Hail GFOP!

The Premier League faithful felt proud last night as its three sides all won convincingly and not a single goal was conceded between them. Arsenal did what many Brits before them have by enjoying a great night out in Prague with a 3-0 win against Slavia that’ll surprise no one. While they were away, neighbors Spurs alleviated their weekend stress by handing Copenhagen a 4-0 beatdown that will be eternally remembered for Micky van de Ven’s uncanny Gareth Bale impersonation, where he scored a goal that most strikers, let alone defenders, could only dream of. Up in Liverpool, ugly Trent Alexander-Arnold custody battle aside, Arne Slot’s men landed what could be their most significant win of the season by beating Kings of the Champions League, Real Madrid, 1-0, a defeat that will sting Xabi Alonso on his Anfield return. 💪

ii. Tonight, raw milk and goal addict, Erling Haaland, welcomes his former family Borussia Dortmund to Manchester, and although he still has a lot of love for them, for 90 minutes they’ll be his latest punching bag. Newcastle will want to let loose against Athletic Club, a similarly proud club whose middling league performance in Spain mirrors theirs, while Chelsea travel nearly 3,000 miles to face Qarabağ in Azerbaijan, where they’ll hope to add to their cumulative 10-0 victory across two games when they last faced them in 2017. 🥊

iii. After today’s tasty round of fixtures are complete, we’re officially half way through the UCL league phase, and while the complexion of the table isn’t totally surprising as of yet, the strength and quality of unglamorous teams from less lucrative countries has been a joy to behold. 🏆

iv. The USMNT also had a huge showing amidst yesterday’s action with Poch’s go-to No. 9 Folarin Balogun opening up his UCL account with a near-post rocket against Arctic Circle/Norwegian side Bodø/Glimt. Seriously, the angle on this finish makes almost no sense.

Then, 2,900 miles away in Greece, the U.S. striker they told you not to worry about, Ricardo Pepi, knocked home a 93rd-minute equalizer for his second-placed Dutch side PSV against Nottingham Forest owner Evangelos Marinakis’ other club, Olympiacos. The 22-year-old El Paso native has now scored three result-changing goals in second-half stoppage time in the Champions League, tying Cristiano Ronaldo and Sergio Agüero for the most ever. 🇺🇲

v. If yesterday’s result in Prague left you wondering if Arsenal might be the team to beat not just in this year’s UCL, but pretty much anywhere else, let Rog and Rory Smith walk you through the Gunners’ equally dominant showing in the Premier League last weekend. You can watch that here, and be sure to tune in to our special episode with goalscorer, Bukayo Saka, on NBC this Saturday, Nov. 8, at 5:30 p.m. ET. 📺

vi. Speaking of Rog, make sure to join him and James Horncastle today for “Big Match Breakdown LIVE” on YouTube at 5 p.m. ET immediately after the whistle blows on this afternoon’s round of Champions League games. Come be with us. 🍻

PS - Where does this rank in the biggest misses in football history?

Cheers,
Tommy Stewart

The Champions League Is Better on Discord🍻 

Liverpool Welcome Trent Back with a Win ❤️

Liverpool 1-0 Real Madrid 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 🇪🇸

Anfield usually performs on these starlit occasions, but Real Madrid’s giant Belgian goalkeeper, Thibaut Courtois, threatened to puncture the atmosphere—in this seventh meeting between the two sides since 2021—with one world-class save after another, brilliantly denying Dominik Szoboszlai three times alone in the first half (truly, how does he do this?). Slot’s resurgent side continually took the initiative, with more Courtois miracles preventing both Big Virg and Ekitike headers from close range early in the second half. Amidst thunderbolts from tall midfielders and headed efforts from giants, ironically it was the more-diminutive Alexis Mac Allister who broke Madrid’s keeper, with a powerful flicked header that was enough to secure the points. Courtois made eight stunning saves in total, but with Liverpool somehow eventually beating him, words of Arne Slot’s side’s demise may have been greatly exaggerated, with this their second win in four days.

