Europe’s showpiece did its best impression of a football festival this week. There were boos you could feel in your ribs, a centre back who sprinted the length of the pitch like a 100-metre finalist, one of the planet’s sharpest finishers ticking onwards, and a Barcelona game that veered from chaos to catharsis and back again. Arsenal, quiet as a cat burglar, slipped through four matches without letting anyone in. Here is the story of a riotous couple of nights.
Champions League nights are the greatest
Trent’s unhappy return
There are few places in football that concentrate feeling like Anfield on a European night. Trent Alexander-Arnold, once the local son and now a marquee arrival at Real Madrid, stepped back into it and found little warmth waiting. The boos started as soon as he stirred from the bench and they only grew louder when he came on. By then Liverpool had the teeth for the contest. Alexis Mac Allister’s goal separated the sides and the home end took care of the soundtrack.
The Micky van de Ven goal your phone will keep recommending
Every Champions League week gifts you a clip that refuses to leave your timeline. This time it belongs to Micky van de Ven. Tottenham’s defender started near his own penalty spot, gobbled up space, glided past challenges and finished with a curled shot that would flatter most wingers. It was an 80 metre blur that echoed one of the most replayed Premier League runs of the last decade.
The comparison that followed was inevitable. Son Heung Min’s 2019 slalom against Burnley won the Puskas Award because it condensed audacity and technique into a single breathless run. Van de Ven’s effort belonged to that family of goals. The touch at full speed, the refusal to settle for a safe pass, the composure at the end. Spurs thumped Copenhagen and the Dutchman’s sprint became the night’s emblem. The bigger picture is just as flattering. Tottenham have needed a statement performance and found it, thanks to a centre back who ran like a winger and finished like one too.
Thomas Frank reacts to Micky van de Ven wonder goal last night in the Champions League!
— 365Scores (@365Scores) November 5, 2025
The Dutch star is now Tottenham’s highest scorer of the season in all competitions. pic.twitter.com/Bws2HyZURX
Luis Díaz’s half of pure Champions League theatre
You do not often see a footballer pack an entire character arc into 45 minutes. Luis Díaz managed it in Paris. Two clinical strikes put Bayern Munich two up inside half an hour at PSG, the second built on pure anticipation as he nicked the ball from a dozing defender and buried it. Then came the snap. A rash lunge on Achraf Hakimi drew a straight red just before the interval. Parc des Princes shifted mood immediately. PSG took the ball, the initiative and most of the second half. They halved the deficit. They threatened to level. Bayern held out.
There are different ways to read a night like that. For Bayern the headline is resilience. Sixteen wins in sixteen across all competitions tends to shout for itself, but it is the texture of the victories that impresses. They are learning how to suffer and still win. For Díaz the takeaway is sharper. He turned a tight away tie with two finishes that few wide forwards can produce at that pace, then endangered it with a tackle that risked the whole night unraveling. Eventful is an understatement.
🚨 BREAKING: Paris Saint-Germain have revealed the injury details of three players from last night’s match against Bayern Munich:
▪️ Achraf Hakimi suffered a severe sprain in his left ankle and will be out for several weeks ❌
▪️ Ousmane Dembélé picked up a left calf injury ❌… pic.twitter.com/7YIApPZayK— 365Scores (@365Scores) November 5, 2025
Barcelona stopped at the last by Club Brugge
Barcelona’s trip to Bruges was supposed to be a checkpoint. It became an examination. Club Brugge punished the high defensive line again and again. Within minutes Barça were running toward their own goal with a feeling of dread. They conceded on the counter, equalised, conceded again, equalised again, and still needed a late own goal to take anything from the evening. Then came the final twist. Brugge thought they had a stoppage time winner. VAR found a foul on the goalkeeper and scrubbed it.
The pattern said plenty about Hansi Flick’s balancing act. This version of Barcelona wants to play on the front foot. They squeeze the pitch, they trust their defenders to win races from high starting positions, and they rely on their forwards to turn volume into chances. Against Brugge the vulnerability that lives inside that approach was laid bare. Quick outlets, early passes in behind, chaos in transition. Even when Lamine Yamal shimmied through and raised the ceiling of what felt possible, Brugge struck back with another jet-fuel counter. A draw was a fair sentence. For Barça it also felt like a warning.
Haaland is exactly who you think he is
Erase the novelty and it can be difficult to describe Erling Haaland without repeating yourself. He found the net again this week, bullying Dortmund as if nothing about that reunion was complicated. The timing of his finish felt inevitable. The ball arrives, the first contact is clean, and the net becomes a formality. That is the Haaland experience when City are purring.
The broader context remains staggering. He is already north of a goal per game in Europe, a return that breaks the brain when you remember he is still in his mid twenties. Pep Guardiola has adjusted the cast around him and City’s attack looks fresher for it. Phil Foden has the keys more often. The wide men are running at full backs rather than always into half spaces. Through it all Haaland keeps writing the same end to the story.
🔥 With memories of Haaland’s unforgettable goal 💪
— 365Scores (@365Scores) November 5, 2025
Manchester City take on Borussia Dortmund once again in a clash full of emotion and nostalgia 🤩💥
After all, the German side was the source of three key players who became the cornerstone of City’s historic treble 🏆💙 pic.twitter.com/omKPOmuyXb
Arsenal’s stealth mode might be their greatest weapon
Noise is nice. Trophies love quiet competence. Arsenal have not conceded a Champions League goal through four matches of the league phase. Read that again. In a format that asks you to absorb a carousel of styles, Mikel Arteta’s side have turned each assignment into a lesson in control. The choreography is impressive. The distances are neat. The counter press looks built by a draftsman. Their 3-0 against Slavia underscored it, but the stat sheet tells the sweetest tale. Four played, four clean sheets, zero in the goals against column.
There are a few reasons why this feels sustainable. William Saliba and Gabriel are in that rare groove where everything looks early, the interventions are tidy, and even when the line is high the panic is low. Declan Rice has the read of situations that lets the rest throttle the game. The full backs invert without leaving the flanks naked. Up top there is enough threat that opponents cannot simply commit bodies forward without consequence. Call it balance, call it maturity. Either way it is the sound of a team that has worked out how to control European nights.
FAQs
Who had the most eventful individual performance?
Luis Díaz. Two goals to put Bayern two up at PSG, then a straight red for a reckless tackle on Achraf Hakimi. Bayern still won, but the match bent around his 45 minutes.
Where did Trent Alexander-Arnold get booed?
At Anfield. He returned with Real Madrid and was loudly jeered by the Liverpool crowd as a late substitute. Liverpool won the match.
How good was Micky van de Ven’s goal, really?
Special enough to earn comparisons to Son Heung Min’s famous 2019 solo run. Van de Ven covered most of the pitch, kept the ball on a string and finished coolly. It will be in season montages.
Did Erling Haaland set a new Champions League record this week?
Haaland became the first player to score in five consecutive Champions League marches for three different clubs. Insanity.
Are Arsenal the only team with a perfect defensive record in the Champions League?
Across the league phase so far, they are the standout. Four games, no goals conceded. The underlying metrics and the club’s broader clean sheet run point to a defence that is both in form and well coached.
Were Barcelona lucky to escape Bruges with a draw?
A little. They equalised three times and survived a stoppage time goal being ruled out after VAR detected a foul on the goalkeeper. Brugge’s plan against the high line worked repeatedly.
By Nicky Helfgott / @NickyHelfgott1 on Twitter (X)
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