THROUGHOUT Tuesday and Wednesday evening we had the first games of the league phase of the UEFA Women’s Champions League and we were not left disappointed with these fixtures.
It all kicked off with Juventus v Benfica at the Allianz Stadium.
Although this wasn’t the game with the most goals, it showed us just how much Juventus will push through to take maintain all three points.
The Portguese side opened the scoring first in the sixth minute with Lucia Alves making her way past the Italian’s defence – leaving Juventus dumfounded.
Juventus took their time but got the job done – a brace from Cecilia Salvai acheived this result with a goal in the 22nd and 86th minute.
Oud-Heverlee Leuven travelled to face Paris FC at Stade Charlety where the away side put up quite the fight as the underdogs.
The game looked done and dusted with Paris FC scoring two in the first half, looking like they were going to come out in the second half ready to score a few more but they were greeted with a shock.
The Belgian side turned it around to make it 2-2 with goals thanks to, Kim Cornelia Gertruda Everaerts and Sara Pusztai.
Will Paris FC turn it around in their next game or will we see the competition underdogs, Oud-Heverlee Leuven be the biggest dark horses this UWCL campaign?
The European Champions were up next against Lyon who they recently defeated in the Semi-Finals but this match was one to forget for the Gunners.
Alessia Russo scored infront of a home crowd in the 7th minute and from there the prospect of a win looked hopeful.
Lyon, still seeking revenge, pounced on two defensive mistakes from Arsenal and Melchie Dumornay put the 8 times Champions League winners 2-1 against the reigning champs.
Arsenal were unable to register a reply and they were left wondering what went wrong and why.
Barcelona showed exactly why they are one of the best teams in the world as they absolutely humilated Bayern Munich.
These two sides have often come up against one another and the German side have always manage to hold their own against the Spaniards giving them a good challenge.
The Spanish domestic treble winners hit 7 past Bayern, showing no remorse and leaving their defence for dust.
Bayern Munich did manage to ruin the chances of a Barca clean sheet, however they only managed to score once and all that glory goes to German international, Klara Buhl.
There must of been something in the water with the Spanish sides as Real Madrid also dominated in their game.
They hit six past AS Roma with both Alba Redondo and Caroline Weir both registering braces and could’ve easily added a third to their tally.
The other two Madrid goals were converted by Maelle Lakrar and Eva Navarro – could this form from the Spanish side continue in the tournament?
AS Roma did manage to score two, which could ultimately affect their goal difference if it came down to that and all the credit goes to Evelyne Viens and Emilie Haavi for the goals.
Chelsea were stunned to a draw in their match and it was not what anyone was expecting.
It was Dutch side Twente that shocked them with this surprise, they took the term ‘home advantage’ seriously and used it to score first against English success giants.
Danique van Ginkel in the 63rd minute produced something that Twente needed more than anything. She sent the ball flying past Chelsea’s defence and into the net – The Dutch side were 1-0 for all of 8 minutes.
Unlucky for the home side, lucky for the away team, Chelsea were handed a penalty. Sandy Baltimore calmly converted the penalty to force Twente to share the points.
Manchester United debuted in the competition against Valerenga and luckily for them they kept all three points.
The Red Devils had all the statistics on their side but the defence they faced put in a shift to deflect all but one of 16 shots United challenged them with.
Maya Le Tissier was the one to break the 0-0 deadlock as she stepped up to take the penalty for her side and before the first half had even come to a close, the game was finished and we knew United would walk away winners.
Could the Reds be a big attacking threat this campaign with the likes of Elisabeth Terland, Melvine Malard and Ella Toone in their squad?
St Polten were embarrassed by Atletico Madrid, of course another Spanish side as Atletico was taking no prisoners.
5 different goalscorers for the winners – Garbelini, Medina, Luany, Vilde Boe Risa all scored for their side with Benitez scoring a late brace.
Despite any efforts the Austrian side tried to make in their home stadium, NV Arena, they were left wondering if it’s their attack, defence or both that needs to improve before their next European clash.
Paris Saint-Germain were the only French side to not register any points or any goals in Matchday One of the League phase.
They travelled to Germany where Wolfsburg were ready waiting for them and they did not slip up easily.
In fact, PSG gifted their first goal for them as Jackie Groenen put the ball in the back of her own net.
Wolfsburg faced more shots from PSG than the french side faced but they managed to keep a clean sheet, giving them a strong opening account after their crashout exit of last years edition of the UWCL.
Come back next week for a round up of the match-day two games.
