Eighteen titles between the pair, a stellar cast list, star-studded for the opening night. And on it went, hyperbolic to its core, the roll-out of the world’s greatest club competition. Welcome back, Champions League.
The Bernabéu was an obvious place to start, Zadok the Priest calling us to order with its epic chorus as the players emerged from the tunnel. But hold on a minute. Inter Milan, a fine team and a lively presence on the night, are coming from a different place than heroes past.
Serie A is not the elite cauldron it was in the latter half of the 20th Century. Indeed, take the Madrid teams and Barcelona out of it and, despite the protestations of José Mourinho, La Liga must also doff its cap to football’s economic superpower, the Premier League.
Mourinho would have the presence of Kylian Mbappé, Vinicius Jr and Jude Bellingham at Madrid, and Lamine Yamal at Barcelona, as evidence of La Liga’s superiority. “The best players in the world are here,” he boasts. They are, but too thinly spread to substantiate his argument of La Liga supremacy.
Europa League champions Aston Villa have yet to register a goal in the Premier League in three games this season. They sit a place above the relegation zone with one point and a negative five goal difference. Their opening Champions League fixture at Club Brugge, a straightforward 3-2 victory, was effectively football rehab after a tough start, a place to regain equilibrium before the hard yards resume at home to Nottingham Forest on Saturday.
