Villa's perfect start meets Barcelona test
The Champions League league phase has a shape after three matchdays, and the shape is unusual. Five clubs have won all three games: Paris Saint-Germain, Aston Villa, Liverpool, Real Madrid and Real Betis. Two more, Stuttgart and Arsenal, have seven points. The fourth matchday, split across Tuesday and Wednesday, is where the top eight starts to separate from the clubs that will need a play-off in February.
Villa are the story of the first three rounds: nine points, 12 goals scored and three conceded. On Tuesday they go to Barcelona, who have six points, 11 goals and the best attack in La Liga. The same night Manchester United, 21st in the table, host Roma, 15th, and Atletico Madrid meet Bayern Munich with both clubs outside the top eight.
The table after three matchdays
| Team | P | W | D | L | GF | GA | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Paris Saint-Germain | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 14 | 5 | 9 |
| Aston Villa | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 12 | 3 | 9 |
| Liverpool | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 12 | 7 | 9 |
| Real Madrid | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 5 | 9 |
| Real Betis | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 4 | 9 |
| Stuttgart | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 2 | 7 |
| Arsenal | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 2 | 7 |
| Barcelona | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 11 | 6 | 6 |
Nine points is the maximum, and five clubs have it. Goal difference splits them: PSG plus nine, Villa plus nine, Liverpool plus five, Real Madrid plus five, Betis plus three. Stuttgart and Arsenal, on seven, are unbeaten. Barcelona are eighth on six, level with Como, Manchester City, Club Brugge, Sporting and Dortmund, and only goal difference keeps them above the line.
The top eight go straight into the last 16. Clubs from ninth to 24th go into a two-legged play-off round in February, and the bottom 12 are out. With five matches still to play, the table is less a verdict than a set of prices, and the fourth matchday is the first one where a defeat starts to cost a place rather than a point.
Villa's nine points and three goals conceded
Villa's European record is the cleanest in the competition after Stuttgart: three wins, 12 goals, three conceded. Only Stuttgart, with two conceded, have let in fewer. The domestic picture is flatter. Villa are ninth in the Premier League on 12 points from nine games, with three wins, three draws and three defeats, 10 goals scored and 13 conceded, and they drew 1-1 with Fulham on Saturday.
Four goals a game in Europe and barely one a game at home is the sort of split that usually corrects itself, in one direction or the other. Tuesday will say which number is closer to the truth. Villa's group of forwards has been the difference: 12 goals from three games is more than Liverpool have managed in the same competition and only two fewer than PSG, who have played the same number of matches.
Barcelona's attack against that defence
Barcelona are eighth with six points from two wins and a defeat, 11 goals scored and six conceded. In La Liga they have 30 points from 11 games, 46 goals scored and 12 conceded, and on Sunday they beat Alaves 6-1 with Anthony Gordon among the scorers. Their 11 goals in Europe are level with Villa and behind only PSG's 14.
The weakness is at the other end. Six conceded in three is the second-worst record in the top eight, after Liverpool's seven, and it is the reason a side with the best goal difference in Spain is eighth in Europe. Villa's three conceded is the second-best record in the phase. The game is therefore a test of whether Villa's defensive shape travels to a ground where the opposition will have most of the ball.
Old Trafford: 21st against 15th
Manchester United are 21st with three points from three games, five goals scored and six conceded, and host Roma on Tuesday. In the Premier League they are 17th with seven points from nine, one win, four draws and four defeats, after a 2-0 loss at Chelsea on Saturday in which Lisandro Martinez was sent off.
Roma are 15th in the league phase on four points, with eight scored and five conceded, and unbeaten in Serie A: 24 points from 10 games, seven wins and three draws, 28 goals scored and 10 conceded, third behind Lazio on 28 and Inter on 25. Michael Carrick will stay in charge for the game, the Guardian reported. Reports on Monday named Eddie Howe as the preferred candidate if the club changed manager, and the club has not confirmed any change.
On the numbers, United's problem is not the schedule but the form: three points from three games and a visit from a side unbeaten in its own league. A win takes them to six points and back into the play-off places; a defeat leaves them on three with four games left.
Atletico, Bayern and the rest of the card
- Atletico Madrid, 16th on four points with four scored and three conceded, host Bayern Munich, 14th on five. Bayern are unbeaten in the phase with two draws and 10 goals.
- Villarreal, 19th on three points after an 8-8 goal record, host PSG, who lead the table on nine with 14 scored and five conceded.
- Feyenoord, 26th on three points, host Inter, 20th on three, in a game between two clubs that need a win to stay in the play-off places.
- Slavia, 32nd with one point from three, host Arsenal, seventh on seven points with six scored and two conceded.
- Galatasaray host Stuttgart, Shakhtar host Sporting, Bodo/Glimt host Lille and LASK host Slovan Bratislava, with Lille and Slovan still without a point.
What matchday four decides
Nothing is settled, but the margins are already narrow. A win for Villa in Barcelona would put them on 12 points from four and leave Barcelona on six with two defeats; a Barcelona win would level them on nine and turn the top eight into a queue. United, on three, need four points from their next two games to stay in the play-off picture, and Roma need the same from a harder run.
The clubs on nine can afford one bad night. The clubs on three cannot afford two. That is the whole logic of the new phase, and it is why the table after three rounds already looks like a sorting process rather than a race. The full standings are on the tables page, the domestic picture is in the LaLiga section, and the English side of the argument is in the Premier League section.