The big winners<\/p>\n
Bayern Munich had not won at the Santiago Bernab\u00e9u since May 2001, when they beat Real Madrid in the Champions League semi-final on their way to becoming European champions. Tuesday night\u2019s match changed all that<\/a>. The 29th Champions League meeting between the teams lived up to its heavyweight billing, though Bayern, superior on the night, may rue their failure to extend their 2-1 lead. Real Madrid meanwhile could point to Manuel Neuer making nine saves \u2013 not bad for a 40-year-old. \u201cWe won\u2019t win the competition without more of these kinds of performances,\u201d said Bayern\u2019s manager, Vincent Kompany, of his keeper. Big trophies are rarely won without great goalkeepers and Neuer continues to play like an all-time great. Bayern\u2019s second goal was a trademark finish from Harry Kane, who made the difficult look easy. The goal will also have calmed England fans\u2019 fears that their captain will arrive at the World Cup suffering from his usual summer malaise. A word too for Luis D\u00edaz and Michael Olise, Bayern\u2019s brilliant wingers whose performances brought back memories of the club\u2019s modern greats Franck Rib\u00e9ry and Arjen Robben. Kompany\u2019s team were commanding in Madrid, but may fear the backlash from the 15-times champions, the kings of comebacks.<\/p>\n Arsenal\u2019s trip to Sporting produced what looked like a different sport entirely to the counterpunching classic in Madrid. Trophies are rarely decided by aesthetics \u2013 morale is far more important \u2013 and victory in Lisbon restored faith in Mikel Arteta\u2019s mission. The Gunners\u2019 injury-time winner came from Kai Havertz, a player who was supposed to be vital to Arteta\u2019s tactical strategy before suffering horribly with injury over the last two seasons. Havertz has a knack for rising to big occasions \u2013 he scored Chelsea\u2019s winner in the 2021 final \u2013 and Arsenal will need the German to do so again in the Premier League and Champions League run-ins this season. The restoration of David Raya was equally important<\/a>, as confirmed by a brilliant early save from a shot by Sporting\u2019s Maximiliano Ara\u00fajo and the added dimension to the team\u2019s play his presence brings. \u201cFor me, the last two seasons, [he is] the best keeper in the world,\u201d said Havertz. Few will wish to rewatch this dull game but it signaled better days for Arsenal after their recent domestic cup disappointments.<\/p>\n Another long wait was ended by Atl\u00e9tico Madrid\u2019s 2-0 win at Barcelona<\/a>, the club\u2019s first victory at Camp Nou since 2006. Wednesday\u2019s match swung on the dismissal of the Bar\u00e7a defender Pau Cubars\u00ed for his last-man foul on Giuliano Simeone, the Atl\u00e9tico manager\u2019s son. Juli\u00e1n Alvarez clattered in the resultant free-kick, showing elite class in a game full of high-quality attacking. This season, Atleti have bucked the cliches about Simeone Sr\u2019s team being a battling outfit. The red card also confirmed the narrative of Hansi Flick\u2019s high line being too risky. Alexander S\u00f8rloth\u2019s goal, the Norwegian\u2019s first in a month, completed Atl\u00e9tico\u2019s victory. It also gave Simeone\u2019s team revenge for their weekend defeat to the same opponents, after which Atleti\u2019s team bus was ransacked. Wednesday\u2019s performance was one of the best of Simeone\u2019s tenure. \u201cIt was a beautiful moment,\u201d said Antoine Griezmann, after what was probably his final visit to his former team before he moves to MLS.<\/p>\n Player of the week<\/p>\n Neuer would be a deserving winner but Khvicha Kvaratskhelia\u2019s arrival last January helped convert Paris Saint-Germain<\/a> into European champions. His solo goal in PSG\u2019s 2-0 win over Liverpool came during a match in which he tormented the Reds\u2019 five-man defence.<\/p>\n They said it<\/p>\n \u201cHonestly, the disappointment will linger for a long time. I prefer to start every game because when you\u2019re on the pitch, you don\u2019t think too much about the rest and you try to give your all.\u201d \u2013 Arsenal defender Riccardo Calafiori, talking to Sky Italia, plays through the pain<\/a> of Italy\u2019s latest failure to reach the World Cup.<\/p>\n The pundit\u2019s chair<\/p>\n Two former England captains came out in support of Mohamed Salah, commending his commitment after being an unused sub in Paris. \u201cIf ever there\u2019s a time where a player\u2019s attitude is going to stink, it\u2019s Mo Salah with six or seven games to go on his Liverpool<\/a> career not being brought on when they need a goal. He\u2019s got every opportunity for his attitude to stink and he\u2019s out there doing the running with the team, the box-to-box work that they do after games,\u201d said Stuart Pearce on Talksport.<\/p>\n Steven Gerrard agreed on TNT: \u201cCredit to him, he\u2019s just stayed behind and done extra running.\u201d<\/p>\n Looking ahead<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve been through many special evenings at Anfield,\u201d said Virgil van Dijk, Liverpool\u2019s captain fronting up again after the club\u2019s 16th defeat of the season. \u201cOur fans, they\u2019re the backbone of the club, and hopefully they can be there for us again.\u201d In a meek display in Paris, Arne Slot\u2019s five-man defensive formation ended up creating very little \u2013 an xG of just 0.22, Van Dijk and Slot called on the mystic gods of the Kop for second-leg redemption against the holders, who had toyed with them. Hopes of rescuing a poor season rest on little else.<\/p>\n Sporting are glad Luis Su\u00e1rez, their Colombian forward, is not suspended for their second leg against Arsenal. The scoreboard in the Jos\u00e9 Alvalade Stadium announced Su\u00e1rez had been suspended after picking up a booking, only for Uefa to rule it had been Hidemasa Morita, Sporting\u2019s Japanese midfielder, who had picked up a yellow card. \u201cWe were able to neutralize Arsenal,\u201d said Rui Borges, the Sporting coach. His team must dish out the first defeat in the competition this season for Arteta\u2019s team, who have conceded only five goals in their last 11 Champions League<\/a> matches.<\/p>\n