Soccer fans rejoice at the start of a new season, as the UEFA Champions League has its first matches kick-off during the past week.
UEFA, the Union of European Football Associations, has been hosting the tournament for over 50 years, starting in the 1955/56 season under the alias the “European Cup.” It switched to the Champions League name in August 1992.
In order to qualify for the competition, teams must either finish in the top spot in their domestic league or be one of six teams to get past the qualifying rounds. For example, big footballing countries like England or Spain have four spots directly into the Champions League, while smaller footballing countries like the Netherlands have two spots directly into the Champions League and a spot in the qualifying rounds. Five rounds make up the qualifying part of the competition, with the worst European countries in football going first and better countries being introduced into the mix (e.g. Croatia is ranked 19 and Kosovo is ranked 39). The group stage is a round-robin format with four teams. Each team plays every other team twice. First and second place go to the knockout stage, while third place goes to the UEFA Europa League.
This year’s qualifying round saw Young Boys (Switzerland), Royal Antwerp (Belgium), Kobenhavn (Denmark), Galatasaray (Turkey), PSV (Netherlands), and Braga (Portugal) make it to the group stage.
Despite being only one match in, the eight groups have shown high-scoring games, tense matches, and competitive greatness.
One such match was Barcelona 5-0 Royal Antwerp. This five-goal thriller saw Barcelona quickly top the group. New signing Joao Felix impressed, scoring a brace (two goals) against the Belgian side. Polish striker Lewandowski scored a goal, as did Spanish midfielder Pablo Gavi. There was also an own goal on the part of Antwerp player Jelle Bataille, a deflection that went straight in.
Another high-intensity match was Bayern vs. Manchester United. Ending in four-three, Manchester United hung on somewhat throughout the game, but their third goal came in the 95th minute, barring any sort of comeback from two goals down.
Group F is this year’s group of death, featuring top clubs Paris Saint-Germain, Borussia Dortmund, Newcastle United, and AC Milan. The former two played with PSG coming out on top, two-nil. “PSG controlled possession for most of the game. They were dominating defense, as Dortmund only got one shot on goal. Even though the score was only two to zero, they dominated the game,” seventh-grade Connor Vakian says. Meanwhile, Newcastle and Milan only spat out a nil-nil draw, despite the fact that Milan had 25 shots to Newcastle’s six.
Lastly, in Group B, Arsenal crushed PSV four-nil. The game was over after 45 minutes, as Arsenal already had a three-goal lead. “So, Arsenal had possession for the first half, scoring three goals and scoring within the first eight minutes. Though, they only scored one in the second half,” a seventh-grade football fan said.
So far, the UEFA Champions League has shown football at its finest, providing entertaining games, great individual performances, and team spirit.