Real Madrid vs Paris Saint-Germain was the headline fixture this week – but the chaos was delivered elsewhere on a crazy UWCL matchday.
It was going to take something special for the second round of games in the Women's Champions League group stages to better matchday one – and that's exactly what we got.
While everyone expected the fireworks to come from Paris Saint-Germain's trip to Real Madrid, it was St. Polten and Roma's seven-goal thriller that stole the show, before things again went wrong for reigning champions Lyon, while Bayern Munich came from 2-0 down to win in the eighth minute of stoppage time.
Elsewhere, Thursday was an emotional night for Zurich as the part-time Swiss team scored a wonderfully memorable goal in defeat to Arsenal at the Emirates, and there were statement victories for Chelsea and Barcelona – the latter featuring a strike that will surely win the UWCL's goal of the season award.
With plenty going on across the continent, here are GOAL's winners and losers from matchday two…
GettyWINNER: Real Madrid
Real Madrid might be in a 'group of death' this year but there was one silver lining to drawing PSG for a second successive season, in that they could be a yardstick for the progress the club has made in the past 12 months.
After losing 4-0 in Paris and 2-0 in Madrid last campaign, their home fixture on Wednesday produced a goalless draw. It was a welcome draw not only in that it was an improvement, but because of how much of a bad point it was for their visitors.
PSG lost at home to Chelsea, the other giant in this group, last week and that made victory in Madrid all the more important. They attacked plenty but Real Madrid rode the storm and even had chances themselves to win the game – a big one in particular falling to France international Sandie Toletti, who fired wide.
It was much closer than they came to hurting the Parisians last season and means that, no matter the results in the third matchday in November, they'll reach the halfway point of the group stages at least level on points with the French giants.
That'll be a promising position to be in given they're underdogs to progress from a group that features two sides that have reached the Champions League final, while Las Blancas are in just their third ever season as a team.
AdvertisementGettyLOSER: Lyon
With two group stage games played, the eight-time European champions and current holders of the trophy, Lyon, have just one point to their name. It's not what many expected, at all.
After an historic 5-1 defeat at home to Arsenal last week, they left Italy with only a point on Thursday despite leading Juventus 1-0 in Turin. An own goal from striker Melvine Malard levelled things up at 1-1 and somewhat summed up how things are going for them at the moment.
It wasn't just the result that made this a bad night for Sonia Bompastor's team, though. Damaris Egurrola was stretchered off after getting tangled up in a collision of bodies, adding yet another injury to Lyon's growing list.
Given her ability to play at centre-back, or at least be in a deep midfield position protecting that defence, her time out will be even more significant as the reigning champions have been hit extremely hard in those areas by absences already.
GettyWINNER: Sam Kerr
"A night I will remember forever." – That's how Chelsea forward Sam Kerr described her four-goal performance against Vllaznia on Wednesday night as she bagged her first Champions League hat-trick and revelled in an atmosphere that saw the "awesome" away fans celebrated by all.
It felt like a well-needed 8-0 win for the Blues after a start to the season that hasn't been without significant results – see the triumph over PSG last week – but this was their first statement performance, even if it was against a team they were expected to comfortably beat.
They turned on the style and will have given themselves a ton of confidence in doing so, something which particularly applies to Kerr as an individual. These were her first goals of the season and they put her in a commanding position when it comes to that Golden Boot race, too.
"Three games is a long time for me [not to score]," she said afterwards. "I’m paid to score goals but think I bring a lot to the team when I’m not scoring too. It’s about being patient and getting in my groove. I did tonight and hopefully I can do it again [on Sunday] against Aston Villa."
GettyLOSER: Berglind Thorvaldsdottir
PSG had a ton of attacking talent on the pitch on Wednesday: from world-class wingers Kadidiatou Diani and Lieke Martens to midfielder Jackie Groenen, winner of Euro 2017 with the Netherlands.
However, once again, what they didn't have in their XI was a centre forward.
Marie-Antoinette Katoto, one of the world's best, will be sidelined for a while still with an ACL injury and the task for PSG is to figure out how to compete against the elite without her.
In Madrid, Diani and Martens put exceptional deliveries into the box, ones begging to be put away, but there was no one in the area to do so.
Among the substitutes, though, was someone who could be the answer: Berglind Thorvaldsdottir. Iceland's starting centre-forward must have been counting the chances she could've scored had she been on the pitch – and she'd have got to a decent number, too.
Thorvaldsdottir might not be on Katoto's level but she has all the attributes that PSG are crying out for simply in her positional awareness and ability to be in the right place at the right time.
With great feet, quality hold-up play and a knack for the spectacular at times, she has even more to bring to the team, too.
All she needs is a chance to show it.