Slavia Praha 0-3 Arsenal 🇨🇿 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿

Last night, Bukayo Saka became the first-ever Arsenal player to score in four consecutive Champions League away games with a theatrical 32nd-minute penalty, looking more Starman than boy in his club’s captain’s armband. Mikel Arteta flexed his squad’s muscles, rotating in the likes of Christian Nørgaard, and Spanish midfielder, or striker, or whatever you need him to be, Mikel Merino. He deftly tapped in a Leandro Trossard cross just after the second-half whistle and completed his brace with a slick backwards header that made Slavia goalkeeper Jakub Markovič look silly, giving Merino 19 goals for club and country this year. As well as tying their 122-year-old club record of winning eight games in a row without conceding a goal, Arteta was simply showing off when he made 15-year-old Max Dowman the youngest player in UCL history as a second-half substitute. 

More: Arsenal make it 10 wins in a row

PSG 1-2 Bayern Munich 🇫🇷 🇩🇪

It took just four minutes for the Parc des Princes’ main character, Luis Díaz, to put his German side on top in a match of seismic consequence between two of the tournament favorites. Luis Enrique’s champions found a way back in via Ballon d’Or winner Ousmane Dembélé’s chest, only for VAR to rule it offside, leading to Díaz pouncing on a lackadaisical Marquinhos mistake to bag his brace. Bayern seemed to be playing FC25 on easy mode in the first half until just before the break when Díaz saw red for a nasty scissored challenge on Achraf Hakimi, who hobbled off in tears. The home side dominated shots and possession without looking truly threatening until substitute João Neves pulled one back in the 74th minute, but the Germans managed to hold on. This was a statement victory for Vincent Kompany’s side, who are now moving through the footballing galaxy like a Star Destroyer having won all 16 of their games across all comps this season.

Tottenham 4-0 Copenhagen 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 🇩🇰

When Xavi Simons threaded the ball for Brennan Johnson to finish from a wild angle into an open net in the first half yesterday, it felt like Spurs were ready to give their fans a party. Although Randal Kolo Muani was definitely invited, his vibe was initially off after missing a couple of first-half gifts, but his ruthless pressing and perfect first touch allowed him to assist Wilson Odobert and join in the fun just after the break. After perhaps peaking too soon, Johnson was shown the door early, seeing red for a high-footed tackle, but at least that allowed him to sit back and enjoy Micky van de Ven’s solo goal that could be considered one of the finest displays of human athleticism the game has ever seen. The center-back is a Marvel superhero footballer, often stepping up as captain this season, and he’s now also his side’s joint top goalscorer. After a run of only one win in their previous five before Tuesday, Thomas Frank’s squad have reminded Europe of how dangerous they can be.

Elsewhere in the Champions League: Napoli 0-0 Eintracht Frankfurt, Atlético Madrid 3-1 Union SG, Olympiacos 1-1 PSV, Juventus 1-1 Sporting, Bodø/Glimt - Monaco

📬 Enjoying The Raven? Check out our other Men in Blazers newsletters:

🌞 The Women’s Game: Everything you need to know about women’s football, sent straight to your inbox each week.

🔍 The Correspondent: Rory Smith’s thoughts on the world of soccer, culture, food, and how they all connect – every Thursday.

🇺🇸 USMNT Only: Your weekly update on the most important topics in the U.S. men’s game, all leading up to next year’s World Cup.

A Few Great Goals from Yesterday’s Action 🚀

Today’s Matches Worth Faking a Meeting for 📺

Qarabağ FK vs. Chelsea (TODAY, 12:45 p.m. ET, Paramount+) 🇦🇿 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿

Sadly for Chelsea, holding football’s world title belt doesn’t translate to European prestige, and while they’ve impressively won their last two UCL games, Azerbaijan’s Qarabağ FK are breathing down their necks, only two spots below them in the table. The Blues will make the five-and-a-half-hour flight to Baku without key man, Pedro Neto, who won’t be risked after suffering a knock in the weekend win at Spurs. A bit like Crystal Palace in the Premier League, Qarabağ seem to have become many people’s Champions League side-piece, but for the tournament’s resident Davids to keep conquering comparative Goliaths, top goalscorer Leandro Andrade will have to hit dizzy new heights today.

Man City vs. Borussia Dortmund (TODAY, 3 p.m. ET, Paramount+) 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 🇩🇪

The Erling Haaland derby arrives at a bad time for Dortmund, who despite being rebuilt as a solid defensive unit by Niko Kovač this season, meet their former frontman in a goalscoring purple patch that would make Prince proud. Although BVB have only surrendered six goals in nine Bundesliga games this year, they’ve already conceded seven in this competition, while simultaneously scoring four in three consecutive Champions League matches for the first time in their history. Dortmund are also undefeated in this tournament so far, one place above City in eighth, and while it’s hard to know what version of Pep’s side will show up, they do have a cheat code in Haaland, who’s netting once every 64 minutes in the UCL.

