Champions League overreactions: Arsenal are England's best hope

One of the lessons we learned successful past season's Champions League league signifier was that there's small consciousness successful playing for draws. Twenty-six teams won astatine slightest 3 of their 8 matches, and 24 advanced. Feyenoord mislaid by scores of 4-0 and 6-1, but precocious with 3 wins. Club Brugge mislaid by scores of 3-0, 3-1 and 3-1 and advanced. Hell, 3 wins for Dinamo Zagreb damn adjacent overcame a 9-2 first-matchday nonaccomplishment to Bayern Munich.

If Matchday 1 of this year's contention is immoderate indication, teams figured this out, too, due to the fact that teams were going for it. Sixteen of 18 matches featured astatine slightest 2 goals, and 11 featured astatine slightest four. We saw 18 goals aft the 80th minute, and it lone felt similar each those were successful the epic 4-4 betwixt Juventus and Borussia Dortmund.

We cognize that 1 matchday won't thatch america everything we request to cognize astir a fixed competition; successful past year's Champions League, aft all, eventual champion Paris Saint-Germain hardly salvaged a meek 1-0 triumph implicit a atrocious Girona team, and eventual semifinalist Barcelona mislaid to Monaco. Reserved reactions are smart, but they're besides nary amusive whatsoever. So as we do astatine the commencement of the nine season, we're going to instrumentality the regulator disconnected a spot and overreact.

Here are 5 things I'm acold much assured successful than I was erstwhile matches began connected Tuesday.

- Champions League talking points: Is Rashford backmost to his best? Who shone?
- Women's Champions League: Arsenal gully Lyonnes, Chelsea get Barça
- First-month grades for each 20 Premier League teams: From an A+ to F

Arsenal volition triumph the Champions League

The lone astonishment astir Arsenal's 2-0 triumph astatine Athletic Club connected Tuesday was that they didn't people from a acceptable piece. Otherwise, it was conscionable astir arsenic Arsenal arsenic an Arsenal lucifer could beryllium successful that a) precise small happened implicit a agelong play of clip and b) Arsenal won. They person agelong been blessed to default to "war of attrition" mode (total goals successful their archetypal 4 Champions League league signifier matches past season: 4), and pursuing a summertime of ambitious spending -- 8 caller acquisitions, astir €300 cardinal successful transportation fees -- they present person the extent to really thin connected opponents.

That extent earned them 3 points successful Bilbao. Through 70 minutes, the 2 teams had combined for conscionable 0.9 xG from 17 shots. But successful the 72nd minute, substitute Gabriel Martinelli scored connected a breakaway assisted by substitute Lea...