UEFA Champions League 2018-19: The best goals from matchday 2
The European nights are the best thing that could light up a mid-week for a football fan. With the premier club competition entering its second week, stakes were high for a lot of teams, particularly those who lost on day 1.
Real Madrid fell to an agonizing and shameful defeat to the lesser known Russian giant killers, CSKA Moscow. The margin of defeat, one goal. Ajax were much the better team against German Champions Bayern Munich, but Manuel Neuer didn’t let more than one ball slide past him. PSG celebrated their win in a grand fashion with 6 goals past Red Star Belgrade. And somewhere in Italy, it was dead even till the 90th minute but one quick counter changed things. Lorenzo Insigne the scorer for Napoli against Liverpool.
Barcelona and Lionel Messi are no strangers to success at Wembley. They lifted the UEFA Champions League for the first time at Wembley and also 7 years back at Wembley. Lionel Messi scored in the final against Manchester United at Wembley and this time again he scored, twice against Tottenham. Goals ultimately decide the game, Bayern got away with the performance because Ajax couldn’t score. PSG’s dominance is visible because of so many goals, otherwise, no one will notice their 34 attempts. Napoli outplayed Liverpool in the game but to be rewarded the ball had to go in, at least once. As soon as we hear the 4-2 scoreline between Barcelona and Tottenham, we could make that it was a good match. That is the importance of goals.
We saw some amazing goals from some great players. Lionel Messi, Neymar, Dybala, Griezmann, everyone made the scoresheet. But the fashion in which the ball goes in matters too. It makes the game that tad more exciting.
Here are our top five scorers who bend it in, with supreme finesse.
#5 Neymar
A lot of heat and controversy is surrounding Neymar’s possible downfall. From being the hero of Barcelona’s infamous Remonatada to becoming an overhyped Brazilian, Neymar has fallen a long way down. He got 0 votes for the best FIFA Awards from captains, coaches and journalists. However, Neymar is answering all the questions now. He is trying to control his play-acting, he is staying on his feet as much as possible and he is stepping up for his team. With Kylian Mbappe clearly misfiring, as of late, Neymar has gone full throttle. He scored a brace against Nice and then a hattrick against Red Star Belgrade.
Neymar had two stupendous freekicks. The first one curved over with a huge amount of dip in it. However, his second freekick is the one that makes the cut here. It came from a better distance, the keeper knew the threat that would come in advance. Neymar went with a tad bit of power, the ball rising above the wall and dipping just enough to end up in the top corner. The keeper just lost all his reflexes and didn’t move an inch. Neymar celebrated his 22nd career freekick goal. Neymar’s freekick and his hattrick were equally amazing in PSG’s 6-1 win.