The UEFA Champions League group stage matches came to an end on Wednesday night as the 32 teams battled for the qualifying rounds.
Out of these, 16 teams qualified for the Round of 16 stage while eight out of the remaining half were dropped to the Europa League playoff stage.
Quite expectedly, some top teams were already ‘predicted’ to advance to the Round of 16, however, the qualifications weren’t devoid of a moderate level of upsets.
Meanwhile, the UCL draws for the Round of 16 will be held on Monday, December 18, at noon.
Below are the details of how the group stage played out:
Group C leader, Real Madrid, saw off competition from last season’s Serie A title winner, Napoli, after topping the group, earning a maximum of 18 points and 16 goals.
Also topping Group G is English champions, Manchester City, with 18 points and 18 goals.
The ‘Sky Blues’ had their last group match against FK Crvena Zvezda with a 3-2 away win. The spectacular point in the match was the fact that Spaniard coach, Pep Guardiola, fielded only four key players in the starting 111 while he played some of the club’s academy and U23 youngsters.
Last season EPL runner-up, Arsenal, was able to maintain fine form despite losing only a match 2-1 against third-placed Lens.
Bundesliga giant, Bayern Munich, led Group A with 16 points, after seeing off fierce competition from Manchester United and Galatasaray.
EPL third-placed Man United fell short of form as they slid down to finish at the bottom of the group – earning just four points and losing four matches – including a 4-3 loss at Allianz Arena against Bayern, and another 1-o loss at the hands of the Bavarians at Old Trafford.
Termed as the ‘group of death,’ Group F had Dortmund, Paris Saint-Germain, AC Milan and Newcastle – all jostled for the top two spots.
The group’s matches came with some moments of non-expectation as Newcastle thrashed PSG 4-1 at St. James’ Park, with the reverse fixture ending 1-1 in France.
Italian club, AC Milan, was able to earn a Europa League playoff spot with eight points, finishing above bottom-placed Newcastle with five points.
Also, the Spanish club, Barcelona, couldn’t finish with the maximum possible points after winning four matches and two losses which came against Shakhtar Donetsk at 1-0 and Belgian side, Royal Antwerp at 3-2.
Antwerp first struck in the second minute and got the winning goal in extra time following Barcelona’s late second-goal equaliser.
Group stage clean sheets
4 – Real Sociedad
3 – Arsenal, Dortmund, Inter Milan
2 – AC Milan, Atletico Madrid, Barcelona, Bayern, FC Kobenhavn, Lazio, PSG, Real Madrid, Salzburg, Shakhtar, Napoli
1 – Porto, Feyernoord, Man City, Man United, Newcastle, PSV Eindhoven, Young Boys.
POT 1 teams
Bayern
Arsenal
Real Madrid
Real Sociedad
Atletico Madrid
Dortmund
Man City
Barcelona
POT 2 teams
FC Kobenhavn
PSV Eindhoven
Napoli
Inter
Lazio
PSG
RB Leipzig
Porto
Europa League playoff
Galatasaray
Lens
Braga
Benfica
Feyenoord
AC Milan
Young Boys
Shakhtar Donetsk
Highest goal scorers
5 – Alvaro Morata (Atletico Madrid), Antoine Griezmann (Atletico Madrid), Rasmus Hojlund (Man United), Erling Haaland (Man City)
4 – Danylo Sikan (Shakhtar Donetsk), Gabriel Jesus (Arsenal), Jude Bellingham (Real Madrid), Harry Kane (Bayern), Julian Alvarez (Man City).
Stat: La Liga has the most teams qualified for the UCL round of 16. All four teams won their groups.
