Images via @ChampionsLeague, @en_sscnapoli and @juventusfceen on Twitter
It was a pretty non-eventful week in terms of Polish participation in the Champions League, although there was still some action to report.
Piotr Zieliński - Liverpool 2-0 Napoli
I was fortunate enough to be attending this game in person, and despite being rested Zieliński was plenty involved when he was brought on with around 10 minutes of normal time remaining. Zielu had spent most of the second half warming up particularly energetically in front of where I was sat, so I was confident I’d get to see him in action at least for a few minutes.
Unfortunately for Zieliński, he was brought on about 180 seconds before Liverpool scored their first goal so was unable to contribute for his side whilst the game was still deadlocked at 0-0, which it was for 84 minutes. After Napoli went one behind they stepped it up a gear, Zieliński as usual particularly adept at skipping past challenges and laying the ball off to teammates. He put in a couple of good corners and crosses, but none which were sufficiently attacked by Giovanni Simeone.
Given that there were a number of lengthy stoppages, Zieliński ended up being on the pitch for around 15 minutes. He was also unfortunate in that having come on just prior to Napoli going behind, Zieliński then played on Darwin Nunez for the second Liverpool goal right at the death.
Kamil Grabara - Copenhagen 1-1 Borussia Dortmund
Grabara had a stellar couple of games against Manchester City, but it would be remiss of us to get carried away. The goal he conceded this evening you would’ve imagined him to save, but his general standard of play was decent. Grabara was let off the hook a number of times by Dortmund, but nonetheless he only conceded the one goal last night.
Wojciech Szczęsny and Arkadiusz Milik - Juventus 1-2 Paris Saint-Germain
Juventus confirmed their place in the Europa League with a spirited loss to PSG. Szczęsny was powerless to stop the first goal from Kylian Mbappe, although you imagine he would be disappointed with the second even though it was a good finish from Nuno Mendes.
Milik had one or two chances, but none were clear cut. He linked up play and found the right pass at the right time more often than not, but nothing really came of this. Milik’s work as a sole striker for Juve in recent games has actually brought out a different side to the team, and combined with a newfound enthusiasm to play youth prospects, has seen Juventus playing some of their best football going forward since the season began.
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