Most Surprising Results from Matchday Four of the UEFA Champions League

French tournament debutants Brest currently find themselves unbeaten, flying high in fourth place in the lengthy league standings, with three wins and a draw to their name. At the opposite end of the standings, usual heavy hitters such as Paris Saint-Germain and RB Leipzig — two teams that met in the semifinals four and a half years ago — are in real danger of suffering an early exit.
Matchday four of the campaign was no different, and there were shocks aplenty right across the continent. Here are the three biggest of them.
Portuguese champions Sporting CP’s clash against Manchester City in Lisbon had an unusual undertone to it. The hosts’ manager Ruben Amorim had just agreed on a deal to join the English side’s cross-city rivals Manchester United, and he had the opportunity to head to Old Trafford already a hero by handing Pep Guardiola’s side a defeat. Ultimately, he did exactly that in a jaw-dropping fashion.
The visitors took an early lead to the contest through Phil Foden's fourth-minute strike and it looked like business as usual for the reigning Premier League title holders. Little did they know however that this Sporting side is made of much sterner stuff, and they came roaring back to life shortly before halftime. Prolific striker Victor Gyokeres pulled his side level seven minutes before the break and in the second half, all hell broke loose.
Maximiliano Araujo gave the hosts the lead just seconds after the interval before Sporting's Swedish hitman added a second barely three minutes later. The former Coventry City striker then completed his hat trick with ten minutes remaining, handing The Blues one of their worst-ever European defeats.
Perhaps the most surprising aspect of Sporting’s 4-1 drubbing of the 2023 champions was the fact that they also dominated on XG, winning by a score of 3.24 - 2.36. To have xG explained, the metric measures the quality of goalscoring chances and the likelihood of them being scored. Many consider xG to be the most accurate way to evaluate any given match, and seeing the Portuguese outfit comfortably ahead of Pep Guardiola’s side both in goals and in xG shows they were good value for their win.
Now, the Blues have been plunged into a crisis. The loss of Spanish midfielder Rodri with a season-ending ACL injury has triggered the worst run of Guardiola's Etihad career, and a recent defeat to Brighton in the Premier League was his side's fourth defeat on the spin. He will be hoping that they sort things out quickly before the damage to their season gets even worse.
In Paris, Atletico Madrid executed a classic Diego Simeone game plan to frustrate and eventually overcome Paris Saint-Germain. Warren Zaire-Emery opened the scoring early for the hosts, giving the home side hope of a crucial victory. However, Atletico struck back almost immediately through Nahuel Molina, setting the stage for a tense encounter.
As the game progressed, it was the French champions who pressed for a winner. However, the Parisians were in dire need of some creativity and Los Rojiblancos never truly looked threatened. As the game edged towards a draw deep into stoppage time, the visitors broke away and Antoine Griezmann managed to find Angel Correa on the edge of the area. He twisted and turned his way into the box before slotting past Gianluigi Donnarumma with the last kick of the game, netting Aleti's second goal with just their third shot on target and fourth shot overall.
This result has significant repercussions for PSG, leaving them perilously close to elimination. Luis Enrique’s side must now regroup and find a way to translate their possession and chances into points. Meanwhile, Atletico’s hopes of reaching the last 16 have been reignited, and the result gives them something to build on heading into the festive period.