Champions League Winners and Losers: Manchester United's win comes at a cost

The Red Devils rolled, but Paul Pogba limped off with a hamstring injury in the first half

By Roger Gonzalez

Sep 12, 2017 at 5:22 pm ET • 1 min read

The group stage of the Champions League kicked off Tuesday with eight matches and 28 goals, including a scoreless draw. Here are your opening day winners and losers:

Winners

Sporting Lisbon: Getting a huge three points on the road bodes well for this team in Group D, where Barcelona and Juventus also are. It's unlikely this team finishes second and moves on, but it has a strong chance to finish third and get to the Europa League, while holding on to hope of pulling off a shocker later on.

Atletico Madrid: Four straight road matches to start the season, zero defeats. After getting a 0-0 draw at the weekend at Valencia in La Liga, Atleti failed to score again but didn't concede to get a nice little result in the Italian capital. Business as usual with Diego Simeone in charge.

Barcelona: This team has looked great so far this season and the midfield has stepped up. The quick passing in the middle has helped jump-start the attack, and this team looks like more of a contender than most expected.

Losers

Pogba limping off is not what Manchester United fans wanted to see. Fox Sports screengrab

Manchester United: Sure, it was a nice 3-0 win, but this team could be in trouble after Paul Pogba left injured. He picked up a hamstring injury in the first half and had to be taken off. If he misses an extended period of time, this team will struggle to create and hold onto the ball in attack. It was huge to get three points to start the Red Devils' Champions League campaign, but fans won't feel better till they know how Pogba is doing.

Celtic: A 5-0 loss at home to PSG with another match against the Parisians and two against Bayern Munich remaining is not a good look for Brandan Rodgers' side. It's time to change the objective to making the Europa League as the third-place team.

Olympiacos: Losing at home to Sporting, and with four matches against Barcelona and Juventus remaining, the Greek club is in real trouble and will likely finish in fourth place. Yeah, it's still early, but the team did itself no favors with a lackluster opening half.