Key events
Righto, that’s it from me, at the end of another frankly outrageous evening of association football. Thanks for your company and comments; peace out.
Iraola is chatting to TNT, saying he loved the occasion and that he takes some responsibility for the first-half performance, having not predicted Atleti’s 3-5-2; he corrected halfway through the first half.
He’s happy he side showed character, but they’ve difficult homes and nasty aways, so there’s a lot to do. Barcola, he advises, had cramp, an absolute result, and he goes on to say this is a new team without the mechanisms in which every player knows what to do in every situation.
On Araujo, Iraola says he has good crossing ability, is good in the air and smart with his decision-making. Players like Frimpong and Tsimikas have’t played much, so are probably disappointed, but they contributed tonight.
FULL TIME: Chelsea 6-3 Leeds United
A ridiculous, wonderful football match. Going forward, Chelsea are electrocuting.
GOAL! Chelsea 6 -3 Leeds United (90+4)
Neto screeches down the right and cuts back to the edge, where Barco shanks horribly, only for Welbeck, always alert, to redirect into the net via header. What a ridiculous half (of football) this has been.
“Iraolaball has started rolling, slowly but steadily,” reckons Rupak Pramanik. “This Liverpool looked a lot like the Liverpool opponents feared during the Klopp era.”
Generous, I’d say – they were very vulnerable in the first half and the players just aren’t as good as those Klopp had, nor have they the physicality to play at the same tempo. But they played some decent stuff in parts.
Six additional minutes at Stamford Bridge, enough time for Chelsea to score and concede at least another couple. If they can get the defence and midfield right, in January and in the summer, they could be very nasty next season.
Oh Haitch! I’m afraid I’m chalking off all 73 goals for these offences against common decency.
Chelsea are going to be a lot of fun this season – not words said often, but their attack is a serious problem, likewise their defence.
FULL TIME: Sporting 3-1 Galatasaray
A big win for Sporting, who came from behind to beat a tricky Gala side.
FULL TIME: Napoli 0-1 Arsenal
A second statement-win in four days for Arsenal, who are a different side now the pressure of not winning the title has been lifted.
FULL TIME: Liverpool 2-1 Atletico Madrid
Atleti played well in the first half but Liverpool hung in there and were much the better side in the second. That’s a really important win for Andoni Iraoloa, his debut Champions League game and a difficult opponent sorted in uplifting manner.
GOAL! Chelsea 5-3 Leeds United (Barco 80)
Rogers has been filth since coming on and this, his third assist, sees him zoom down the left and cross low, the ball eluding all but Barco, on the far side of the box, and he lashes in a low finish. Surely the game is now over.
FULL TIME: PSG 6-1 Slovan Bratislava
Ominous from the holders. They weren’t playing a great team, but they were still steaming.
Five minutes of injury-time at Anfield and we’ve had three of them.
GOAL! Chelsea 4-3 Leeds United (Calvert-Lewin 75)
Okafor moves down the left, scooshes over a low cross, and Calvert Lewin snaps in a livenver.
GOAL! PSG 6-1 Slovan Bratislava (Fabian Ruiz 88)
A corner is half-cleared and, when the ball is tucked back across by Dro, it hits a defender and falls into the path of Ruiz, who donkey-kicks into the net.
Munoz, on as sub, breaks into the Atleti box and diddles his man by dipping infield, only to shoot too close to Oblak, who palms out Frimpong is there to ram home the rebound, but was offside when the intial shot was taken.
“Couple of Scottish Premier games tonight,” advises Simon McMahon – yes I’ve got them on my vidiprinter. “Rangers scoring in stoppage time to defeat St. Mirren by a goal to nil, while Celtic are leading by the same score at St. Johnstone with five minutes to go. The teams meet in the Scottish League Cup quarter=final on Sunday. Expect handshakes, pats on the back and general bonhomie all round fireworks.”
Grown-men action looks inevitable, even though away fans have been banned.
It’s been a quieter second half at Anfield – well, since the flurry at the start of it, when Liverpool scored their second goal. Atleti were really dangerous in the first, but have been largely shut down – and have, I think, missed Lee, who was hooked.
Incidentally, I love The Prestige, Christopher Nolan’s best film by a mile, in mine – it has blather and keks, which I don’t always find to be the case with him.
“There’s something uncanny about this PSG, as if they’re not fully synced up with reality,” says Kári Tulinius. “I can’t think of many teams that have had me entirely lose track of what’s going on, where the players and the ball just aren’t where they should be. At the risk of spoiling the movie The Prestige, while other sides are working within the parameters of the real, the Parisians seem to have found technology that allows them to break the bounds of physical space.”
They’re kind of the next version of Guardiola’s Barca, every player a technician but not, as you intimate, part of a system that tells them where to be and when; rather, they’re trusted to make sure that somebody is.
GOAL! Chelsea 4-2 Leeds United (Welbeck 65)
It’s a kicking! Rogers flies down the right and cut back along the carpet, Welbeck feinting to leave it for Palmer before taking it back the way it came and lashing low into the net. This is a seriously engaging football tea.
GOAL! Napoli 0-1 Arsenal (Odegaard 75)
Arsenal pop it about on the edge, Guimaraes into Tzolis, right of the box, and he plays back out to Odegaard, who laces a belting finish low into the far corner. You wondered if he was taking a step when he started crashing the box at the start of this season, and by the looks of things, that’s exactly what he’s doing.
GOAL! Chelsea 3-2 Leeds United (Neto 60)
It’s three goal in seven minutes! Palmer feeds Rogers in the middle, and he slides in to poke Neto, at inside-left. But there’s still a lot of work to do, the body opened and the finish passed low into the far corner. Chelsea aren’t great at the back, but goodness me, they’ve got some useful attackers.
The true heir to Jesus Navas.
epa02237461 Spanish National Team player Jesus Navas smiles as he goes to press center on 05 July 2010 a Photograph: Juan Carlos C rdenas/EPA
I wonder what Enzo Maresca and Thomas Tuchel are making of Palmer so far this season. Every serious squad needs a maverick or two, and misunderstanding them says more about the managers than the players.
GOAL! Chelsea 2-2 Leeds United (Palmer 55)
A throw goes towards Rogers, who kind of shrugs it off to Palmer, on the edge, and, using the defender as a screen to block the keeper’s view, he curves a low finish into the far bottom corner, the goal not unlike the one he scored for England in the Euro final.
Alonso, by the way, brought on Palmer, Neto, James and Rogers at half-time.
GOAL! Chelsea 1-2 Leeds United (Palmer pen 53)
Palmer sweeps into the right side-netting; any less accurate and the keeper might’ve got to it.
PENALTY TO CHELSEA!
I didn’t quite see what happened, but it looked an off-the-ball foul by Dan James.