Will any of the big guns fall into the Europa League draw? The picture might be slightly more clear on November 7.
Could Tottenham get its UEFA Champions League campaign back on track Wednesday?
It sure looked likely, until a moment of madness, from a goalkeeper prone to those moments, torpedoed the Spurs in Eindhoven.
In Groups A and D, Borussia Dortmund and Porto took control at the top with big wins, while Liverpool did what it had to do at home against Red Star.
We are halfway through the group stage matches, with more clarity coming in two weeks.
Will any of the big guns fall into the Europa League draw? The picture might be slightly more clear on November 7.
WEDNESDAY RESULTS
Group A
Club Brugge 1-1 Monaco
Borussia Dortmund 4-0 Atletico Madrid
Group B
PSV Eindhoven 2-2 Tottenham
Barcelona 2-0 Inter
Group C
Liverpool 4-0 Red Star Belgrade
PSG 2-2 Napoli
Group D
Galatasaray 0-0 Schalke 04
Lokomotiv Moscow 1-3 Porto
WEDNESDAY'S THREE STARS
Fabinho, Liverpool
While the players around him were scoring all the goals, Fabinho was doing the work in the midfield to shut down Red Star. He was the Whoscored.com Man of the Match with an 8.80 rating.
Neymar, PSG
Helped pull his team back into contention. Another player that did a lot of the work setting up the PSG attack. He was the Whoscored.com Man of the Match with a 9.07 rating.
Axel Witsel, Borussia Dortmund
The midfielder had a goal in the 4-0 win over Atletico Madrid, as the German side took control of Group A. He was the Whoscored.com Man of the Match with an 8.78 rating.
UEFA Champions League: Ronaldo returns to Manchester, Ajax stuns Benfica
PLAYER OF THE ROUND
Edin Dzeko, Roma
Roma is on track to progress thanks to the big striker. He had two goals and an assist in the 3-0 win over CSKA. Dzeko was the Whoscored.com Man of the Match with a 9.88 rating.
HUGO LLORIS SINKS TOTTENHAM, ACHRAF HAKIMI POWERS DORTMUND
Coming into Wednesday's match day 3, Tottenham fans knew what their team had to do over the next two games with PSV Eindhoven.
Get six points.
The Spurs were on track to do that, up a goal in Holland, when Lloris made another calamitous mistake leading to a 79th minute red card. When Luuk de Jong scored to equalize in the 87th minute, Tottenham's road to qualification became that much harder.
Luckily for the Spurs, Barcelona may have won the group by match day five, and could sit players when Tottenham heads to town in mid-December for the final group stage match. But it might not matter, if results do not go the Spurs' way prior.
Hakimi had three assists from the left back position for Dortmund, as the Bundesliga leaders made a huge statement of intent with a 4-0 win over Atletico Madrid. A draw in Madrid on match day four might be enough to top the group, with the two other teams in Group A, Club Brugge and Monaco, already eight points behind Dortmund.
While Schalke 04 and Galatasary were playing out a scoreless draw in Turkey, Porto went to Moscow and came away with a 3-1 win. The Portuguese side now gets two matches at home, and can clinch the top spot with two wins.
UEFA EUROPA LEAGUE SCHEDULE LINK
Match Day three Thursday
WEEKEND PREMIER LEAGUE SCHEDULE
Saturday
All matches 10 a.m. EDT unless listed
Brighton vs. Wolves (NBC Sports Gold)
Fulham vs. Bournemouth (NBC Sports Gold)
Liverpool vs. Cardiff (NBC Sports and Fubo.tv)
Southampton vs. Newcastle (NBC Sports Gold)
Watford vs. Huddersfield (NBC Sports Gold)
Leicester City vs. West Ham United, 12:30 p.m. EDT (NBC and Fubo.tv)
Sunday
Burnley vs. Chelsea, 9:30 a.m. EDT (NBC Sports Gold)
Crystal Palace vs. Arsenal, 9:30 a.m. EDT (NBC Sports and Fubo.tv)
Manchester United vs. Everton, 12 p.m. EDT (NBC Sports and Fubo.tv)
Monday
Tottenham vs. Manchester City, 4 p.m. EDT (NBC Sports and Fubo.tv)
14TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE END OF ARSENAL'S 49-GAME UNBEATEN RUN
Wednesday, October 24 marked the 14th anniversary of Manchester United's 2-0 win over Arsenal, which ended the Gunners' amazing 49-game unbeaten run in the Premier League. It was sweet revenge for Ruud van Nistelrooy, who missed a penalty during the invincible 2003-04 Arsenal season that would have stopped the run at just seven games.
The match is still contentious for some Arsenal fans like Jon Spurling, who called Mike Riley's refereeing performance "a disgrace" and a "total outrage 14 years on".
Here are some of the better moments from the match for you to make up your own mind.
Contact Sean Miller at seanmillertrentontimes@gmail.com. Follow him on Twitter @TheProdigalSean His weekly podcast, Box to Box Football, can be found on iTunes here https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/box-to-box-football/id1208561351?mt=2