Champions League: Ballon d'Or pains to fire Barca past PSG?

Mbappe nets a hat-trick, Liverpool falter in Istanbul, Chelsea scrape by, and Arsenal, City, plus Barca vs PSG headline Champions League drama.

The Ballon D'Or conversation will lead the line when PSG travels to the Camp Nou on Wednesday in the Champions League, this should be a sensational game. (Photo credit: Opta)

The Champions League returned on Tuesday with exciting fixtures that left us asking for more of the same on Wednesday. From Kylian Mbappe’s hat-trick to Liverpool’s weird night at Istanbul, there’s a lot to unpack.

Ademola Lookman’s return to the first eleven of Atalanta was the first talking point of game round 2, and despite having never kicked a ball since the end of last season for club, the Nigerian was the brightest player on the pitch for the hour he played. Looks like he’s back for good for the club.

Real Madrid destroyed Kairat Almaty 5-0 with Frenchman Kylian Mbappe netting a hat-trick. It felt like a huge relief for the entire squad after their embarrassment in the hands of their fierce city rivals Atletico Madrid at the weekend; they will hope to pick things up from here and string another run together.

Elsewhere on the night, Victor Osimhen’s penalty was the difference between Liverpool and Galatasaray at the home of the Turkish club, but the loss came at a huge cost to the Premier League champions as they lost the duo of Alisson and Hugo Ekitike to injuries.

The Kops left too much to be desired, with Ibrahim Konate struggling to cope with the intensity of the game. The run of late winners has now ended, and what they have now is a run of back-to-back losses, and with Chelsea coming at the weekend, the champions must get a grip.

Speaking of Chelsea, they were quite unconvincing in their 1-0 win over Benfica, and seeing Joao Pedro sent off on the night leaves us wondering if it’s a norm for a Blue to see red with their third consecutive marching orders.

Liverpool will be a different game, and prosecuting the game without Cole Palmer and Nathan Chalobah could be a huge problem, but Liverpool have their own issues, so we will just wait to see how that pans out at the weekend at Anfield.

On Wednesday, Arsenal will be home to Olympiakos, a game you expect the Gunners to win and by enough goals to put them among the leaders on the log, while Manchester City will be away to Monaco, another result you expect to be in favour of Pep Guardiola’s side.

The game of the round is the one between Barcelona and PSG. There’s so much to talk about considering their two-legged cracker last season at the semifinal stage. Will they give us a repeat of that sensational performance?