Champions League briefing: Has Vinicius Jr sealed the Ballon d’Or? Plus a Pulisic olimpico

It was a night of notable goals by notable goalscorers as the Champions League returned for matchweek three.

Vinicius Junior’s second-half hat-trick at the Bernabeu completed yet another Real Madrid European comeback as visitors Borussia Dortmund went from two goals up after an hour to 5-2 down by the final whistle, the Brazilian making a timely statement ahead of next Monday’s Ballon d’Or ceremony.

But there was also an unusual goal from Christian Pulisic, while Viktor Gyokeres and Jhon Duran maintained their hot streaks, the latter helping Aston Villa go clear at the top of the league-phase table.

These are the big talking points from Tuesday’s action.

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Is Vinicius nailed on for the Ballon d’Or?

At half-time in Madrid, Dortmund were dreaming of their first ever victory at the Bernabeu, 2-0 up and flying.

Defending European champions Real, having been beaten 1-0 away by France’s Lille on matchweek two, were in danger not only of losing their 14-match unbeaten home record in the competition, but also putting their qualification hopes in jeopardy with a second defeat in three games.

Enter Vinicius Jr. A blistering second-half hat-trick from the Brazilian settled this rematch of last season’s final in style. Dortmund must be sick of the sight of him.

His first was a mere tap-in, but the second was a gallivanting 60-yard run on the counter-attack that ended with a bullet of a drive into the corner.

His third, meanwhile, was a mazy run past three players before blasting above goalkeeper Gregor Kobel.

Vinicius Jr was absolutely brilliant in the second half and Dortmund were helpless as to how to stop him. Accolades and praise will continue to fall the way of the mercurial 24-year-old — and on Monday, he may well be named as the world’s best player this year when the latest Ballon d’Or winner is announced.

GO DEEPER

How is the Ballon d’Or 2024 winner decided?

He is the runaway favourite for the prize — awarded by a jury of journalists from the countries represented in the top 100 of the FIFA world rankings, and based on last season’s performances — when the ceremony takes place in Paris. Only Rodri, the Manchester City and Spain midfielder, seems to be considered a serious contender.

Vinicius Jr’s hat trick also took the shine of the night for a young talent who will hope to emulate him in the near future.

Jamie Gittens’ star continues to rise, and he became the youngest Englishman to score against Madrid, aged just 20 years and 75 days (beating Alan Smith’s record when he was with Leeds United in 2001), when he put Dortmund two up after 34 minutes .

Gittens’ time in the spotlight may come soon, but for now the stage belongs to Vinicius Jr.

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Pulisic’s Olympic

What do Thierry Henry, David Beckham, Megan Rapinoe and now Pulisic have in common?

They’re all right-footed? They’ve all played either in MLS or for the United States? Well, yes, but the answer we’re looking for is they’ve all scored an olimpico.

In football parlance, that’s a goal scored directly from a corner kick. It’s a very rare feat and it certainly isn’t easy to achieve, as Lionel Messi will tell you. One of the greatest players to ever kick a ball has never stuck one in straight from a corner, but it hasn’t been for the want of trying, as our Felipe Cardenas detailed earlier this year .

But Pulisic joined the club in the first half of AC Milan’s crucial 3-1 home win against Club Bruges.

Video for UK readers

Straight in from the corner 🎯

Pulisic gets the opener in San Siro with a direct corner into the back of the net 😅

📺 @tntsports & @discoveryplusUK pic.twitter.com/u5oUNrWfZZ

— Football on TNT Sports (@footballontnt) October 22, 2024

Video for US readers

🚨 CHRISTIAN PULISIC #UCL OLIMPICO!!! 🚨 pic.twitter.com/NSgfJMunLu

— CBS Sports Golazo ⚽️ (@CBSSportsGolazo) October 22, 2024

Did he mean it? Well, with Bruges’ ex-Liverpool goalkeeper Simon Mignolet dawdling off his line and leaving a yawning gap at the near post for him to target, we should give Pulisic the benefit of the doubt.

The olimpico should have been the inspiration Milan needed to take charge of a must-win game, with the Italians having already lost to Liverpool and Bayer Leverkusen. They made a massive meal of it though, with Bruges equalizing despite going down to 10 men when Raphael Onyedika was sent off.

When Milan’s star man Rafael Leao was surprisingly subbed off on the hour, the San Siro crowd loudly voiced their displeasure at manager Paulo Fonseca. But just 29 seconds later, with Leao still trudging around the pitch back to the bench, one of Fonseca’s substitutes Noah Okafor set up Tijjani Reijnders to make it 2-1.

Ten minutes later another sub, Samuel Chukwueze, assisted Reijnders to seal a huge victory – and serve up vindication for Fonseca.

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Can Villa’s fairytale continue?

OK, we know Unai Emery is good, but come on, this is getting silly now.

Who had Aston Villa down as potential Champions League leaders after three matches? Well, Emery’s team are sitting proudly at the top of the table, making up for lost time after four decades away from Europe’s premier competition.

