talking points: Best player so far, to save Man Utd
Manchester United. Two games, two defeats, and they’re already struggling to qualify for the Round of 16. They’ve scored five goals in games against Bayern Munich and Galatasaray but the way they’ve defended has been appalling, leaking seven goals in 180 minutes of football. They conceded three at home against Galatasaray but it could have been even worse. Mauro Icardi missed a penalty after Casemiro had been sent off, and also had a good chance in stoppage-time with the score already at 3-2. It’s not the first time in recent history that United have been in trouble in the group stage, going out before the knockouts in both 2015-16 and 2020-21. — Dawson
2. Which is your underdog team to reach the knockouts?
FC Copenhagen. They’ve never been past the group stage, but they’ve done enough in the opening two games to show they’ve got a chance this time. They were 2-0 up against Galatasaray in Istanbul with four minutes to go, and were only pegged back to 2-2 after going down to 10 men; then they took the lead at home against Bayern before narrowly losing 2-1. Their fate in Group A will be decided by back-to-back games against Manchester United, and with Erik ten Hag’s team not playing well, the Danish champions could spring a surprise. — Dawson
Let’s face it, nobody in Group F (Newcastle, PSG, AC Milan and Dortmund), which is wide open, is an underdog. Nor are Lens, frankly. So I’m going to suggest Feyenoord. I love the fact that head coach Arne Slot decided to stick around and give it a go after winning the Eredivisie title, rather than chasing coin elsewhere like so many of his colleagues would have done. They gave Atletico Madrid a real fright away, and can do the same to others. — Marcotti
Maybe underdog is pushing it, but Real Sociedad were in pot four in the draw so should technically be the worst the team in their group. I know the science to the pots means that isn’t necessarily the case but Internazionale and Benfica would still have been the two teams expected to progress. Instead, La Real sit top after two games thanks to a draw against the Italians and Tuesday’s 2-0 win at FC Salzburg. Take Kubo and Brais Méndez are great fun to watch, and they have a homegrown spine that makes it easy to root for them. — Marsden
3. Which player has exceeded expectations so far?
Manchester United have been rubbish in the Champions League but £72 million striker Rasmus Hojlund has, at least, been a positive. The 20-year-old became the youngest player to score in his first two Champions League games since Erling Haaland when he found the net against Galatasaray after opening his United account on matchday one against Bayern. His first against Galatasaray was a thumping header from Marcus Rashford’s cross, and his second was about his pace and finishing ability after racing away from the halfway line. Hojlund is under immense pressure to perform as United’s central striker and, so far, he’s handling it well.