With the respective groups stages of Europe's two continental competitions commencing this week, so too came varying degrees of expectations and anticipation for the teams involved, whether the usual suspects of Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund in the Champions League or European new boys Swansea and Wigan in the Europa League.
Indeed, all of the anticipation ultimately gave way to a myriad of talking points by the time Thursday night ended across Europe, with some of the main favorite looking to be well on their way after ninety minutes, while others stumbled heavily at the first hurdle.
Barcelona and Real Madrid off and running
As the standard in the Ronaldo/Messi era, Spain's giants are always going to be favorites for European glory, and based upon what we saw from both in the midweek, it's hardly any wonder why. Real Madrid's 6-1 dismantling of Galatasaray in Turkey was nothing short of outstanding, both because of getting such a resounding result at such a tough place to play and the way they went about doing it. The Cristiano Ronaldo show was in full swing, and the win was made that much more encouraging by Gareth Bale's productive second half cameo.
Barcelona's match with Ajax may have been steeped in nostalgia and history, but come 90 minutes, the reality of 2013 was evident. It always felt as if Ajax was just hanging on in the early stages, and with Messi's masterclass of a free kick putting Barcelona up on 22 minutes, Barcelona and Messi were set to be on their way. Yes, they had to wait until the second half to break Ajax's resistance further, but Messi, by way of two more textbook finishes would have his hat-trick from a comprehensive victory.
Disasters for Chelsea and Borussia Dortmund
It all looked to be poised quite nicely for Chelsea when Oscar put Chelsea up over Basel on the stroke of halftime, but there was no way we could have ever guessed that a capitulation would eventually be on the cards at Stamford Bridge. Poor defending on a corner saw Marco Streller head home and just about confirm Chelsea's fate on the night, and accordingly it may not be preemptive to ask if the Mourinho honeymoon at Chelsea is now set to give way to the reality of a side that needs some marked improvement in this early stanza of the season. One can be forgiven for thinking that some further involvement from Juan Mata would pay immediate dividends in that regard, but for some reason Mourinho disagrees.
As for Borussia Dortmund, their first 45 minutes at Napoli could have hardly been more calamitous in almost every way, as Jürgen Klopp was sent to the stands following his Higuain goal-induced outburst, Mats Hummels limped off, and Roman Weidenfeller was sent off. We've seen Napoli have some good nights in Europe in the last couple of years, and they hardly needed any help from Borussia Dortmund in the form of an implosion.
In playing in this season's "Group of Death", Borussia Dortmund may have put themselves behind an early proverbial eight ball, especially thanks to Arsenal's win over Marseille. There's nowhere to hide now.
Swansea look up for it
I began saying that this Swansea side was absolutely built for Europe as soon as they punched their Europa League ticket by winning last season's Capital One Cup, and now ninety minutes into their new continental adventure, it looks as if they are fulfilling that assessment with some aplomb.
Opening away to Valencia looked like quite the tricky hurdle from the outset, but it wound up being anything but that. Swansea had the gall to approach their trip into Valencia as if they were actually the home side, and their endeavor was handsomely rewarded with an emphatic 3-0 win that might have been even more lopsided on another day. Swansea may find themselves safely in the middle of the Premier League pack come May, but don't be surprised if they progress rather deeply in Europe before it's all said and done.
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