Monaco outshines Barcelona, standout performances from Wirtz and Raya headline additional Thursday Champions League insights.
Neither of Thursday's top-tier clubs started their week with a win, one suffering a disheartening defeat while the other required exceptional goalkeeping to secure a point.
The key takeaways from Thursday's matches are as follows.
Monaco overpowers 10-man Barcelona
Having notched up five straight victories in La Liga, Barcelona's new manager Hansi Flick faced his first setback as Barcelona succumbed to a convincing defeat at the hands of AS Monaco.
An early red card for Eric García for a severe foul on Takumi Minamino provided a significant advantage to the 2004 Champions League finalists, which Monaco swiftly capitalized on.
"Today's situation with a red card after only 11 minutes altered our game plan. We must accept it; such incidents happen," Flick admitted to reporters post-match.
Matters worsened for Barcelona in the 16th minute when Maghnes Akliouche found the net with a superb strike, cutting in from the right wing and finishing past Marc-André ter Stegen at his near post.
Barcelona managed to pull one back just before the half-hour mark when Lamine Yamal scored a near mirror image of Akliouche's goal at the opposite end. The 17-year-old's debut Champions League goal was the result of his impressive brace against Girona at the weekend.
However, it was Monaco's up-and-coming striker, George Ilenikhena, who stole the show. With Barcelona continuously pressing, the Nigerian youngster scored the deciding goal in the 71st minute, once more beating ter Stegen at his near post.
In accomplishing this feat, the 18-year-old broke Monaco's record for the youngest ever Champions League goalscorer, surpassing Kylian Mbappé's previous mark from the 2016/17 season, when Monaco last progressed to the knockout stages of the tournament.
"We had our chances but they deserved to win," Flick remarked. "I have told the team to put their heads up as they are dispirited, but we need to focus on Sunday (against Villarreal), which is our next game. It's time to recover. Hopefully, players will return with renewed vigor."
David Raya's heroics save Arsenal
After Liverpool's 3-1 victory over AC Milan and Manchester City's 0-0 draw with Inter, the Champions League played host to its third English-Italian encounter for the week as Arsenal visited Atalanta.
With Atalanta enduring three losses in their first five games and Arsenal coming off a victory against local rivals Tottenham Hotspur, many expected an easy victory for the Gunners.
Instead, the anticipated comfortable victory required David Raya's top-notch goalkeeping to keep the scores level.
After Atalanta was awarded a penalty for Thomas Partey's foul on Éderson early in the second half, Raya saved Mateo Retegui's attempt with a fantastic save to his right, before turning in a remarkable follow-up save to his left to deny Retegui's header from the rebound.
Despite the final scoreline of 0-0 not being what Arsenal had hoped for, it could have been much worse had it not been for their influential goalkeeper.
"We needed two of the most remarkable saves I've ever witnessed in my career from David to keep us in the game," stated manager Mikel Arteta. "David’s outstanding execution in saving that first one was incredible. Although I thought the second one had crossed the line, David displayed extraordinary resilience in keeping the ball out."
Florian Wirtz dazzles on Champions League debut
It took Bayer Leverkusen's Florian Wirtz just five minutes of Champions League football to notch up his first goal in the competition.
The highly-talented Wirtz seemed a class above host Feyenoord, striking a ferocious left-footed shot from the edge of the box into the bottom corner to give Xabi Alonso's team an early lead.
After Álex Grimaldo doubled Leverkusen's lead, Wirtz returned to the limelight, volleying a Jeremie Frimpong cross past goalkeeper Timon Wellenreuther with just eight minutes remaining before halftime.
Wellenreuther's own goal just before half-time sealed the rout.
"I enjoyed today's performance immensely, and I'm thrilled to have scored two goals," Wirtz conveyed to UEFA.com. "The win stands out, and now I look forward to continuing my form in future games. I think scoring more than one goal in a single month is a great achievement."
Wirtz joined Harry Kane, Michael Olise, and Jamie Gittens as the only players to score more than one goal in the Champions League this week; all four players represented German clubs.
Tough beginning for revamped Swiss Model format
The redesigned Champions League format, adopting a Swiss Model to create more early-season meetings between Europe's top teams, has struggled to win over fans following a series of mundane matches during the inaugural week.
The rematch of the 2023 Champions League final between Manchester City and Inter Milan was the highlight of the group stage but ended in a 0-0 draw, prompting City midfielder Rodri to voice concerns about the impact of the new system – which adds two additional games to each team's schedule – on player fatigue, potentially leading to even more tension among players to the point of going on strike.
This week, with only a single 0-0 game between top-tier teams, fans voiced their concerns over the apparent discrepancy between powerhouse and less-skilled teams.
The most apparent disparity was evident in Bayern Munich's 9-2 victory over Dinamo Zagreb. Bayern supporters held aloft banners reading "Too many games," "Unfair treatment," and "Financial disparity excessive," accompanied by a larger banner that read "Return to our roots, alter the CL format."
Many fans echoed these sentiments on social media. One user posted, "This revised Champions League setup is confounding and challenging to embrace." Another user wrote, "Lose five matches, then triumph over Slovan Bratislava, Sturm Graz, and Dinamo Zagreb. A mere nine points sends you through. Almost devoid of competition until the RO16."
As we near the final seven weeks before the knockout stages, it remains to be seen how this new format unfolds. Time may eventually soften fan discontentment.
However, even if discontent persists, undoubtedly all attention will be focused on the next matchday when the Champions League resumes on October 1, with Arsenal against Paris Saint-Germain being the main attraction.
Thursday's results
Home vs. away (winners in bold)
Crvena Zvezda (Red Star) 1-2 Benfica
Feyenoord 0-4 Bayer Leverkusen
Stade Brestois 2-1 Sturm Graz
Atalanta 0-0 Arsenal
Atlético Madrid 2-1 RB Leipzig
AS Monaco 2-1 Barcelona
In the realm of football, Barcelona manager Hansi Flick acknowledged their struggles against AS Monaco, admitting that the early red card and exceptional goalkeeping from their opponent significantly impacted their game plan. (contains: sport, football)
Despite Atalanta enduring a challenging start in the Champions League, Arsenal's goalkeeper, David Raya, showcased top-notch performance, saving crucial shots to keep the game against Atalanta level. (contains: sport, football)
