5 Things we learned from the first day of the Champions League Group Stage
The UEFA Champions League of the 2018/2019 season commenced on Tuesday with some emphatic performances by the biggest clubs and players in Europe.
The first match day stuck true to the UCL's nature, delivering some surprises and shocks and giving us some pointers into how he season would turn out.
Barcelona begun their quest for European redemption with an emphatic win, while Inter Milan kicked off their first campaign in seven years with a comeback victory over Tottenham.
Later on, Liverpool delivered a statement of intent on their plans to build on the gains of last season with a pulsating 3-2 victory over PSG, and Atleti gained 2-1 win away to Monaco in their march towards the final to be played at their home stadium.
As with any match day, this one is bound to have far reaching consequences for the participating team, and it gave us some juicy moments to talk about. Here are five observations from the first match day of the Champions League.
#5 Lionel Messi means business
Once unshaken at the top of the football hierarchy, the Argentine has been knocked off his perch in recent seasons, overtaken by Cristiano Ronaldo as the best in the world and seen his status as one of the all time greats questioned.
Lionel Messi also failed to make it into the top three of a FIFA and UEFA award for the first time in over a decade, watching on as Mohamed Salah and Luka Modrić stole his shine.
A lot of this could be traced back to Messi's lack of impact in the Champions League in the recent years. The last time he won the UCL Golden Boot was way back in 2012, and he has failed to lead Barcelona to Champions League glory in three years.
In that time, it is his eternal rival Ronaldo who has blossomed, dominating headlines with his European performances and leading Real Madrid to an unprecedented three Champions League crowns on the trot.
Lionel Messi needs to perform in the UCL to regain his lost place of pride, and based on his hat-trick performance against PSV, it seems like he means business, and this would come as sweet music to the ears of the Barcelona faithful, as when Messi means business, we know what could happen.