Hello! The UEFA Champions League brought the entertainment on Tuesday with 33 goals across nine games thanks in large part to lopsided wins for Europe’s heavyweights, but results were mixed for the continent’s top tier teams, which paves the way for another riveting day of action on Wednesday. I’m Pardeep Cattry with a midweek check-in.
📺 Footy fix
All times U.S./Eastern
Wednesday, Oct. 1
🇪🇺 UCL: Barcelona vs. Paris Saint-Germain, 3 p.m. ➡️ Paramount+
🇪🇺 UCL: Monaco vs. Manchester City, 3 p.m. ➡️ Paramount+
🌎 CWCC: Gotham FC vs. Washington Spirit, 7 p.m. ➡️ Paramount+
🏆 U.S. Open Cup final: Austin FC vs. Nashville SC, 8 p.m. ➡️ Paramount+, CBS Sports Network
Thursday, Oct. 2
🇪🇺 UEL: Roma vs. Lille, 12:45 p.m. ➡️ Paramount+, CBS Sports Network
🇪🇺 UEL: Feyenoord vs. Aston Villa, 3 p.m. ➡️ Paramount+, CBS Sports Network
⚽ The Forward Line
🔴 Liverpool are no longer getting away with it
Liverpool’s days of papering over the cracks with late goals may officially be behind them.
The Reds notched a second straight defeat on Tuesday, this time in a 1-0 loss at Galatasaray, unable to claw their way back after going down through a 16th minute penalty scored by Victor Osimhen. It was not necessarily for a lack of trying – Liverpool outshot their hosts 16 to nine and Galatasaray mustered just 0.52 expected goals after Osimhen’s penalty, while the Reds’ tally stood at 1.45. The imbalance that has been apparent all season long, though, was finally costly in Istanbul, their high-caliber attack led by Hugo Ekitike and Florian Wirtz unable to bail them out.
Tuesday’s performance calls into question several decisions manager Arne Slot made that have accentuated Liverpool’s problems. Midfielder Dominik Szoboszlai started at right back instead of Jeremie Frimpong, the designated Trent Alexander-Arnold replacement who lined up further forward, perhaps as a response to Frimpong’s defensive frailties. The experiment did not pay off — Szoboszlai looked out of position all game and conceded the penalty that Osimhen went on to score. Wirtz is also slowly settling in at Liverpool, likely because he is playing a different role than the one that earned him a $150 million-plus move to Anfield, magnifying their attacking issues. It prompted ex-Liverpool defender and CBS Sports analyst Jamie Carragher to share some serious constructive feedback for Slot and company during the UEFA Champions League Today post-match show.
Carragher: “I don’t feel like I’m watching a top team. Liverpool aren’t playing football at the moment, they’re playing basketball, it’s end to end, and I don’t think top teams play like that. … They haven’t gained anything going forward, but they’ve lost a lot defensively. I think for the manager, last season was such a smooth ride for them, and he’d now got to really earn his money. He did last season, he won the Premier League, which is unbelievable, but he’s got a few problems that he’s got to fix, and I’ll be interested to see how he goes about it because he spent a lot of money on certain players, and right now, I don’t think that the balance of the team is quite right.”
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🇪🇸🇫🇷 Injury-hampered Barcelona, PSG face off
One of the most anticipated matches of the league phase will take place on Wednesday in Barcelona, where LaLiga’s champions host Champions League winners Paris Saint-Germain in a clash of two contenders for Europe’s top club prize. It will serve as an early test of each team’s mettle but perhaps not a definitive one, since both sides will be missing key players for Matchday 2’s marquee matchup.
Barcelona will be without goalkeeper Joan Garcia, midfielder Gavi and winger Fermin Lopez for Wednesday’s match, though that list does not compare to PSG’s collection of injured players. Ballon d’Or winner Ousmane Dembele remains sidelined with a thigh injury, while Desire Doue, Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, Marquinhos and Joao Neves are also expected to miss the match at Barcelona. PSG manager Luis Enrique is putting his full faith in the players available to him, though, admitting in his pre-match remarks on Tuesday that he’s not worried.
Enrique: “That’s football, that’s competition, that’s reality! You have to adapt. I’m not worried, that’s football at the top level. Football is a sport where injuries are normal because it’s a contact sport. I’m not worried at all, and that’s the mentality that I want to transmit to the players and the fans. There are a lot of quality players at the campus. Everything is planned out by the club. That’s life, it’s normal.”
While Barcelona should still be able to count on their main attacking players in Lamine Yamal, Raphinha and Robert Lewandowski, PSG’s injury crisis will be a true test of Enrique’s tactical approach. He reinvented the French side last season to the point that his unique pressing system was the star rather than any individual players, getting the best out of Dembele in the process. Enrique will now entrust his back-ups to do the same, a list of players that includes Bradley Barcola, Gancalo Ramos and Lee Kang-in; whoever ends up starting in Barcelona will have a chance to impress and prove that PSG will once again be a force to be reckoned with in Europe, this time on the back of impressive depth.
🔗 Top Stories
🏆 No host city changes: FIFA is not considering changing World Cup host cities, the decision ultimately lying with world soccer’s governing body despite U.S. president Donald Trump’s suggestion that he has the power to move matches from cities he feels are unsafe.
🇪🇺 UCL predictions: Ahead of Wednesday’s Champions League action, here’s a glance at how the CBS Sports team thinks the day’s action will shake out.
🔵 Mourinho’s Chelsea return: Jose Mourinho’s Chelsea legacy is intact but in his return to Stamford Bridge as the manager of the visiting Benfica, his side’s 1-0 loss in London showed his days of notching statement-making results might be behind him.
⚫🔵 Inter go two for two: Inter notched their second win of the league phase with a 3-0 win over Slavia Praha, showing that things are trending in the right direction under manager Cristian Chivu.
🇳🇿 Ali Riley retires: New Zealand international and Angel City defender Ali Riley will retire at the conclusion of the 2025 NWSL season.
🏟️ San Siro approval: Milan’s city council officially approved the sale of the San Siro to Inter and AC Milan, paving the way for the teams to build a new stadium.
↕️ NWSL power rankings: Racing Louisville made a jump in the latest batch of NWSL power rankings, while the Portland Thorns took a turn for the worse with a few weeks left in the regular season.
💰 The Back Line
💵 Best bets
UEFA Champions League: Barcelona vs. Paris Saint-Germain, Wednesday, 3 p.m.
💰 THE PICK: Lamine Yamal to have 2+ shots on target (+130): Lamine Yamal is box office viewing. If you can get it, it’s worth laddering his shots from outside the box, as Yamal hasn’t met a shot that he doesn’t like, and he has the vision and ability to put them all on frame. If PSG keeper Lucas Chevalier isn’t on his game, Yamal will end up scoring a goal, but with Raphinha missing out, the Barcelona man will have plenty of opportunities to rip shots in this one. –Chuck Booth
For more picks, predictions, expert tips and the latest betting news, don’t miss out on CBSSports.com’s betting home page.
Get Ready for the Final
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