Looking at the first three rounds of this season’s Champions League, the performance of Premier League teams can be described as stunning. Liverpool, Manchester City, Arsenal, and Aston Villa won 10 out of 12 matches and drew 2, remaining unbeaten. Among them, Aston Villa and Liverpool maintained a perfect record, while Manchester City and Arsenal secured 2 wins and 1 draw in the first three rounds. Notably, Manchester City, Aston Villa, and Arsenal kept a clean sheet in all three rounds, with Liverpool conceding only one goal.
In terms of the quality of their victories, the four Premier League teams also performed impressively. For example, Aston Villa defeated Bayern Munich 1-0, Arsenal beat Paris Saint-Germain 2-0, and Liverpool overcame AC Milan 3-1 and RB Leipzig 1-0. Just when everyone expected Premier League teams to continue their strong performance in the fourth round of the Champions League, one team faltered, and it was none other than the Premier League powerhouse, Manchester City.
In the fourth round of the Champions League, Liverpool and Manchester City were the first to take the field. Liverpool secured a 4-0 victory against last season’s Bundesliga champions, Bayer Leverkusen, with Diáz scoring a hat-trick and Gakpo netting a goal following a pass from Salah. It was a convincing win for Liverpool, extending their perfect record in the Champions League. In contrast, Manchester City’s performance in this round of the Champions League was extremely disappointing.
In their away match against Sporting Portugal, Manchester City took an early lead with Foden scoring in the fourth minute. However, what followed was unexpected: Manchester City’s defense completely collapsed. Sporting Portugal’s star striker, Jaka Jarek, scored a hat-trick, and Aráujo added another goal for the home side, while Haaland missed a penalty. As a result, Manchester City suffered a 1-4 defeat against Sporting Portugal, becoming the first Premier League team to lose in this season’s Champions League. It should be noted that after losing to Tottenham in the EFL Cup and to Bournemouth in the tenth round of the Premier League, Manchester City has now experienced a three-match losing streak.
Following Manchester City’s disappointing loss to Sporting Portugal, pressure has shifted to the other two Premier League teams. On November 7th, Beijing time, Arsenal will travel to Italy to face Inter Milan, while Aston Villa will play an away match against Belgian team Club Brugge. Whether Arsenal and Aston Villa can restore the Premier League’s pride is definitely worth watching.
