The second half of matchday 3 of UEFA Champions League 2020-21, delighted fans with some incredible results and several heavy-duty European clubs at loggerheads.
The most entertaining game, undoubtedly, was the Group H fixture between Paris St. Germain and RB Leipzig. Manager Julian Nagelsmann had some personal vendetta to settle against Thomas Tuchel’s men, who defeated the German club in the semi-final of the Champions League, last season.
The game got off to a brilliant start, with Angel Di Maria scoring in the 6th minute. However, it went down downhill for the French side since. Leipzig found a way to press and counter-attack their opposition, continuously.
After several hits and misses from either side, Christopher Nkunku netted one in the 41st minute. Early in the second half, an error from Raphinha earned Leipzig a penalty, which Emil Forsberg scored from the spot in the 57th minute.
Without the services of Neymar and Kylian Mbappe, PSG’s attack lacked bite. Things got worse for Tuchel when Idrissa Gueye was sent off in the 69th minute. At the dying moments of the game, even Presnel Kimpembe received a red card as RB Leipzig got their vengeance with a 2-1 win against a 9-men PSG side.
The most shocking result from Matchday 3 came from Turkey, where visitors Manchester United faced a 2-1 defeat at the hands of Istanbul Basaksehir.
Demba Ba (13’) and Edin Visca (40’) made optimum use of the directionless defensive strategies from the English side. Anthony Martial’s header off Luke Shaw’s assist in the 43rd minute wasn’t enough to inspire a comeback from United, throughout the second half.
Elsewhere, Juventus displayed their flair and depth in their 1-4 win over Hungarian club Ferencvaros. Alvaro Morata scored in the game twice (7’, 60’) without the flag being raised. Substitute Paulo Dybala also registered his name in the scoresheet in the 72nd minute, before an own-goal from Lasha Dvali completed the whitewash from Juventus.
Here are the other results from Matchday 3:
Istanbul Basaksehir 2 – 1 Manchester United
Zenit 1 – 1 Lazio
Barcelona 2 – 1 Dynamo Kyiv
Ferencvaros 1 – 4 Juventus
Club Brugge 0 – 3 Dortmund
Sevilla 3 – 2 Krasnodar
Chelsea 3 – 0 Rennes
RB Leipzig 2 – 1 PSG
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