The analysis of Wednesday's Champions League action looks at contrasting fortunes for these two talismen and much more.

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1. If De Bruyne fixes City’s Euro woes, he’ll be worth every penny

Kevin De Bruyne is already proving his worth to Manchester City. Then again, this is a player who has excelled in domestic and continental competition for five seasons now.

Even Chelsea fans would agree that he wasn’t given a fair shake of the stick at Stamford Bridge, his one true failed stint so far at club level.

After City blew it against Juve on match day one and were tied with Sevilla tonight in the dying moments, their chances of emerging from a tough group looked 50/50 at the halfway stage. And, though KDB has entered better all-round performances for his new employers so far this term, that goal suddenly put City in a very strong position.

With Sergio Aguero constantly injured and an all-star team wondering what it will take to crack the Champions League code, maybe the Belgian is what the team have needed since day one.

2. Schneiderlin good enough to protect on his own

Rather than adhering to the revered ‘Total Football’ philosophy that the Dutch can so proudly lay claim to, Louis van Gaal is more of a pragmatist, and sets his teams up to first not lose, rather than take the game to their opponents.

With United 1-0 down in Moscow, Van Gaal took the surprisingly adventurous step of sacrificing a defensive midfielder in Bastian Schweinsteiger when introducing Marouane Fellaini, and United immediately offered more of a threat. Despite one less body in front of the back four, United lost none of their shape, partly down to Morgan Schneiderlin’s effectiveness as the sole anchor.

The Frenchman plays so deep that he adds the ultimate protection, and with a midfielder with an engine who can attack and defend, such as Ander Herrera, could Van Gaal take heed from United's second half improvement in Moscow and be a little more adventurous against their noisy neighbours Manchester City at the weekend?

Those around Old Trafford will certainly be hoping so…

3. Ronaldo situation the only concern for Real

Real Madrid’s 0-0 stalemate at Paris Saint-Germain was the first Champions League game in 41 where Los Blancos hadn’t found the back of the net. However, it wasn’t that bad a result.

PSG away was the biggest obstacle for the 2014 winners in a group also containing a weakened Shakhtar Donetsk and perennial underdogs Malmo. A point here is absolutely fine for them.

Plus, Keylor Navas has equalled Bodo Illgner’s club record of five straight CL clean sheets, doing so against a side with almost as much attacking firepower as the Spaniards. However, the disillusioned body language of Cristiano Ronaldo throughout the game and his continued failures at free-kicks – despite insisting on remaining chief set-piece man at the club – is what Rafa Benitez should really be worried about.

The Champions League itself will not become a challenge for Real until February.

4. Podolski underlines ‘underrated star’ status

After trailing at home to Benfica early on, Galatasaray recorded an important 2-1 home win over Benfica which keeps them within reach of the knockout stages – and that man Lukas Podolski scored the winner.

Podolski is the fourth German player to score for three different sides in CL competition and while he wasn’t deemed important to Arsene Wenger’s plans at Arsenal and, years ago, couldn’t make Bayern Munich work as a long-term destination, such a big moment in such a big win reminds us all of just what a useful player he can still be at this level.

5. Malmo aren’t just here to make up numbers

It’s all-but-certain that Real Madrid and PSG will reach the last-16 from Group A. But, a lot of people also assumed that Shakhtar Donetsk – 2009 UEFA Cup winners and frequent Champions League knockouts presence – would take the Europa League spot that comes from finishing third.

After a deserved 1-0 win for the home side in Sweden, however – one which could easily have been by more than one goal – the Ukrainians are without a single point from three games and three points behind their conquerors on the evening. Shakhtar will go into the home version of this game on match day four with more than an ounce of complacency, fearing a Malmo double that would all but freeze them out of Europe completely this season.

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