Best of Three: Are BK Häcken going to upset the applecart?
Plus Barcelona's tactical tweak and PSG's woes
When the Champions League groups were drawn, there was some disappointment about ones where there was going to be an obvious winner but two gameweeks in it is interesting to see which teams are leading the race to be the second-placed teams. In Group B, Brann have made it two wins from two with a 1-0 win over Slavia Praha which they just about held onto having spurned a number of chances early on in the game. They now look in a very strong position to advance with Lyon.
In Group A meanwhile, Benfica got an important first win over Rosengard which will set up December’s fixtures against Eintracht Frankfurt nicely as those two sides look set to battle it out for second. BK Häcken remain the surprise leaders in Group D whilst Group C continues to look incredibly tight after Roma beat Ajax and Bayern Munich beat Paris Saint-Germain.
Are BK Häcken going to cause an upset in Group D?
Sitting atop of the table in Group D with six points is the somewhat surprising name of BK Häcken. Wins against Paris FC and Real Madrid have put them in a strong position for qualification, with the Swedish team taking both sides by surprise. This week, Häcken came from a goal down to win 2-1 against a Real Madrid team plagued by the same issues that they had against Chelsea. Here they managed to have a lot more possession but struggled to use it effectively, resorting to efforts from a long way outside the area. In the end they only had thirteen touches in the penalty area, and they looked disorganised when Häcken began to attack in the second half. Both of Häcken’s finishes were very good but Real Madrid left themselves open to a comeback like this one.
Häcken find themselves in an interesting position in this group (as do a number of other teams which participate in summer leagues) in that this represents the end of their season. Right now, they are in good form, seemingly getting over the disappointment of losing the Damallsvenskan on the final day to Hammarby. But how that changes as we head into December and January with not many matches on the table will be interesting to see.
How did Barcelona turn it around against Eintracht Frankfurt?
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