playGab MarcottiCloseGab MarcottiSenior Writer, ESPN FCGabriele Marcotti is a senior soccer writer for ESPN.com. Read his archive here and follow him on Twitter: @Marcotti., Mark Ogden, Beth LindopCloseBeth LindopCorrespondentBased in Liverpool, Beth Lindop is ESPN’s Liverpool correspondent and also covers the WSL and UWCL., Sam TigheCloseSam TigheESPNSam is a writer, broadcaster and podcaster for ESPN. He will write on the Premier League, scouting and transfers.Multiple AuthorsOct 21, 2026, 08:44 PM ETOpen Extended ReactionsThe UEFA Champions League enjoyed a wonderful Matchday 3 this week, with a feast of goals — 74 across 18 games, a 4.1 per game average — and plenty to talk about.We got big wins for our No. 1 ranked Paris Saint-Germain (over No. 2 Barcelona), Real Madrid (over RB Leipzig), Liverpool (over Villarreal), Real Betis (over Feyenoord) and Aston Villa (over Viking FK) as all five teams remain a perfect 3-0-0 in the competition, and we got a seismic shocks as Como thumped Manchester United to put Michael Carrick’s future in doubt. The other big game of the week saw Bayern Munich and Arsenal put on an entertaining 2-2 draw at the Allianz Arena, with Bukayo Saka limping off early with an injury.What to make of it all?
ESPN FC writers Gab Marcotti, Sam Tighe, Mark Ogden and Beth Lindop are here to break down the action.- Ogden, Marsden: PSG and Barcelona put on a show – Olley: Star attackers might not be needed for Arsenal to win UCL – Dawson: Man United were woeful, but it’s not just on CarrickQ1. Are PSG going to regret going this hard against Barcelona? They may have won the proverbial battle with a 4-2 home win in the league phase, but they paid the price as Ousmane Dembélé hobbled off after just 20 minutes, with Marquinhos and Khvicha Kvaratskhelia both exiting with injuries on the hour mark. (Kvara, one of the best players in the world, has since been ruled out for the rest of the season with a torn ACL.) We enjoyed the game, but will Luis Enrique & Co. regret losing one of their stars this early in the campaign? And will this derail their hopes of a remarkable Champions League “three-peat” at the same time?Ogden: I’m not on board with this argument.
Players can be injured at any time and Kvaratskhelia, Dembele or Marquinhos could have suffered the same fate in Sunday’s Ligue 1 game at Lyon. It’s just an occupational hazard and, let’s be honest, Luis Enrique has rested and rotated all of his big stars throughout this season.I think he was right to unleash the big guns against because it was a rare opportunity for his best players to go up against a team capable of challenging them. PSG’s top players will get much more from playing against Barcelona and Manchester City than Le Havre or Auxerre.If PSG hold back their stars against the likes of Barça, then they’re going to have a very boring and unchallenging season in France, so I’m all in on Luis Enrique’s selection. And also because it gave us a box office game and showed us just how good the latter stages of the Champions League will be.Lindop: I’m with Mark on this one.
As much as the new format means league phase games aren’t hugely significant, PSG vs Barcelona is always a marquee fixture and there’s no guarantee that players wouldn’t have sustained injuries at other points of the season. PSG have the unique luxury of regularly being able to rest players in domestic competition so that they’re at their very best in the Champions League, and it’s an approach that has paid dividends for them over the past couple of seasons.That said, it’s a real shame to see Kvaratskhelia sustain such a significant injury. When he’s on form, he’s one of the most enjoyable players to watch in Europe and he gives PSG another dimension. Luis Enrique’s side are still, as it stands, favourites to retain their trophy, but losing a player of Kvaratskhelia’s talent is a huge blow.play2:11Moreno: Flick needs to address Yamal’s performance vs.
PSGMarcotti: Football doesn’t work that way, so at the risk of being boring, I agree with Beth and Oggy. You can get hurt anytime; what you don’t want is to get hurt because you’ve been overplayed and are fatigued. That’s not an issue for PSG. And while we’re at it, yeah, I know they are dominant in Ligue 1 and can outspend everyone and whatnot, but it’s worth reminding ourselves that they won the league by six points and didn’t move into first place until mid-January.
If they lose to Lyon on Sunday night they could slip into sixth place. You still have to show up.Obviously losing Kvara makes them a worse team, but in the grand scheme of things, they have a wealth of attacking options beyond him. I’m a big Maghnes Akliouche fan, and there’s Ferran Torres and Mika Godts too. There are other players at PSG who are harder to replace in my view, like center back Willian Pacho or Vitinha in midfield.Tighe: Hmmm, are we sleeping a bit on Kvara’s ability here?
I’d be willing to argue he is the best left winger in the world — assuming Kylian Mbappé is officially classed as a reluctant striker these days — and one of the top 10 players in the world overall?To lose him for the season is a killer. Yes, PSG have much more ammunition to call upon on the wings, with Désiré Doué continuing to grow into a superstar and heavy recruitment over the summer replenishing this area, but Luis Enrique’s style is intense and requires depth. They’re not only down a player here: they’re down their best wide man. It’s terrible luck for Les Parisiens, and sad for the game as he’s a joy to watch at top speed.Q2.
Liverpool won again on Tuesday night, falling into a 2-0 hole of their own doing vs. Villarreal before rallying to score four straight goals in a 4-3 win. They’re perfect in the Champions League, and they’ve only lost once (to Manchester City) in all competitions this season. However, lots of their biggest names (Bradley Barcola, Florian Wirtz, Alexander Isak) haven’t shown their best yet, Dominik Szoboszlai is carrying an injury, right-back is still unsettled (though shout-out Ronald Araújo, who’s playing well for an “emergency loan”), and Rio Ngumoha’s dynamic performances are covering up a lot of underlying issues.
What do we make of the Andoni Iraola era so far: Are their results for real? Or is this a false dawn?Lindop: I don’t think anyone at Liverpool is under any illusions about the fact Iraola’s side are still a work in progress. They look a level below Europe’s top sides, and they were particularly poor in the first half-hour against Villarreal. I think they’re too flawed to win the Premier League this season and probably the Champions League too — although you can never count them out in Europe.
Iraola is trying to implement a new system with a crop of players who are still getting used to each other and that’s why I think patience is required, particularly in light of their recent injury woes.That said, Ngumoha should be a real cause for optimism after his performance. He’s impressed in cameos on the right this season, but Tuesday night was his most complete display in a Liverpool shirt. He’s still only 18, meaning we shouldn’t expect him to produce those kinds of performances every week, but he has a very bright future at Anfield.Tighe: No doubt about it, Ngumoha’s performance was Liverpool’s biggest positive outside of three important points. What a display from the youngster!What’s absolutely crucial here is that he looked great on the right flank, and while we must avoid piling too much pressure on one so young, he looks capable of solving what looked like a real conundrum for Iraola this season.Somehow, the Reds entered the season with four wingers who all prefer to play on the left side, creating an obvious imbalance in the squad.
Iraola has tried plenty of different options over there already (Cody Gakpo, Víctor Muñoz, Ngumoha), and it’s the latter that feels like he can really make it stick. We need to see more, and there’s no shortage of fo
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