First published in Daily Maverick 168

Diogo Jota continued his sparkling start to his Liverpool career as he netted an impressive hat-trick in game week three of the UEFA Champions League. Meanwhile, Manchester United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer is under increasing pressure.

Is Diogo Jota set to become the latest star to endear himself to the Kop? His haul of seven goals in 10 games for his new team, including a hat-trick as Liverpool coasted to a 5-o victory over Atalanta in the latest round of UEFA Champions League (UCL) fixtures, has laid a decent foundation for him to shoot for that target.

Liverpool bought the Portuguese attacker from Wolverhampton Wanderers in the off season. Judging from his performances to date, the £41-million (R948-million) that the club paid for him is proving to be a bargain in a market where player prices are excessively bloated.

The 23-year-old is choosing to remain humble, despite his exploits so far. Speaking after the game, Jota said his great performances were due to the quality of teammates.

“I’m playing in the best team of my career so far, that’s for sure. I don’t know if it was my best moment, but obviously scoring goals is my way of playing football, so I’m really happy with it,” Jota told BT Sport.

Jota’s blistering start to his Liverpool career has raised questions with regard to Brazilian forward Roberto Firmino. The 29-year-old has led the line for the Reds throughout Jurgen Klopp’s reign. But in contrast to Jota’s return, he only has one goal so far this season.

However, when quizzed about whether Jota’s performances would give him a selection headache, and threaten Firmino’s place in the team going forward, Klopp responded emphatically.

“Good performances never give me headaches … The world is sometimes a really bad place that in the moment when somebody is shining, we speak immediately about another player who played for us, it feels like, 500 games in a row,” Klopp said.

“We would not be in the Champions League if Firmino [wasn’t] with us. And immediately I have to explain why he is not in the team. It’s important we have more than 11 players and tonight [Tuesday] Diogo used his shape in an incredible way and played a super, super game.”

Another player who just cannot stop scoring is Borussia Dortmund’s Erling Haaland. The Norwegian helped himself to a brace as Dortmund eased 3-0 past Club Brugge. That took his goals tally at Dortmund to 26 in 28 games since he joined the club in January 2020. It was also his 14th overall goal in the competition.

The win propelled the German side to the top of group F, with six points from three games – one point ahead of second-placed Lazio, and two ahead of Brugge.

Solskjaer marching out?

Under pressure Manchester United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer could soon be without a job if reports coming from British media are to be believed. The Red Devils suffered a shock 2-1 defeat to Turkish side Istanbul Basaksehir in the Champions League.

They were out for their third win on the trot in the competition, which has provided Solskjaer’s soldiers with some respite from their woeful form in the English Premier League. United currently occupy 15th spot in the league, after just two wins from their opening six games.

Following the ruthless 5-0 dispatching of last season’s semifinalists, RB Leipzig, in their previous Champions League fixture, they were expected to slaughter their Turkish opponents. However, it was the three-time UCL champions whose feathers were ruffled as they produced a masterclass in horrible defending to hand Basaksehir their first three points of the campaign.

Fielding questions from the press after the game, Solskjaer was quizzed on the speculation that he would soon be getting sacked.

“I decline to comment on such a thing. Of course, it’s early on and opinions are out there all the time. You’ve got to stay strong. I’m employed by the club to do a job and I do that to the best of my ability with my staff,” said the 47-year-old.

The best of the rest

There were also crucial wins for Barcelona, Chelsea and Manchester City, while defending champions Bayern Munich continued their goal-scoring exploits.

Lionel Messi netted his fourth goal in all competitions this season as Barça edged 2-1 past Dynamo Kiev. All four efforts have come from the penalty spot. For Chelsea, Timo Werner also scored a brace from the penalty spot, with Chelsea easing 3-0 past French side Rennes.

Pep Guardiola’s City recorded the same score as Chelsea over Greek side Olympiacos, while his former side Bayern hammered RB Salzburg 6-2. Juventus were 4-1 victors in Cristiano Ronaldo’s first start since recovering from Covid-19. The Portuguese legend did get on the scoresheet as Alvaro Morata (2), Paulo Dybala and a Lasha Dvali own-goal saw Juve ease past Hungarian side Ferencváros. DM168