Winners & Losers of UEFA Champions League Matchday 4

By: Anthony Tazbaz

Image Credit: Janosch Diggelmann

It is time to take out the pens and start grading!

UEFA Champions League (UCL) Matchday 4 is officially in the books, which means that there are many matches to cover, several of which included impressive performances, from the first minute until the last second of stoppage time. The standings also provide a strong outlook for the remainder of the group stage.

Tuesday's and Wednesday's matches (7-8 November) included many close ties and several high-scoring performances, including a 6-0 Atlético Madrid thumping against Scottish club Celtic FC and a 4-3 defeat for Manchester United at the hands of FC Copenhagen.

A Deep Dive

In addition to Copenhagen's win, Bayern Munich completed the sweep against Turkish club Galatasaray, further cementing its supremacy in Group A. As expected, top forward Harry Kane is scoring goals at an incredible pace and in key moments, including a pair at the 80th and 86th minutes.

Speaking of dominance, Manchester City kept its perfect record of four wins (12 points) by completing the sweep against Swiss champions BSC Young Boys, this time winning 3-0 at the Etihad Stadium. The Group G leaders sit three points ahead of German rival RB Leipzig, who also completed its sweep against Red Star Belgrade. Both clubs officially qualified for the knockout stage with two matches to spare.

However, Group F nevertheless hogs the spotlight, with all four clubs — PSG, Borussia Dortmund, AC Milan and Newcastle United — still in the mix for UCL knockout stage football.

Winners

Now let's determine the top three winners, shall we?

• Alvaro Morata: The Spaniard continues his strong form! His brace against Celtic increases his goal tally to five, now tied with Manchester United's Rasmus Højlund for top scorer and only two goals behind PSV Eindhoven's Luuk de Jong with qualifiers included (PSV played four qualifying matches). Coupled with goals scored in La Liga, Morata now raked 12 goals, putting him amongst some of Europe's most prolific scorers of 2023. Teammate Antoine Griezmann is also worthy of recognition for his incredible performances since returning to Atlético Madrid last year from FC Barcelona. Also scoring a brace against Celtic, it seems that Diego Simeone's tactics fit perfectly for both the French international and Morata.

• Borussia Dortmund: Winning yet again against Newcastle United — this time 2-0 at the Signal Iduna Park — Borussia Dortmund climb to the top of Group F, winning the last two games and being undefeated in the last three. A win on Matchday 5 — against AC Milan at the San Siro — could result in the German club clinching a berth in the knockout stage. The Black & Yellow will need help from group runners-up PSG, who lost 2-1 at the San Siro against a resurgent AC Milan, by defeating Newcastle United at the Parc des Princes. Both Dortmund and PSG could then play for top of the group in the final matchday at the Signal Iduna Park (PSG won the first match 2-0 in Paris on opening day).

• Shakhtar Donetsk: What. A. Match. Shakhtar defeated Spanish champions FC Barcelona 1-0 to take a convincing six-point lead over Royal Antwerp for third place in Group H. As well, this win puts the club only three points behind Barcelona and Portuguese giants FC Porto, who sit in first and second place, respectively. With both matches against Barcelona out of the way, Donetsk should easily clinch third place, if not second place. The final match against Porto at the Estádio do Dragão will likely prove crucial for both clubs, who may be tied in points ahead of the final matchday.

Losers

And now the losers.

• Rudi Garcia: Despite winning 1-0 against Union Berlin at the Olympiastadion on Matchday 3, defending Italian champions Napoli failed to secure all three points at home. As a result, Rudi Garcia found himself sinking in the hot seat. His fate was at last sealed with a sacking after the club's 1-0 home loss against Empoli. Italian Walter Mazzarri returns as manager of the club after being in charge at Napoli from October 2009 until May 2013.

• SL Benfica: UCL quarterfinalists last year, the Portuguese giants raked a fourth consecutive loss, effectively remaining at the bottom of Group D and officially being eliminated from knockout stage contention. Amid scoring woes, André Silva at least managed to open the club's scoring account in the 3-1 loss against Real Sociedad. Despite a terrible campaign, Benfica trail RB Salzburg by only three points for third place, which gives a club a chance to compete for the UEFA Europa League (UEL).

• Manchester United: Placing Manchester United amongst UCL matchday losers makes me sound like a broken record. However, like a broken record, Manchester United needs fixing… or replacement (of players and/or staff). Despite taking a 3-2 lead at the 69th minute against Copenhagen via a Bruno Fernandes penalty, the Red Devils allowed the Danish club to creep back into the match with goals at the 83rd and 87th minutes. Dropping all three points in only 21+ minutes send Manchester United cratering to last place of Group A with only three points. Winning the last two matches — Galatasaray away and Bayern Munich at Old Trafford — will be an incredibly difficult task to accomplish, considering injuries are now piling up. Manchester United fans may have to settle seeing their club compete potentially in UEL in February.

At the End of the Day

With four matches in the books, we now have a better idea of which clubs will advance, drop to UEL or outright crash out of Europe.

Although Arsenal's 2-0 win against Sevilla propelled the English club to the top of Group B, PSV, RC Lens, and Sevilla each have a strong chance to qualify for the knockout stage as the 2nd place team. While Sevilla sits bottom of the group at only two points, PSV and Lens will head into Matchday 5 tied at five points, with the former having defeated the latter 1-0 previously. However, expect Sevilla to make a late push to clinch third place to play in UEL in February. Following last season's terrible first half of the group stage, the Spanish club bounced back to third place and eventually won the UEL title.

Group E also comprises a close race between Atlético Madrid, Lazio and Feyenoord. Only two points separate the three clubs, with Celtic in fourth place with only one point. While each of these clubs may not be UCL title favourites, the club relegated to UEL may be cursed with a blessing. No matter the third-place finisher, this club will become a strong favourite to win the UEL and may just go all the way.

Ultimately, we need to address Group F's — also known as the group of death — current standings. With Dortmund now leading the group for the first time, a loss against AC Milan next week could send either of the three other clubs into first place and send Dortmund into third place. Despite being only one point behind the German club, PSG is scheduled to play fourth-place Newcastle — to whom the club suffered a heavy 4-1 defeat at St. James' Park — who sit only two points behind the French capital club. Literally everything is up for grabs in Group F heading into the penultimate matchday.

Stay tuned for the fifth matchday next week, and the following evaluation in two weeks from today!