Champions League Wednesday wrap-up: Man City win battle of heavyweights, Arsenal still perfect, PSG frustrated

Matchday 6 of the Champions League came to a close on Wednesday with nine more matches played across Europe.

Unlike the previous day's set of matches, there were three games that ended in a draw. The six victors on the day were Copenhagen, Ajax, Manchester City, Benfica, Arsenal and Juventus.

Here are some of the bigger talking points from Wednesday's Champions League action.

City edge past Real Madrid

The biggest match of the day took place in Spain, as heavyweights Real Madrid and Manchester City mixed it up at the Bernabeu.

It had everything you'd expect from a contest between two evenly-matched powers: a few goals, a whole lot of fouls, and some spectacular play on both sides.

The hosts struck first, with Rodrygo scoring in the 28th minute, to give Real Madrid a brief lead because seven minutes later Nico O'Reilly equalized for the visiting side.

Then, just a couple of minutes before halftime, the ever-dependable Erling Haaland converted a penalty to give Man City the lead — and ultimately the victory — as the English club claimed a 2-1 win to climb to fourth place in the league phase standings.

The second half was as cagey and chippy as it gets, with neither side able to find the back of the net despite plenty of back-and-forth action.

Madueke shines for Arsenal

Arsenal's biggest strength this season has been the team's depth — Mikel Arteta and the front office staff have put together a squad that runs at least two players deep in every position on the field.

This has allowed the Gunners to leap out in front of the pack in both the Premier League and Champions League, with players being swapped in and out of the lineup with no noticeable drop-off.

Arsenal's depth is truly being tested these days, with a growing number of players joining the injured list. However, while things haven't been optimal for the club in terms of player availability, their depth hasn't been completely depleted either, and Wednesday's match showed just how well the so-called "lesser" players on Arteta's squad can shine when called upon.

Starting on the right flank in place of stalwart Bukayo Saka — who was being rested by Arteta — Noni Madueke made the most of his opportunity with a pair of memorable goals to pace the North Londoners to a 3-0 victory over Club Brugge in Belgium.

Madueke hit a long-range screamer to open the scoring in the first half and followed that up with a textbook header early in the second half as Arsenal outclassed their hosts.

To finish the job off was Gabriel Martinelli, who himself has not started much this season. The Brazilian scored his fifth Champions League goal of the campaign to seal the deal for the Gunners, who remain three points clear at the top of the 36-team table.

PSG held scoreless

Paris Saint-Germain had one of those games that can drive players and fans crazy against Athletic Bilbao, who absorbed everything the French giants had to offer en route to a 0-0 draw in Spain.

The Parisians will be frustrated by the fact that they generated 17 shots (eight on target) amid 71 percent possession and still came away with no goals. To make matters worse, Athletic were held to zero shots on target as they seemed completely uninterested in scoring, instead looking to deny their visitors at every opportunity.

While PSG still left the San Mamés Stadium with a point, they have now fallen to third place and lag behind Arsenal and Bayern Munich in the standings. It may not seem like much given that the top eight clubs all automatically move on to the next round, but last year's edition of the Champions League showed just how important seeding can be when the knockouts begin.

A point here or there can be the difference between a favourable draw and one that pits PSG against another title contender early in the knockout round, so they will be disapopinted to leave two points on the table on Wednesday.

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