
The Football Faithful
·21 September 2023
Champions League Awards: Goalie goals and Onana’s error

The Football Faithful
·21 September 2023
Where else to start but Lazio?
Ivan Provedel was responsible for the most dramatic moment from the Champions League’s opening week, as the Italian became just the fourth goalkeeper to score in the competition to rescue his side a result in Rome.
Diego Simeone looked to have masterminded a hard-fought win against his former club, as Atletico Madrid led in the game’s final seconds. With, quite literally, the last action of the game, Provedel made himself a hero to send the Stadio Olimpico into chaos.
The shot-stopper – up for a set-piece – ghosted across his marker to head home from Luis Alberto’s cross, sparking pandemonium from the home crowd.
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Arsenal are back in the big time after a six season absence and announced their Champions League return with a comfortable win over PSV Eindhoven at the Emirates.
The north Londoners raced into a three-goal lead before half-time on route to a 4-0 victory, with Martin Odegaard the star performer for Mikel Arteta’s side. Odegaard’s evolution has been one of the driving forces behind Arsenal’s improvement across the past two seasons, as the Norwegian has began to fulfil the potential which first emerged at Strømsgodset in his early teens.
The 24-year-old is a sublime watch when in the mood, drifting dangerously into pockets of space and showcasing his repertoire of technical touches and cute passes.
Odegaard needs to find consistency over a long period to be considered one of the world’s very best, but there’s no doubt the midfielder has been operating at an elite level across the last 12 months. He will be crucial to Arsenal’s hopes of going deep in this tournament.
Who said tiki-taka was dead?
Barcelona rolled back the years to open the scoring against Royal Antwerp this week, with summer signing Joao Felix finishing off an intricate team move in style.
Pop, pop, bang.
Red Bull Salzburg are one of Europe’s best production lines of young talent, with the Austrian side unwavering in their faith in youth.
Salzburg named the youngest ever starting XI for a Champions League fixture this week and were rewarded with a 2-0 win at Benfica.
Roko Simic – who has attracted interest from top European clubs – scored one and made another with the 20-year-old backed to be the next name to earn Salzburg a windfall.
If you’re good enough, you’re old enough.
Spare a thought for these Newcastle fans, who after two decades away from the Champions League celebrated with a trip to AC Milan.
The setting was perhaps not what this lot were expecting…
Someone who did cherish every moment however, was Magpies winger Jacob Murphy. There’s something special about that Champions League anthem.
Andre Onana was a wall-like presence during Inter Milan’s run to the Champions League final last season, but the goalkeeper has made an inauspicious start to his Manchester United career.
Onana was at fault as Manchester United fell behind early on against Bayern Munich, with the Cameroon international enduring a nightmare moment to allow Leroy Sane’s shot to squirm under his grasp.
It continued an unconvincing run of form for the 27-year-old and no Premier League goalkeeper to have played six games this season has conceded more goals than Onana (14).
Improvement is required from Onana who, to his credit, fronted up to the media and shouldered blame post-match.