Wednesday’s Champions League action saw 2 home wins, 2 draws, and an impressive 5 away victories. This marks a stark contrast to Tuesday’s matches, where 6 out of 9 games ended in home wins, with only 1 draw and 2 away victories. One notable trend emerging after this third round of the Champions League group stage is the decline in drawn games. Fewer matches are ending in ties, at least in this early phase, and it remains to be seen whether this will continue. In fact, each of the three Champions League rounds so far has featured only 3 draws out of 18 matches—just 16% of the games. In total, only 9 matches out of 54 have ended in a draw.
What’s particularly curious is that 4 of those 9 draws involved Italian teams: 1 draw for Bologna and Inter each, and 2 for Atalanta. Inter nearly had another draw yesterday but was rescued by Thuram’s injury-time goal. The game in Bergamo between Atalanta and Celtic didn’t offer much excitement: while Atalanta dominated possession, they lacked precision in front of goal, with only 7 shots on target out of 24 attempts. Meanwhile, Inter’s performance in Switzerland showed they’re not in their best form, as seen in their struggle at the Stadio Olimpico against Roma on Sunday. Although they deserved the win, Arnautovic missed a penalty at 0-0, and Inzaghi’s side will need to step up in their upcoming home clash against Arteta’s Arsenal.
Today, Roma and Lazio will play in the Europa League, and Fiorentina in the Conference League. Roma looks to bounce back from a disheartening loss to Elfsborg in Sweden and will face Dinamo Kiev, who have lost both of their previous Europa League matches without scoring a single goal and conceding 5. Lazio will travel to face Twente, a team that may appear manageable but has managed to hold both Manchester United and Mourinho’s Fenerbahçe to draws, both considered contenders for the Europa League title. In a coincidence, Fenerbahçe and United will face off tonight in Istanbul, arguably the match of the day. Finally, Palladino’s Fiorentina will visit St. Gallen, who eliminated the more prestigious Trabzonspor in the Conference League’s third qualifying round but suffered a crushing 6-2 defeat at Cercle Brugge in the group stage opener.
