Four things we learned from Champions League Matchday 3

Four Premier League clubs have continued their UEFA Champions League campaigns this week, each winning without conceding a goal. Football writer Alex Keble analyses the key takeaways.

Another Emery masterclass shows Villa’s strength in depth

Aston Villa 2-0 Bologna

Three wins, three clean sheets and top of the league: Aston Villa supporters can scarcely believe how well their inaugural Champions League campaign is going.

But it wasn’t the result that had Villa fans pinching themselves on Tuesday, rather their team’s elite tactical and technical performance despite Unai Emery making four changes to the side that beat Fulham.

Villa have never had strength in depth like this. Nor have they had a manager so tactically astute at working out opposition flaws and brutally exposing them.

On this occasion, Emery had a targeted plan to break Bologna’s man-to-man press, as he revealed to TNT Sports after the match.

He showed the limitations of Bologna’s approach by outnumbering the visitors in central areas and then instructing the Villa defenders to hit the free man at every opportunity.

Villa made 42 progressive passes and completed 12 dribbles, on both counts their second-most in a game this season, reflecting their verticality in response to Bologna’s high-risk defending.

Another day, another Emery masterclass. With a tactical foundation this strong – and a bench this deep – it’s no wonder pundits are starting to believe Villa can win a major trophy this season.

Nunes and Haaland star in Man City’s record-breaking win

Man City 5-0 Sparta Prague

Manchester City are now on the longest unbeaten run in Champions League history, their sequence extending to 26 matches as their thrashing of Sparta Prague at the Etihad Stadium broke a Manchester United record that had stood for almost 20 years.

In many ways, Pep Guardiola could not have asked for more from a routine victory on Wednesday evening.

Then again, as the manager noted in his post-match press conference, there was nothing routine about Haaland’s spectacular goal. Was it normal? “For a human being, I would say not,” said Guardiola.

Haaland's incredible goal v Sparta

There was also nothing routine about a brilliant performance from a forgotten man.

Before this match, Matheus Nunes had started just nine games in all competitions since signing for Man City back in the summer of 2023 from Wolverhampton Wanderers, mustering only one goal and three assists.

He almost doubled that tally against Sparta, scoring one and assisting two more in a dominant display on the left.

“He has a special quality that we don’t have,” Guardiola said after the match. “That’s why we need him – and he can play in many roles.

“The only problem he has is one: his manager doesn’t give him the minutes he deserves.”

Injuries and creativity are concerns for Arsenal

Arsenal 1-0 Shakhtar Donetsk

A Dmytro Riznyk own goal was enough for Arsenal to squeeze through a thorny fixture at the Emirates Stadium and keep their Champions League campaign on track, but another low-key performance – and another injury – takes the gloss off Mikel Arteta’s strong start.

Seven points from three matches is an impressive record, particularly with Paris Saint-Germain and Atalanta already ticked off, and keeping three consecutive Champions League clean sheets for the first time since 2007 is a feat worth celebrating.

But Arsenal supporters looking ahead to Sunday’s match against Liverpool might struggle to see those positives right now.

Riccardo Calafiori’s injury – “a bit of a worry,” says Arteta – further weakens a defence that will be without the suspended William Saliba.

In attack, two matches in four days without a goal being scored by an Arsenal player suggests chance creation is a serious concern while Martin Odegaard and Bukayo Saka remain sidelined.

After a challenging few days, the Liverpool game on Sunday looks a lot more daunting than it did a week ago.

Nunez emerges as key weapon against Arsenal

RB Leipzig 0-1 Liverpool

Arne Slot has enjoyed an almost perfect start to life as Liverpool head coach and unsurprisingly the records continue to fall.

Liverpool have won their first six away matches in a season in all competitions for the first time in their history.

Better still, Slot is the first head coach EVER to win as many as 11 of his first 12 games in charge of an English top-flight club.

But Slot will care more about the future than the past, and with that in mind the biggest takeaway from their win against RB Leipzig was Darwin Nunez’s second goal of the campaign, assisted by Mohamed Salah.

Salah and Nunez have combined for 14 goals in all competitions since the beginning of the 2022/23 season. Among Premier League clubs, only Erling Haaland and Kevin De Bruyne, with 21, have combined more often in that time.

That is instructive, not just regarding Nunez’s long-term future following a slow start under Slot but also in preparation for Sunday’s game against an Arsenal backline significantly weakened by the absences to Saliba and Calafiori due to suspension and injury, respectively.

On this evidence, Nunez’s chaotic energy and relationship with Salah could spread confusion in a weakened Gunners defence.