Thiago Silva limps off

PSG's task against Barcelona was made that much harder when Laurent Blanc lost Thiago Silva to a suspected muscle problem in the 18th minute.

The PSG captain was replaced by Brazil teammate David Luiz, who was pressed into an earlier-than-planned comeback having himself been side-lined recently.

It remains to be seen how serious Silva's injury is, but for now his chances of featuring in the return leg at the Camp Nou next week must be considered slim at best. It is worth remembering that the Ligue I champions were also deprived of Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Marco Verratti in the first leg, with the pair both suspended.

Spanish clubs make impressive starts

Spanish clubs gave another demonstration of their efficiency in Europe when Real Madrid, Atletico Madrid and Sevilla began their Champions League campaigns without conceding a goal in convincing victories on Tuesday.

Real, the record 10-time winners and 2014 champions, crushed 10-man Shakhtar Donetsk 4-0 at the Bernabeu, Atletico won 2-0 at Galatasaray and Europa League holders Sevilla thumped Borussia Moenchengladbach 3-0 at the Sanchez Pizjuan.

The success of Spanish clubs marked a sharp contrast with their rivals from the English Premier League, with Manchester United and Manchester City both surrendering their lead in 2-1 defeats at PSV Eindhoven and at home to Juventus.

Real forward Cristiano Ronaldo became the first player to reach 80 Champions League goals when he netted a Group A hat-trick against Shakhtar, who had midfielder Taras Stepanenko sent off five minutes into the second half.

Portugal captain Ronaldo, who hit five past Espanyol in La Liga on Saturday, moved three clear of Barca forward Lionel Messi on the all-time scoring chart.

Afterwards, the 30-year-old hit back at critics who had suggested he might be past it after he failed to score in Real’s opening two La Liga games of the campaign.

“Before I was bad and now I am good because I scored eight goals,” Ronaldo told Spanish television.

Antoine Griezmann struck twice for Atletico, the 2014 runners-up, as Diego Simeone’s side made light of what can be a intimidating trip to Galatasaray’s stadium in Istanbul.

The France forward said the Group C victory would help the team put Saturday’s 2-1 La Liga defeat at home to Barca behind them.

Sevilla coach Unai Emery said his side’s Group D performance against Gladbach, when they missed one penalty but scored from two others, would help boost confidence as the Andalusians try to get their stuttering La Liga campaign going following a defeat and two draws in their opening three matches.

“Today we found the identity we are looking for this season,” Emery told a news conference. “It gives us confidence to help turn around our results in La Liga.”

Draxler fires Wolfsburg to win

Julian Draxler’s first goal for Wolfsburg was enough for the Bundesliga runner-up to begin their second Champions League campaign with a 1-0 win over CSKA Moscow on Tuesday.

Draxler, brought in from league rival Schalke to replace the departed Kevin de Bruyne, broke the deadlock in the Group B game five minutes before the break. The Germany midfielder stabbed home the rebound from close range after Igor Akinfeev saved his initial headed effort from Ricardo Rodriguez’ cross.

Wolfsburg dominated the match but failed to take a number of chances to put the result beyond doubt.

“If you look at the chances and counter attacks we had, should have made it 2-0 fairly quickly. Then we would have been a little more at ease,” Wolfsburg winger Andre Schuerrle said.

Schuerrle should have scored early on after being played through by Draxler only to be thwarted by Akinfeev’s foot, and Daniel Caligiuri beat the offside trap, but hesitated and allowed Georgy Shchennikov to make a crucial block.

“We have to be more decisive in front of goal,” Caligiuri said.

The Russian visitors improved somewhat in the second half, Pontus Wernbloom forcing Diego Benaglio into action before Zoran Tosic’s shot was easily dealt with by the Wolfsburg ‘keeper.

The German side’s first Champions League campaign also began with a win over CSKA, 3-1 on September 15, 2009 thanks to Brazilian striker Grafite’s hat trick.

Newcomer Astana beaten

Nicolas Gaitan and Kostas Mitroglou scored in the second half to give Benfica a 2-0 win over plucky Champions League newcomer Astana in their Group C opener Tuesday.

Gaitan got the breakthrough in the 51st minute, breaking into the area from the left flank and firing a low drive into the far corner. Mitroglou extended the Portuguese club’s lead 11 minutes later when he tapped in Eliseu’s cross from the left.

The goals came after a frustrating first half in which Benfica dominated the run of play, but lacked the speed and imagination to pierce Astana’s packed defence.

Astana, the first team from Kazakhstan to reach the competition’s group phase, produced a competent performance and looked poised to upset Benfica when substitute Aleksei Schetkin hit the post in the 46th minute.

Benfica mostly dictated the game but in the first half lacked the speed and imagination to pierce Astana’s packed defence.

Junior Kabananga and Georgi Zhukov threatened for Astana but the visitors didn’t have the sophistication needed to make any real headway.

Benfica are making their sixth consecutive Champions League appearance and has lost just one of their last 15 European games at the Stadium of Light.

Di Maria inspires PSG

Di Maria brought his delicate touch to Paris St Germain’s game as the French champions started their Champions League campaign with a routine 2-0 home win against Malmo on Tuesday.

Di Maria scored after four minutes of their Group A match o and Edinson Cavani made it 2-0 in the 61st minute in a one-way encounter at the Parc des Princes.

Playing against the club where he started his career, PSG forward Zlatan Ibrahimovic looked a bit rusty, having played only one league game in an injury-plagued start to his season. He was replaced by Javier Pastore 15 minutes from time.