Newcastle vs. Athletic Club (TODAY, 3 p.m. ET, Paramount+) 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 🇪🇸

Newcastle have won their last two in this tournament, but after a shocking 3-1 loss to a usually hapless West Ham side at the weekend, it’s a tight turnaround for Eddie Howe’s men to switch into Champions League mode. Thankfully for them, Bilbao’s Athletic Club are in similarly murky waters. They’re likely to be without their main weapon, Arsenal’s summertime romance, Nico Williams, who’s suffering a groin injury; they also arrive at St. James’ Park off the back of two consecutive league losses. Ernesto Valverde’s side are 11th in La Liga, compared to Newcastle’s 13th in the Premier League, and it seems both teams are suffering hangovers after heady 2024/25 seasons.

Club Brugge vs. Barcelona (TODAY, 3 p.m. ET, Paramount+) 🇧🇪 🇪🇸

Although Hansi Flick’s Barcelona haven’t totally fallen off, amidst tag-team injuries to Raphinha, Lamine Yamal and Robert Lewandowski this season, some aura points have been lost. Marcus Rashford has adequately stepped up, scoring in Barca’s weekend win over Elche, but without their all-important Brazilian winger to lead the press, Flick’s side, like Raphinha himself, are hamstrung. Meanwhile, Club Brugge are second in the Belgian Pro League but haven’t won in the UCL since their 4-1 hammering of Monaco in the first round.

You can find the full list of today’s UCL fixtures here.

Crete, Anyone? Say “Yassou” to Pafos FC 🇬🇷

You’d be forgiven for not being familiar with Pafos FC’s game, because this is their first Champions League outing in a very short history. The Cypriot champions are actually seven years younger than Lamine Yamal, so while we’re not jealous of how much they’ve achieved in only 11 years, they do make us feel a bit old. In 2014, a merger between AEK Kouklia and AEP Paphos was formed, and like Drake before them, they had to start from the bottom, bouncing between leagues until Russian businessman Roman Dubov took over the club in 2017 and changed its trajectory.

Through trial-and-error eras of cash splashing, where former Manchester United defender Henning Berg and Real Madrid legend Michel Salgado were both given a crack as manager, they finally found a winning formula in Unai Emery’s old right-hand man, Juan Carlos Carcedo. Since the Spaniard was appointed manager in the summer of 2023, he’s won the Cypriot Cup, enjoyed a Europa Conference League run and won the league last season, which is how they ended up here. Oh, and they also have a familiar face in Sideshow Bob tribute act and former Chelsea star, 38-year-old David Luiz, who should start when they host Villarreal today, who Pafos currently lead in the UCL table.

More: The Rise of Pafos FC

News & Notes from Around Football 🗞️

• Why the world’s richest club still isn’t a title contender.

• Is this the signing of the season in the Premier League?

• Speaking of the English top flight, here’s what we know after 10 games.

• One day, you’re a local here. And the next, they’re defacing your mural.

• Plot twist: Nottingham Forest owner Evangelos Marinakis is doing a good thing.

• What do Myles Lewis-Skelly, Estêvão, and… Lennart Karl have in common?

• And finally, watch Haaland introduce a little anarchy before he does the same against his former club today.

Who Played There? 🤔

You know the score by now: we pick a classic Champions League lineup and you fill in the missing player. This week we’re asking if you can correctly identify who the missing Liverpool center-back was when they lost 3-1 to Real Madrid in the 2018 Champions League final?

Email us (or reply to this newsletter) with your answer for a chance to win a much-coveted MiB patch!

There were many entries to the last round of “Who Played There?,” but we here at the Raven will always hold our hands up when we make a mistake, and in the previous edition of this game, we did exactly that. The missing player in Manchester United’s midfield for that famous win at PSG in 2019 was Mr. Scott McTominay, but we gave you the date for the first leg rather than the second, which happened on 3/6/19. Thankfully no one was hurt, but as a United fan, I am irrefutably sorry, and my Old Trafford season ticket and general outlook on life have now all come into question.