Wins over Young Boys, Bayern Munich and now Bologna, all without conceding a goal, perhaps placing Villa in the dark horse category of this season’s competition. Emery certainly knows how to win a European trophy, after four Europa League triumphs in seven years with Sevilla (three) and Villarreal from 2014 to 2021…

Villa didn’t have it easy at home against a stubborn Bologna side, but second-half goals from John McGinn (whose crossed free kick from out wide bounced through a crowd of players) and a seventh goal of the season from Jhon Duran (who was subbed immediately afterwards and, well, took that quite badly) were enough.

With Villa, Monaco and Sporting Lisbon in first, second and third, the early table has an unpredictable look to it.

It was just a shame Villa Park wasn’t full for the occasion, with some fans put off by the Birmingham club charging among the highest ticket prices in the competition .

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Giants are wobbling

Domestic leagues such as the Premier League and Serie A are only just settling down after eight matches… but how long before the Champions League’s first ever league-phase table does?

Halfway through matchweek three, there are plenty of big guns who haven’t started to cement their spots in the top eight yet, which will mean they advance straight to the round of 16, and poor results for Juventus and Paris Saint-Germain on Tuesday have opened up the automatic qualification race even further.

Juventus may be unbeaten in the Italian top flight but in the Champions League they have conceded five goals in three games, and they were deservedly beaten by Stuttgart in Turin tonight.

The Germans mashed 22 shots (10 on target) to Juventus’ seven (one on target) but left it late to take the points, El Bilal Toure brilliantly finishing a well-worked move in stoppage time, Enzo Millot having missed a penalty a few minutes earlier.

Meanwhile, PSG’s iffy Champions League form continues. They needed a stoppage-time howler from Girona goalkeeper Paulo Gazzaniga to win in matchweek one, then lost to Arsenal, and have now labored to a 1-1 draw with Dutch visitors PSV Eindhoven.

Ousmane Dembele spurned two relatively simple chances as Luis Enrique’s profligate team scored just once from 26 attempts, with the French side grateful for another goalkeeping mistake when Walter Benitez allowed Achraf Hakimi’s long-range shot through his legs.

The outlook doesn’t look great for PSG, who have to face Atletico Madrid, Bayern, Manchester City and Juventus’ conquerors Stuttgart over their remaining five matches.

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Gyokeres’ hot streak continues

If Viktor Gyokeres played in the Premier League, La Liga or Bundesliga and scored as often as he is right now, he’d be a superstar of European football.

The fact he plies his trade for Sporting in the lower-profile Portuguese league means the 26-year-old Swede still probably goes under the radar, but there is a case for calling him one of the hottest strikers in the game right now.

The numbers are eye-popping. Gyokeres has played 11 matches in the Primeira Liga and Champions League this season and scored 13 times, and then there’s the four goals and three assists from four Swedish appearances.

Last season, he scored 43 in 50 in all competitions for Sporting, and you wonder how many clubs regret not challenging Sporting for his signature when Coventry City, of England’s second-tier Championship, sold him in 2022.

His latest, which helped secure a 2-0 away win against Austria’s Sturm Graz, was majestic.

Video for UK readers

Ridiculous from Viktor Gyökeres! 😱

Strength and composure combined in one ❄️

📺 @tntsports & @discoveryplusUK pic.twitter.com/4M5YKmdjxo

— Football on TNT Sports (@footballontnt) October 22, 2024

Video for US readers

VIKTOR GYÖKERES GLIDES THROUGH THE DEFENSE ALONE TO SCORE 😮‍💨 pic.twitter.com/ojw2cebbVF

— CBS Sports Golazo ⚽️ (@CBSSportsGolazo) October 22, 2024

Gyokeres recently stated that his release clause of €100million (£83m/$108m) might be a tad high, but if he keeps this form up there will undoubtedly be clubs prepared to pay it.

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Tuesday’s results

• AC Milan 3 Club Brugge 1
• Monaco 5 Red Star Belgrade 1
• Arsenal 1 Shakhtar Donetsk 0
• Aston Villa 2 Bologna 0
• Girona 2 Slovan Bratislava 0
• Juventus 0 Stuttgart 1
• Paris Saint-Germain 1 PSV Eindhoven 1
• Real Madrid 5 Borussia Dortmund 2
• Sturm Graz 0 Sporting Lisbon 2

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What’s next?

The remaining nine fixtures for matchweek three of the eight-round league phase take place on Wednesday.

• Atalanta vs Celtic (5.45pm BST/12.45pm ET)
• Brest vs Bayer Leverkusen (5.45pm BST/12.45pm ET)
• Atletico Madrid vs Lille (8pm BST/3pm ET)
• Barcelona vs Bayern Munich (8pm BST/3pm ET)
• Benfica vs Feyenoord (8pm BST/3pm ET)
• Manchester City vs Sparta Prague (8pm BST/3pm ET)
• RB Leipzig vs Liverpool (8pm BST/3pm ET)
• Red Bull Salzburg vs Dinamo Zagreb (8pm BST/3pm ET)
• Young Boys vs Inter Milan (8pm BST/3pm ET)

(Top photos: Vinicius Junior and Christian Pulisic; Getty Images)