Malmo thought their moment had come in the 26th minute but Markus Rosenberg’s goal was disallowed after the forward had fouled Thiago Silva.

Why Arsenal's Gabriel can become Dunga's new star

As opposed to the capital Brasilia or the highly reputable Rio De Janeiro, Sao Paulo could be described as the spiritual home of Brazilian football due to the influx of players that have come out of the city.

But only a handful has ever plied their trade in the English Premier League as the two styles in play contrast so starkly. The only player from the metropolis of Sao Paulo to, as of yet make a telling impact in England is Middlesborough’s greatest ever player. Juninho.



This just goes to show despite being from the much romanticised heartland of this beautiful game we call football when it comes to competing in the Premier League only a clutch of Brazilian’s really leave a lasting positive mark. 
Step forward this 24 year old centre back who is aiming to crack both the English game but more pertinently right now break into Carlos Dunga’s national side.
Gabriel’s route thus far has been a rapid one, probably best exemplified by his brief two years in Spain with Villarreal. In his second, which happened to be his last season at El Madrigal, he took advantage of the clubs defensive injury crisis to form a formidable partnership with Victor Ruiz which saw him keep 17 clean sheets in the 19 games he featured.

However, this rise into Dunga’s Selecao plans really shouldn’t come as too much of a surprise with the defender excelling throughout his fleeting career so far. During his time in Brazil he won the best defender in the 2013 Campeonato Baiano, combining this with a Championship win. 
Arsene Wenger revealed a key reason for signing the rookie defender was his impressive stats, this shows how the game is evolving as each team tries to get the upperhand – the use of statistics may well be most famously used in the Premier League by ex-Liverpool director of football Damien Comolli who used this method to sign the likes of Luis Suarez, Stuart Downing and Jordan Henderson during his time on Merseyside. 

Wenger said of his new signing last January; “Gabriel is a more typical defender. He is a real defender, who wants to defend. He’s from São Paulo. He’s a Paulista. You have Rio players and you have São Paulo players. One is a beach area [Rio] and the other is more hard-working.”
Gabriel had only been in North London two months when Dunga included him in his squad for the first time for a game against Chile ironically at The Emirates Stadium. Despite not getting on the pitch until now and not featuring at the Copa America it is clear Dunga has huge hopes for the player. 



This latest international break has seen the 24 year old make the grade for the game against the USA on September 8th as Thiago Silva misses out and don’t be surprised with his Arsenal team-mate Per Mertesacker aging that he can spend more minutes on the field this coming season and in the long term be Brazil’s first choice centre back come Russia 2018. 

Lucas Lima could be the all-action midfielder Brazil have been missing

Brazil coach Dunga made some controversial decisions when he named his squad to face Costa Rica and the USA in the coming warm-up friendlies. Some of the controversy has since died down, especially since Liverpool's Philippe Coutinho, the most surprising omission, was given another chance after Chelsea's Oscar pulled out injured. Marcelo of Real Madrid is another late inclusion, recalled at left-back following an injury to Filipe Luis of neighbours Atletico.

Thiago Silva, though, remains out. One of the world's top centre-backs is clearly being blamed for the Copa America elimination just over two months ago; it was he who needlessly gave away a penalty that allowed Paraguay to equalise in the fateful quarterfinal. The clear suspicion is that Dunga feels that the defender is too emotionally brittle to represent his country in high-pressure situations.

Of all the newcomers, it is the recall of Kaka that leaps off the page. The obvious explanation is that Dunga believes his side lacks experience and leadership as they prepare for South America's ultra-competitive World Cup qualification campaign. Kaka has been brought back not only as a player, but also as a dressing-room influence -- a point underlined by the fact that when Brazil trained on Tuesday, Kaka was not in the starting XI.

Lucas Lima, though, was. Largely unknown to the international audience, the left-footed Santos midfielder may end up being the most important of the new additions. Certainly he is shaping up to be the most interesting.

A month ago in the Maracana, Santos were two goals down at half-time against Flamengo, and it could have been worse. At the interval, coach Dorival Junior made a change. Lucas Lima, who had flapped about to little effect in the opening 45 minutes, was withdrawn to a central midfield position. In the second half he ran the game, directing operations from deep, linking the side together, offering a threat to the opposing goal. Santos took control and hit back to draw 2-2, Lucas Lima set up the first goal and scored the other.

More important than the scoreline was the way in which it was achieved. The main area in which Brazilian football has fallen behind is in terms of its midfield play. Over recent times the centre of the pitch has been divided between shielding players who only mark, and creative players who only set up the play. There have been no equivalents of the likes of Andrea Pirlo, Xavi or Bastian Schweinsteiger; midfield maestros who dictate the tempo of the game. The great Tostao, Brazil's centre-forward at the 1970 World Cup and the wisest writer on the local game, has long bemoaned that Brazil have not produced a world-class all-round midfielder in more than two decades.

Lucas Lima is unlikely to fill that void, but it is highly encouraging to see a player with the technical ability and the match-reading skills to exert such an influence on the game. Something of a late developer at the age of 25, his flowering with Santos could have important consequences for the national team.

"Lucas Lima should start both of Brazil's next two friendlies," Tostao wrote last week. "Who knows, perhaps he can reproduce his Santos form, or play even better, and be the midfielder that the team have missed so much, with the talent to play from one penalty box to the other."

Tim is an English journalist who has been based in Brazil for over 20 years. He is the South American football correspondent for the BBC Sport website.