Champions League: Durán and Di Maria shine, City still favorites

The 2024/25 UEFA Champions League has started in a new format and we have already seen several players shine. Ángel Di María, at 36, continues to lead Benfica with some eye-catching performances, while Aston Villa’s Jhon Durán is becoming the most feared super-sub in the league.

There were also surprises from young talent, such as Juventus’ Francisco Conceição, whose stunning goal against RB Leipzig turned heads, and Real Madrid’s Endrick, who made history as the club’s youngest Champions League starter.

ESPN writers Julien Laurens, Alex Kirkland and Rob Dawson look back on what was an action-packed matchday two.

Which player has exceeded expectations?

Laurens: Benfica have won their first two games of this Champions League season – away at Feyenoord and against Atletico Madrid on Wednesday evening – and their star man is Di Maria. At 36 years old, before his final season in Europe, the Argentinian legend is still so influential, more so than I expected. His career has been great and if you, like me, thought he was taking early retirement this year, we were wrong. He is still a star who works hard and makes things happen.

Dawson: What a start to the season Durán is having. He is effectively second choice behind Ollie Watkins, but that hasn’t stopped him from scoring six goals. He only got 20 minutes against Bayern Munich at Villa Park on Wednesday, but that was more than enough time to score a memorable winner. Durán, who looked set to leave Villa this summer, has played just 297 minutes of football in all competitions this season, meaning he is averaging a goal every 49.5 minutes. He is the super sub that every Champions League team will worry about.

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Kirkland: I was blown away by Conceição’s goal for Juventus to give their ten men a 3-2 victory at RB Leipzig. I had already seen him a bit at FC Porto and at Portugal at the European Championship, but I didn’t think the winger was capable of this kind of quality. Also something about Endrick, who at 18 years and 73 days old became Real Madrid’s youngest Champions League starter against Lille. He couldn’t score to follow up his goal from the bench against VfB Stuttgart, but he came close in the first half after a trademark burst forward. He has so much potential.

Do you enjoy the format where teams play eight new teams twice against three teams in previous editions?

Dawson: Most fans will agree that matches like Manchester City vs. Internazionale and Arsenal vs. Paris Saint-Germain are exciting so early in the tournament, but it feels like there are also many matches of lesser quality. Every tournament is at its best when there is danger and it feels like there is not enough. The new expanded format means more matches, but by the end of the competition phase we will only lose 12 of the 36 teams. We’re only two games in and it’s already starting to get a bit of a grind.

Kirkland: I like the feeling of having to pay attention to all the matches and all the teams, because everything is connected: in the end you at least see the highlights of matches that you might have previously ignored, if they were in a group where you fed up. I’m not particularly interested in it. But I still feel like it’s hard to know exactly how valuable a victory is, or how disastrous a defeat; we don’t know exactly what the stakes are. That will change over time, but right now even some big results don’t feel like they have the weight they should.

Laurens: I love it! I always want more football matches, and I like the idea that we have big clashes on every matchday; Man City-Inter, Arsenal-PSG, AC Milan-Liverpool, etc. After 30 years in the old groups of four, the Champions League was ready for a change, so let’s give it a chance. The further we get in this competition phase, the more interesting and exciting it becomes. Teams will give everything to finish in the top eight and avoid the play-offs. I also like that you play against eight different opponents. It’s good tactically, it’s good experience-wise and it’s good for the fans. So what’s not to like?

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The UCL always surprises us. Which of the ‘surprise’ teams have impressed you and are best placed to automatically qualify for knockouts?

Laurens: It won’t last. But it is already one of the fairytales of this Champions League campaign. French minnow Brest, from Brittany, who had never played in Europe before, is second in the rankings of the best club competition in the world. Two wins in two games (albeit against two Austrian teams), with six goals scored, is a great surprise from Eric Roy’s team. Last season they were a revelation in Ligue 1 with their third-place finish, and now they are a sensation in the Champions League. At home they have Bayer Leverkusen and they will believe that anything is possible.

Kirkland: Benfica’s 4-0 thrashing of Atletico Madrid was an eye-opener. Atletico were terrible, but Benfica were clinical and ruthless in exploiting their weaknesses. Apart from Argentine veterans Di Maria and Nicolás Otamendi, it is not a team full of household names – at least to a casual observer of Portuguese football. They have a winnable match next, against Feyenoord; Later it becomes more difficult, with Bayern Munich, Barcelona and Juventus further along.

Let’s make some early predictions: which team is your favorite to go all the way and win the title this season?

Dawson: It’s hard to look beyond Manchester City, even without Rodri. In their first match they drew at home against Inter Milan, but they still managed to get through the competition phase smoothly. Anything other than a top eight finish will be a big surprise and once they get to the knockouts they will be the team everyone wants to avoid. Pep Guardiola has made them masters of this competition and they will be very difficult to beat. Rodri’s absence this season is a huge blow and Real Madrid are a major threat with all their attacking talent, but City are favorites for a reason.

Kirkland: Can I be boring and say Real Madrid? Yes, they lost at Lille, and yes, they are not playing well at all this season, but there is time to sort that out. They still have so much quality, and they will still deliver when it matters – they always do.

Laurens: Do you want me to be original or not? The boring answer (but the only answer) is that Real Madrid and Manchester City are better than anyone else and that they are (again) the two favorites. However, I like to be different, so I say Arsenal will win. They have learned a lot from last season’s quarter-final defeat against Bayern Munich (which I also like by the way), they play with so much confidence, have the best central defender in Europe in William Saliba and if they get a little luck with the draw. They can certainly go to extremes.