UEFA Champions League:

 

It is , as you were, in the Champions League and the goals have flowed over the first two rounds, with 22 of the 36 games (61.11%) producing 4+ and 17 (47.22%) seeing 5 or more goals. Those numbers are huge, are nothing new and why the world watches these fixtures. To give them some context, the new Premier League season is running at a respective 35.7% and 20%.

 

Looking at this week's Champions League games it is difficult to see any real drop off in goals and we can expect to continue to be royally entertained and that is good for everybody and especially the sport when it is dealing with the Manchester City saga and Infantinogate.

 

 

 

This game also feels massive for Roma. They are going well domestically and are unbeaten and sit 3rd, just two points off the lead. They opened their CL campaign with a 1-1 draw at Fenerbahce and last week led Real Madrid 3-1 with 83 minutes on the clock, that was Jose Mourinho's return to the Eternal City where he coached the hosts and life felt very sweet for all connected with I Giallorossi. However, they somehow managed to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory and had lost 4-3 when the dust had settled. They got back on track with a comfortable 2-0 defeat of Genoa at the weekend and now need to follow up tonight and start climbing the CL table, especially with trips to Manchester United and PSG up next. Slovan are ideal opponents as they have lost 10 straight in the competition and conceded 36 goals in the process, but they have scored in 6 of the last 7, including on the road to Atletico Madrid, Bayern Munich and PSG (Matchday 1...see below) and the visitors are a side we know well and they have goals in them, never give up and it will be a surprise were they not to score today. Roma are seven CL games without a clean sheet.

 

 

Good luck!

 

 

 

Some of you know that here at clubgowi, by which I mean me, we have a soft spot for Slovan Bratislava and are keen on how they play, which is usually open and sometimes gung-ho! That is largely borne out of dominating domestic football and you can think of them as the Slovakian PSG. I touched upon this ahead of their CL playoff first leg .....

 

 

I am not sure what their target will be from this point ,as they have achieved their main aim, but I would guess that it is to better 2024/25 when they lost all eight games and finished 35th of the 36 teams, so that should not be too difficult! However, there were some positives to take from that, as they scored in six , including against Milan (twice), Atletico Madrid, Stuttgart and Bayern and served us well with that approach. They never gave up, scoring late in several games when they were already lost and that is a great attribute, especially as you can probably guess where I am going with this. 

 

PSG need a win now, they are without one in four competitive games and have not kept a clean sheet in seven and they might not be concerned about giving up another, but on this occasion "have" to score 3-4-5 in reply .