In the first round of the 2015/16 Champions League Zlatan Ibrahimovic was put up against his countrymen when Paris SG played against Swedish Malmö FF at home. However, the Swedish striker scored no goals this time. Instead, Ángel Di María scored PSG:s first goal of the tournament in the fourth minute.
Malmö vs Zlatan and Ronaldo
Malmö qualified to this year’s Champions League by defeating Celtic. Then they were drawn in the same group as Real Madrid, Sjachtar Donetsk and Paris Saint Germain. A nightmare for most teams, but most people in Sweden actually cheered since the draw meant that we get to see some superstars playing football here in Sweden this winter. Malmö FF is the motherclub of Zlatan Ibrahimovic which makes those two matches special. Cristiano Ronaldo and Real Madrid is always a blast to watch. Oh, and maybe we will actually get a point or two against Sjachtar Donetsk from Ukraine. This is the second year in a row we have a Swedish club in the Champions League which kind of is a big deal since it is a rare sight. The question before tonight’s game was how Malmö was supposed to stop PSG’s “CIA”-line with Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Edinson Cavani and Ángel Di María? Di María was recruited from Manchester United after a failed season.
Paris SG 2-0 Malmö FF
In the first match of group A, PSG got a good start with Di María scoring after just four minutes of play. The Argentinian striker had a good match with plenty of plays and opportunities. Paris players used their technical superiority and outplayed Malmö large parts of the match. Zlatan had some troubles hitting the goal though, he missed about four-five chances in the first twenty minutes. Cavani was kind of invisible in the first half. Malmö did not create a lot of chances on their offense. In the second half, Zlatan neatly extended a pass to Cavani who scored 2-0 in the 61:st minute. That also became the final score in an entertaining match. We are looking forward to see what Malmö can do at home when the European teams have to face King (Swedish) Winter. In the next round, Malmö will play against Real Madrid in Sweden (Wednesday, September 30).
Results, Champions League
In the other matches, Ronaldo scored a hat-trick against Sjachtar Donetsk, Real Madrid winning 4-0. PSV Eindhoven won against Manchester United 2-1 (they did not have any Angel of Maria to salvage them anymore. Wolfsburg barely beat CSKA Moscow 1-0. In group C Beinfica won against FC Astana 2-0 which also became the result when Atletico got an away victory against Galatasaray. Last year’s finalist Juventus won against City in Manchester, 2-1. Sevilla won against Borussia Mönchengladback 3-0.
