said after Juventus’ win at City, who certainly could not quibble with the Frenchman’s observation even if they would probably have won the match with better finishing.

Many others reasons have been offered for persistent English failure in Europe, ranging from the really scornful (general decadence caused by too much money and too few brains and guts) to the more acceptable (the strength of the Premier League is simultaneously a weakness, as being more severely tested domestically leaves English clubs more fragile). On top of any broad factors such as those or the lack of a winter break and so on, each club has its own reasons.

But if City, Manchester United and Arsenal do not recover from their opening day losses, Chelsea do not improve more – as they will need to beat opponents better than Maccabi Tel Aviv – and Liverpool and Spurs stink out the Europa League as badly as West Ham and Southampton did, then the Premier League could soon find itself with just three spots in the Champions League.

At the start of last season it was ranked as the second best league in Europe, now it has fallen behind the Bundesliga and Serie A is lurking ominously. Leverkusen preventing Lazio from reaching the Champions League group stages was good news for English clubs but they are going to have to do more to help themselves if they are to avoid being demoted in the coefficient rankings for next season or the one after. PD

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And finally

It would be a gross dereliction of journalistic duty to compile any round of this week’s Champions League matches without giving a tip of the hat to Alessandro Florenzi for his quite extraordinary long range effort for Roma in their 1-1 draw against the reigning champions Barcelona.

With his side a goal down to a close range Luis Suárez header, Florenzi picked up the ball inside his own half and sprinted along the right touchline. A few metres inside the Barcelona half, he spotted goalkeeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen off his line and from a position still out wide on the touchline, let fly with a looping effort that completely bamboozled ter Stegen by sailing over his head and into the net off a post. It was a sensational strike and one for the showreel even if it had been scored against The Dog & Duck, but considering the quality of opposition, the 24-year-old midfielder could have been forgiven for announcing his retirement on the spot.

“It’s not something that happens every day,” said Florenzi of his goal after the match. “Looking at the video now is making me emotional. We have climbed Everest. We were united towards a single goal, to stop this team. We’ve prepared well, we knew their strengths.”