BRUGGE, BELGIUM – SEPTEMBER 14: Riyad Mahrez of Leicester City (R) celebrates with team mates as he scores from a free kick for their second goal during the UEFA Champions League match between Club Brugge KV and Leicester City FC at Jan Breydel Stadium on September 14, 2016 in Brugge, Belgium. (Photo by Dean Mouhtaropoulos/Getty Images)

Day two of the Champions League continues the high scoring trend of day one

Posted by on Sep 14, 2016 17:33

1) Biggest Winner – Leicester City 

What a debut. The English Champions were out to prove a point against Brugge today. Their first ever trip to the Champions League started with a 3-0 victory against Club Brugge. The Foxes got off to a great start, scoring after just five minutes. Mark Albrighton got to a loose ball after a long throw-in. Riyad Mahrez would add two more for Leicester as they would go on to a 3-0 victory. The English side was given a fortunate group draw, and an early win will go a long way towards booking a trip to the knock-out stage. There are still five more matches to go before they can even think about the last 16, but a 3-0 win away from home in your first European Match? Can’t ask for a better start than that.

2) Standout Performer – Sergio Aguero (Manchester City) 

Aguero won’t be playing in the Premier league for a few more weekends, so he’s going to need to score while he can. Against a tough Borussia Mönchengladbach side, the Argentine had a field day. He scored early with a great run getting in front of his defender and getting a foot to a low cross, he added a penalty, and then rounded off his hat-trick by rounding Yann Sommer and finishing into an open net. Sommer was terrific today and kept Aguero from adding, even more, goals to his impressive tally. Pep Guardiola will be happy with his team’s performance, and if Aguero can keep up the scoring, he’ll give his team a good chance to go far this year.

3) Biggest Loser – Bayer Leverkusen

Leverkusen is a good team, and they showed it early against CSKA Moscow. The German side went up 2-0 in the first half and looked set for a big win. With main rival Tottenham losing to Monaco, a win at home to Moscow would have set them up well for a chance to top their group. However, Leverkusen completely fell asleep before half-time, allowing the visitors to score two quick goals in a matter of minutes to level the score. It was not the kind of performance you want if you’re trying to win the group. Tottenham’s loss opened the door for the Werkself, but Leverkusen has opted to try to struggle through the window instead.

4) Best tweet

5) Biggest Surprise – Tottenham losing to Monaco

The only English side to come away empty handed was Tottenham. Their loss to Monaco isn’t that big of a surprise considering their form recently, but now that they are back in the Champions League they will be held to a higher standard. Monaco is not a minnow, but they aren’t expected to to go far in this competition. Many have predicted them to be a third place finisher in this group, but considering their group opponents today, they have to feel good about their chances. Tottenham, meanwhile, need to figure it out.

6) Worst Moment – Warsaw fans spray stadium stewards with pepper spray

No one ever likes seeing violence in the stands, but in Warsaw today some supporters battled it out with stewards and the police. It appeared that some Warsaw fans got a hold of pepper spray and were using it against stadium officials. UEFA will surely be looking at this.

7) Best Goal

Real Madrid were losing 1-0 until who else but Cristiano Ronaldo stepped up to score a terrific free-kick to get his team level. Alvero Morato would score shortly after to give Madrid the win.

8) Extra time

It was another day of goals galore as they all came hard and fast today. Some of the big names impressed today, like City’s 4-0 win over Gladbach, and Borussia Dortmund’s 6-0 hammering of Warsaw. American Christian Pulisic became the youngest player to ever start in a Champions League game, and he had an assist in that big win. It was a mixed bag for other teams. Madrid pulled it off at the end with a bit of luck and some great individual efforts, while Juventus couldn’t find a way to get anything against Seville. Those two teams finished 0-0 and clearly didn’t get the memo about goals today. Leicester will be the big story, of course, as their fairytale continues. It’s only match-day one, so no real conclusions can be drawn from any of this, excpet the Champions League is fun, and we’re glad it’s back.

About Harrison Prolic

Northern Illinois graduate with a degree in Journalism. Full-time page designer in Madison, Wisconsin. Part time follower of all things German soccer. I tweet about the Bundesliga and plenty of other sports @hprolic.

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