What a day, what a day. A topsy-turvy Champions League league phase wrapped up in epic fashion, as 61 goals were scored, teams went back and forth to push for winners, and we even got a goal from a goalkeeper. Matchday 8 had something for everyone, and while we’ll mourn the loss of the Americans who won’t be making it to the knockouts as well as Antonio Conte’s Napoli and Roberto De Zerbi’s Marseille, this was an ending for the ages, so let’s take a look at some winners and losers from the final day of the league phase:
Winner: Jose Mourinho
From being confronted by Benfica supporters during the weekend because of them not being happy with the team’s results lately, to taking down Real Madrid to push for an unlikely knockout stage berth. When Mourinho took over Benfica, they had already dropped two matches in the league phase, and it would take two more Champions League matches for Benfica to pick up their first points. They won three of their last four matches, but even then, it took a stoppage-time goal from keeper Anatoliy Trubin to make it happen. Not only is he the fifth keeper to score a goal in UCL play, but Mourinho didn’t even realize that it was needed after going ahead 3-2 when chaos was ensuing.
“When I made the last changes, [Franjo] Ivanovic and Antonio Silva, I was told [that] is enough, so let’s close the door. When I made the changes a few seconds later, they tell me we need one more goal, but I cannot make more changes, so that was the lucky point to get a free kick that allows us to go there with the big guy,” Jose Mourinho said after the game. What a night under the lights in Europe.”
It’s a wild moment in a game that had a bit of everything, and while it was a poor loss for Real Madrid, Champions League play always needs more Mourinho, and that’s just what we’re getting.
Losers: Napoli
While on one hand, you’d like to put Conte here, the Italian manager has been excellent at making it out of chaos unscathed. I mean, the man went from floundering at Tottenham to winning a Scudetto at Napoli. But they were unable to get the win they needed over Chelsea to move to the knockout stage. It has been the story of Napoli’s season where they’re so close to competing while also being so far from where they need to be. Some of this can be chalked up to not having a healthy Romelu Lukaku, who Conte was able to get a lot out of last season, but they’re now nine points off Inter’s pace for the Scudetto. It’s hard to win a league title bin back to back campaigns, but a loss could see Napoli slip all the way to sixth behind Como. They are in the Coppa Italia for a chance at silverware this season but even that won’t be enough to call the campaign a success. Watch out for the next poor result that Napoli have, because that could be when we get the biennial event of Conte walking away from a club.
Winner: The league phase format
“This is unbelievable. Wow. We might never get another moment like this,” CBS Sports Golazo analyst Jamie Carragher said after the matches wrapped with Benfica’s crazy goal. And he’s right.
Genuinely, I can’t count the number of changes that happened with teams shuffling during the final stages of the day. Three new teams, Bodo/Glimt, Club Brugge, and Benfica, all got into the top 24 on the final day of play, and half of the teams in the top eight also shifted. The new Champions League format has not only meant that there’s drama for the final day, but it has also given the smaller sides around the world better chances to make it to the knockouts, which can lead to tremendous amounts of money to help these clubs come back and do it all again. Take Bodo/Glimt for example, last season they made a European knockout for the first time ever in Europa Leauge and now here they are taking out Manchester City and Atletico Madrid in Champions League play to one up themselves. While there are valid questions of whether the richest clubs are getting too far ahead of the pack — and we’ll get to those — it’s clear that this tournament does mean something to the bigger teams in smaller leagues. And with teams in some of the larger leagues around the world faltering, this could mean something for the UEFA club coefficients that determine how many clubs get into each European competition and who gets automatic qualification without needing to go through the playoffs. More of this, please.
Losers: The Champions League contingent of the Americans
Eight Americans made appearances in the league phase of the Champions League: Sergino Dest, Malik Tillman, Weston McKennie, Folarin Balogun, Yunus Musah, Johnny Cardoso, Ricardo Pepi, and Marvin Dills. But only four remain in the knockouts, with none gaining automatic berths to the round of 16. Tillman’s Bayer Leverkusen, Cardoso’s Atletico Madrid, McKennie’s Juventus, and Balogun’s Monaco will all keep moving on. 18-year-old Dills just made his Champions League debut for Eintracht Frankfurt on the final day of action against Tottenham; the others were heavily involved for their teams. While it’s not their fault that they got knocked out, it is unfortunate that the contingent is halved in one day when it seemed like all of them could survive into the next round. Given how the bracket looks for the knockout phase, this is a number that could drop drastically as well.
Winner: The Premier League
Six Premier League teams entered the Champions League, and five occupy the top eight of the league phase table, while the sixth finished 12th after a draw against the reigning champs in Paris Saint-Germain. Tottenham can’t buy a win in the Premier League, but they navigated the league phase with ease after a season where they won the Europa League while finishing in 17th place. Newcastle United winger Anthony Gordon talked a bit about it while this may be the case in his pre-match availability ahead of facing PSG.
“I think in the Champions League, teams are much more open. They all try to play; it’s less transitional. I think in the Premier League it’s become more physical than I’ve ever known it to be,” Gordon said. “It’s like a basketball game, sometimes it’s so relentless physically. There’s not much control, it’s just a running game, and it’s about duels. Who wins the duels wins the game or moments.
“The Champions League is a bit more of an older style of game. It’s a bit more football-based, where teams come and try to play proper football. I think in the Premier League, to see a lot more long throw-ins, set pieces It’s become a lot slower and set-piece based, I would say.”
It offers an interesting lens into play, and when you see players like Xavi Simons who have struggled in the Premier League but are doing well in Champions League play, Gordon’s words have some merit. Of course, it’s one of the best English teams at attacking and defending set plays, who sit atop the pile at this stage in Arsenal, but even they were able to mix it up to keep the squad fresh while competing on all fronts. English teams have won three of the last 10 Champions League finals, which is second to Real Madrid, carrying the LaLiga flag with five, while Germany and France have netted one a piece so maybe there is a shift in power in the water.
Losers: Real Madrid
Out of the Copa Del Rey and also out of the top eight of the Champions League, the Alvaro Arbeloa era isn’t getting off to the greatest start for Real Madrid. He also won’t have Raul Asencio and Rodrygo available for the first leg of the knockout phase after receiving red cards in stoppage time of their loss to Benfica. But not only did Real Madrid get knocked out, but they were dominated from start to finish, allowing 22 shots and an xG of 2.99 while holding 66% of the possession during the match. Sure, Los Blancos may need the extra games to get their defense into gear, but they could either face Benfica again in a two legged tie or a Bodo/Glimt side that just took it to Atletico Madrid and Manchester City and beat them. These are the kinds of runs that can lead to a third manager in a season, since getting knocked out before the round of 16 would be an unacceptable result for Real Madrid.
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