Upsets Galore: Key moments from Champions League Matchweek 4 as heavy-hitters delivered knockout blow

The new format of this season’s Champions League has had tongues wagging for months but after four games, it feels as though there has been a shift in acceptance to the new-world version of Europe’s most prestigious club tournament. 

Now one 36-team league rather than a cluster of four-club groups, the jeopardy for some of the continents biggest sides has been increased, with the likes of PSG and RB Leipzig – two clubs which have practically been ever-presents in the knockout phases in recent seasons – currently sat outside of the qualifying berths after four games. 

The fact that both of those aforementioned clubs, alongside plenty of others currently placed in the bottom-12, could turn their fortunes around effortlessly with a win in Matchweek 5 (PSG are only a point outside of the seeded qualifying positions; Leipzig are two), has brought a fascinating new dimension to the competition, increasing the excitement levels which have at this stage often been lacking under the previous structure. 

City’s 26-game streak halted by Sporting, with upsets rife in Matchweek 4

Matchweek 4 was a particularly interesting one this week, with a handful of the tournament’s biggest hitters and favourites to win the competition each slumping to defeats. 

Manchester City fell to a surprise 2-1 loss away at Bournemouth on Saturday, hitting a bump in the road in their fifth consecutive title bid and their fortunes did not change in Europe on Tuesday evening. 

Pep Guardiola’s men were underwhelming to say the least as they took on new Manchester United manager Rúben Amorim in his final home game as manager of Portuguese champions Sporting, thumped 4-1 at the Estádio José Alvalade in a game they will quickly want to put behind them. 

Prior to the humbling, City had been enjoying a rambunctious run in the Champions League, unbeaten in 26 matches – the longest in the competition’s history – but have since slipped to 10th in the league table and have plenty to do to right their wrongdoings in the upcoming clashes against Feyenoord and Juventus. 

Erling Haaland crashed a penalty against the bar in the 69th minute, an opportunity which felt like a sliding doors moment in a game Sporting dominated from the fifth minute onwards (after Phil Foden’s early opener) and led 3-1 at the time the spot-kick was taken. 

Had the Norwegian scored, few would have bet against Pep’s men turning the tide and taking something from the game – perhaps undeservedly – however they passed up the opportunity, and after Viktor Gyökeres did what Haaland could not and converted his 80th minute penalty – the Swede’s his third goal of the evening – finished the game well beaten in the Portuguese capital. 

Elsewhere on Tuesday, Real Madrid were taught a lesson by a scintillating AC Milan side ravenous for a rare victory at the Bernabeu, as former Whites frontman Alvaro Morata netted two goals in a frenetic 3-1 win for the visitors to really throw the cat amongst the pigeons. Los Blancos now find themselves all the way down in 18th – uncharted territory for the current holders and 15-time champions – six points behind leaders Liverpool at this relatively early stage. Plenty to do, then, for Don Carlo and his band of superstars. 

Inter Milan then completed a trio of upsets on Wednesday evening, seeing off Arsenal 1-0 at the San Siro to edge them to within two points of top-spot in fifth. Much like their bitter rivals the night before, the Italians were dominant and defiant and looked like the only team winning throughout the contest, stifling Arsenal’s three-pronged attack and nullifying their most creative assets to claim a hard fought and deserved win in the fashion capital. 

Lewandowski edges closer to his European century 

There was no such heartache for Barcelona, though, as the Spaniards continued their devastating form in a convincing 5-2 rout over Red Star Belgrade. Having thumped Real 4-0 in last weekend’s El Clasico at the end of October, Hansi Flick’s men dispatched Espanyol 3-1 in the Derbi Barceloní on Sunday before hitting five of the best past the Serbian champions in Europe. 

As is often the case, Robert Lewandowsi was amongst the goals, netting a brace to take his tally in the Champions League to 99 and just one shy of a famous century – you feel as though that particular accolade will be swiftly ticked off in the short-term future. 

Lewandowski is now just 30 goals shy of Lionel Messi’s overall tally of 129 UCL goals, but still a fair few short of Ronaldo’s mesmeric record-breaking figure of 140. Still, third place behind those two isn’t exactly embarrassing…  

Vini hits eighth goal in 10 during Milan rout

Despite Real Madrid’s faltering performance, Vini Jr still etched his name onto the back pages with yet another goal for Los Blancos in Europe. The Brazilian, still sore from missing out on last weekend’s Ballon d’Or to Manchester City talisman Rodri, responded positively in the early stages with a delightful Panenka penalty to draw Madrid level after Malik Thiaw put the visitors ahead inside 12 minutes. 

It was the 24-year-old’s eighth goal in his previous 10 Champions League appearances and takes his tally to four for the season – just one shy of Raphina (Barcelona), Gyökeres (Sporting), Lewandowski (Barcelona) and Harry Kane (Bayern Munich) in the top-scorer chart after four games. Plenty of time to catch them. He is also now the joint highest-scoring Brazilian player in Champions League history (25 goals) alongside Kaka. Bravo.