[ad_1]
The group stage of the Champions League is now complete and we know the identity of the 16 teams that advance to the knockout stage after Christmas.
It has been a group stage that has brought some surprises, notably Manchester United’s early exit and Inter Milan’s lousy efforts, but overall, the teams expected to advance have made progress.
So what have we learned from the opening phase of the top European competition? And who is looming as a contender when we get to the end of the business?
Some dangers for the best clubs … but not too much
For the most part, the teams we expected to qualify from each group have qualified.
Bayern Munich and Atlético de Madrid from Group A, Chelsea and Sevilla from Group E, Juventus and Barcelona from Group G, for example.
For most of the leading clubs, it was straightforward progress with little danger, removing much of the entertainment factor for those watching at home in a Covid-dominated Europe.
One exception was Real Madrid, a 13-time record champion, who needed until matchday six to secure qualification after home and away losses to Shakhtar Donetsk.
In the end, they easily beat Borussia Monchengladbach to secure first place and were saved from embarrassment by Inter Milan’s ineptitude in their six games.
If Antonio Conte’s side had turned up, Real could have really been in trouble, but in the end they did it with minimal drama from the last day.
Real have passed out of the 29 Champions League group stages they have participated in (including the two group stage format between 1999 and 2003).
Group D also went all the way when Atalanta beat Ajax 1-0 to follow Liverpool into the round of 16. But it says a lot about the predictability of the group stage that the Italian team could lose 5-0 at home to Liverpool and still make it through.
Group H was the only one to offer excitement from start to finish to finish, as Paris Saint-Germain and RB Leipzig sent Manchester United to the Europa League.
However, the most shocking element of this is that after days two and four, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s team was in command of the group, but he let it slip away.
This was unforgivable, but remember that many ruled United when the draw took place and pitted them against last season’s defeated finalists at PSG and semi-finalists in Leipzig in what was widely regarded as the ‘Group of Death’.
But generally, when challengers can’t break through the glass ceiling and cause an upset, excitement suffers.
Look at the composition of the round of 16: four Spanish teams, four Germans, three English, three Italians, a French and, for a change, a Portuguese.
It’s at least a slight improvement over last season, when the top five leagues in Europe had all 16 teams.
The Titanic fights did not live up to expectations
There were many excited gasps as the draw put Barcelona and Juventus in Group G together. The subplot of Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo facing off was more exciting than anything else.
But with Dynamo Kyiv and Ferencvaros so weak that they were little more than scapegoats, the two encounters mattered little with Barca and Juve, both struggling to find their usual domestic form, wandering around.
The first match in Turin did not even rule out the emotion of that personal duel with Ronaldo through a positive Covid test.
And the second game at the Camp Nou was nothing more than a dead rubber. Well, for everyone except Ronaldo, who scored two penalties in a 3-0 win to make sure Juve is seeded in the round of 16 tie.
The meetings between Real Madrid and Inter Milan were better but the San Siro match was ruined as a match by Arturo Vidal’s first-half red card, which allowed Zinedine Zidane’s team to complete a double.
And any hope that Atlético de Madrid could compete with defending champions Bayern Munich ended in the opener when they crashed 4-0 in Bavaria.
Even an already qualified Bayern won a late 1-1 draw in Madrid on matchday five and both managed it quite comfortably at the end.
At least the big players appeared
While the big clubs wait until the round of 16 to face a proper test, at least the star players we see in the Champions League have delivered.
A look at the group stage top scorers list sees PSG’s Neymar and Borussia Dortmund’s Erling Haaland tied with Juventus’s Alvaro Morata and eliminated Man United’s Marcus Rashford tied at six goals.
Neymar has struggled at times this season amid injury discomfort and disciplinary issues, but has improved as the group has progressed. He was excellent in PSG’s 3-1 win at Old Trafford and finished off with a hat-trick against Istanbul Basaksehir.
Meanwhile, Haaland has continued his sensational scoring in Europe’s top competition. He set records as the fastest player to reach 10 Champions League and the fastest in 15.
Having scored eight goals in the group stage last season for Red Bull Salzburg, Haaland is back on track in this competition.
Olivier Giroud of Chelsea and Alassane Plea of Mönchengladbach, both with five goals, are more surprising names among the top scorers and, in case you were wondering, Cristiano has four goals.
The Champions League remains a testing ground for young talents
Maybe it’s an indication of stretched squads in a season compressed by the Covid pandemic or just a greater faith in young players and their football education, but we’ve seen some stars born in the group stage.
Dortmund’s Youssoufa Moukoko became the youngest player in the competition this week, at just 16 years and 18 days, when he faced Zenit St Petersburg. He broke the long-standing record held by Celestine Babayaro (16 years and 85 days).
Incidentally, Babayaro, who was playing for Anderlecht against Steaua Bucharest, was sent off in that game. The second youngest player to see red in the Champions League is now Ajax’s Ryan Gravenberch after his loss to Atalanta on Wednesday.
Liverpool set a pair of club records in their game with Midtjylland. With an average age of 24 years and 26 days, this was his youngest starting lineup in the competition, while Billy Koumetio (18 years and 25 days) became the youngest to make appearances.
Kylian Mbappé of PSG, meanwhile, has become the youngest player to score 20 goals (21 years and 355 days), surpassing Messi (22 years and 266 days). Haaland, who is still 20 years old, will no doubt soon outshine it.
So while the dead rubbers that plagued the groups’ later stages offered little excitement, they at least gave us a glimpse of the future in some cases.
The absence of crowds has made little difference
Only a handful of group stage games were played with fan attendance this year, as the pandemic remains strong on the continent.
Lokomotiv Moscow, Krasnodar, Shakhtar Donetsk, Rennes, Chelsea, Zenit St Petersburg, Dynamo Kyiv, Ferencvaros, RB Leipzig and Istanbul Basaksehir were the clubs lucky enough to have spectators in at least some of their home matches.
But the absence of crowds has made little difference in terms of home advantage.
In last season’s group stage, there were 41 wins at home and 34 away with allowed crowds. This season, we’ve seen 39 wins at home and 36 away without, so a minimal reduction to home advantage.
In terms of goals scored, there was always a reduction from the record 308 (3.22 per game) seen in the group stage last season.
Despite there being no fans to call on the sides, this tally only dropped to 289 goals (3.01 per game) this season.
But even if their presence seems to make little difference, a big part of the appeal of the Champions League is the color and vibrancy created by the fans and they can only be expected to return for at least some of the knockout rounds.
Bayern are still the team to beat
There’s a reason Bayern Munich is the bookmaker’s favorite to retain their Champions League title.
They crossed their group, securing classification and first place with two matches remaining. Their draw against Atlético on matchday five was the first European game in 15 that they failed to win.
Bayern also scored 18 goals in their six games to really underscore the fact that they are the team to beat this season.
Mind you, Manchester City equaled their record of five wins and a draw, but only scored 13 goals, and there’s no reason why this can’t be the season that Pep Guardiola finally hands them the only trophy they crave above everyone else.
As for the dark horses, Atalanta, RB Leipzig and Lazio could be some of the ones to watch out for.
Source: m.allfootballapp.com
[ad_2]
