We are in the middle of the Champions League group stages for the 2020-21 campaign, and there are plenty of talking points when entering midweek action.
Liverpool could take major steps towards the knockout stages of Premier League clubs Manchester United and Chelsea as they continue to deal with the injury crisis, while reigning champions Bayern Munich could rewrite the history books and Barcelona will not make a significant appearance.
Here, Sportsmail looks at 10 talking points for this week’s Champions League action.
We are in the middle of the Champions League group stage for the 2020-21 campaign, with Real Madrid and Inter Milan competing in the much-anticipated match this week
Messi is missing for Barcelona
Lionel Messi was sacked from Barcelona on Tuesday to face Dynamo Kiev in one of his worst games for the club in Saturday’s defeat to Atletico Madrid.
The omission of Messi could be a sign of further grief between him and the club, with manager Ronald Coman citing the reason for his departure, and the departure of midfielder Frankie de Jong due to their comfortable position on the team.
Barcelona are top of Group G, seven points ahead of third-placed Kiev, so allowing Messi to rest makes sense on the surface, but to add extra context, Barca fans may have a taste in the future as Messi continues to join. Go away.
Argentina have not seen themselves this season. He lost 1-0 in Wanda Metropolitano and lost the ball a staggering 23 times. He managed only 36 passes.
Lionel Messi gave his worst performance for Barcelona in Atletico Madrid’s defeat on Saturday, now he will be out of the Champions League clash with Dynamo Kiev
Four goals in the Holland fire
Earl Holland, the former captain of Borussia Dortmund, continues to prove why he is one of the most coveted strikers in the world following his Golden Boy award victory, and named him Europe’s best player under the age of 21.
Norway International, 20, are currently leading the Champions League gold openers with Liverpool’s Diego Jotta, Juventus striker Alvaro Morata and Manchester United’s Marcus Rashford.
Hertha will lead the Dortmund club Bruce as a guest after scoring an incredible four goals in 22 minutes against Berlin over the weekend.
Earling Holland scored four goals in 22 minutes against Hertha Berlin over the weekend
The revenge mission of Manchester United
Ole Gunner Soulschenger’s most recent memory of the Champions League is one of his worst since taking over as Manchester United manager.
The Red Devils host Istanbul Pasakshir on Tuesday and will be on the revenge agenda. The Turkish side were stunned by United 2-1 in the reverse match, with Temba Pau’s opener highlighting their shampolic defense.
United and R.P. Playing with Leipzig is all but six points, but behind them are Paschashire and last year’s finalists Paris Saint-Germain by three points.
Chelsea can make progress
If they beat Rennes and Sevilla against Krasnodar in Group E, Frank Lampard could lead his side to the knockout stages of the Champions League.
Blues are starting to find their footing under Lampart, and all of their new summer additions have been on the training pitch for a while yet.
Entering unbeaten in nine games in all competitions and with five straight wins, including four clean sheets, Chelsea want to secure their place in the next round as this will allow them to rest the key players for the final two matches of the group. Part of this season’s exciting schedule.
Mason Mount (right) and Chelsea will want to secure their place in the next round this week
Who will play for injured Liverpool?
As Liverpool’s injury crisis continues, Jர்கrgen Klopp is trying to put together a team for the next few matches.
Without Trent Alexander-Arnold, Joe Gomez, Virgil van Dijk, Jordan Henderson, Nabi Geeta, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Sherdon Shakiri, Diego Alcondara and Rice Williams will face Atlanta in the Champions League on Wednesday.
Luckily for Klopp, Mohamed Salah is back after recovering from the corona virus and he has a full compliment for joining Diego Jotta, Sadio Mane and Roberto Firmino.
The Reds must have relied on young talents like Curtis Jones who showed plenty of promise under the Globe because they travel on a busy winter schedule without many star players.
Fortunately for the Jurgen Globe, he has a complete attack and Mohamed Salah is back.
Match to be won by Real Madrid and Inter
It would be more realistic if Group B were turned upside down, but the Champions League would provoke surprises.
Real Madrid and Inter are seen sitting in third and fourth place respectively in the group, now facing each other in a match to be won on Wednesday.
The Italians have yet to win a match in this campaign, with Antonio Conte’s side managing two draws and one defeat. Meanwhile, Madrid have been working hard in their squad, including Borussia Monchengladbach and Shakhtar Donetsk, with wins, draws and defeats.
Because of their position, a draw will not help as both teams are actively fighting for victory. But a defeat will go to the almighty upward against an embarrassing exit.
Man City needs to get medicine
Pep Cardiola will still be scratching his head over City’s barren trip to Tottenham Hotspur Stadium over the weekend.
Despite 22 shots against Spurs, they failed to score and lost 2-0 to the current Premier League leaders.
Summer signer Ferran Torres scored a hat-trick during Spain’s international break to victory over Germany on Wednesday as Olympiacos were caught in reverse matches against their opponents.
Pep Cardiola is still scratching his head at Manchester City’s stumbling attack
Byrne can continue to rewrite history books
The current champions continue to assert their European dominance as they lead Group A with three wins from three matches this season.
They face Red Bull Salzburg on Tuesday, who won the reverse match 6-2 and could extend their run to consecutive Champions League victories to 15.
Bayern broke the record for most consecutive wins in the Champions League last season, surpassing Real Madrid’s 10 wins in the 2014-15 campaign and rewriting the history books with each win.
Although they missed key players Alfonso Davis and Joshua Kimmich due to injury, the Bundesliga champions need another win and qualify for the next round of the tournament.
Although Salzburg are strong, Bayern have proven that they can eventually break teams as striker Robert Lewandowski has scored in the final 15 minutes of each of his last five European appearances.
Fantastic Bayern Munich could extend their Champions League winning streak to 15
PSG face Uncomfortable exit
After coming very close to winning the Champions League last season, the PSG are in danger of dropping out of the competition altogether at the group stage.
This week R.P. Leipzig, beating them in a reverse match, left only one win in three matches in Group H.
PSG’s heavy funding has always aimed to become European champions because their resources were already strong enough to position themselves as the best club in France.
With Tuesday’s end so riding in their team position and an embarrassing exit if it goes wrong, you should realize that this match could be limited to manager Thomas Tuchel and talisman Kylian Mbabane about their future in Paris.
Moise Keane (right) and PSG are RPGs. Avoid disaster against Leipzig or leave early
Impossible supremacy of Monchengladbach and Shakti
As mentioned earlier, Group B has come up with a lot of surprises as Borussia Monchengladbach is slightly ahead of Shakhtar Donetsk.
Behind them, Real Madrid and Inter Milan will be battling for a big three points as whoever wins this match could deal a severe blow to the loser of the other match and drop them to the Europa League.
The Germans are in form with 10 goals from the opening three games of the tournament, with striker Alasen Fle sitting on three goals and three assists.
