Winners & Losers of UEFA Champions League Matchday 6
By: Anthony Tazbaz
Image Credit: Janosch Diggelmann
It is time to take out the pens and start grading one last time because UEFA Champions League (UCL) Matchday 6 — the final matchday — is officially in the books!
Tuesday's and Wednesday's matches included several close ties, some of which ended in entertaining stalemates and others resulting in victories crucial for clubs clinching top spot in the group. In addition, we have the final standings that consist of several shockers and a handful of outstanding finishes.
A Deep Dive
Before announcing the winners and losers of the final matchday, it is worth noting that Real Madrid (Group C) and Manchester City (Group G) recorded perfect records, with six wins from six matches.
They will be joined by Bayern Munich (Group A), Arsenal (Group B), Real Sociedad (Group D), Lazio (Group E), Borussia Dortmund (Group F) and FC Barcelona (Group G) as top finishers of the groups. The Catalan club managed to retain first place in the group, despite losing 3-2 against Royal Antwerp on the final matchday. Defeating FC Porto in both matches enabled Barcelona to claim first place and join the aforementioned clubs in Pot A, thus securing home field advantage. Home advantage in UCL allows the club to host the second leg, which means that the club would play extra-time and penalty kicks — if necessary — at home for the Round of 16 and possibly the quarterfinals.
Although most clubs already clinched either first place or a top-two position, a handful of clubs had to battle on the final day for the right to compete in a pair of Round of 16 fixtures.
Now, it is time to assess the winners and losers from the final matchday.
Winners
FC Copenhagen: Despite many viewing Copenhagen’s UCL campaign as a write-off at the start of the group stage, the Danish club managed to garner a handful of points in the second half of the group stage. After picking up only one point from the first three matches, Copenhagen pulled an incredible upset in the final minutes of the fourth matchday against Manchester United at the Parken. This was followed by a crucial 0-0 draw at the Allianz Arena against Bayern Munich, which was the only occasion where Bayern dropped points. However, Copenhagen booked a ticket to the Round of 16 last week after defeating Galatasaray 1-0 thanks to a goal by Lukas Lerager, who then picked up a red card at the 90th minute. The club’s incredible second half of the campaign resulted in only a second qualification for the UCL Round of 16 in club history, a first since 2010-11.
Napoli: Faced with countless setbacks and adversity in Serie A, Napoli avoided a disastrous Champions League campaign by defeating SC Braga 2-0 and sweeping the Portuguese club after winning 2-1 on the opening matchday. The match was dominated by Napoli’s stars Victor Osimhen and Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, with the former scoring a goal to propel the Italian club to a consecutive Round of 16 appearance.
FC Porto’s offence: While defence is crucial to a team’s victory, FC Porto’s final group stage match against Shakhtar Donetsk was highlighted by Porto’s offence. Led by Iranian international Mehdi Taremi and Brazilian forward Galeno, the Portuguese club cruised to a high-scoring 5-3 victory in a winner-takes-all match. The win resulted in a sweep against Donetsk, who lost the previous matchup 3-1 on opening day. Porto will compete in UCL Round of 16 for a third time in the last four years. However, Porto’s second-place finish puts the club in a difficult position, in which it will not be easy to advance to the quarterfinals for potentially a second time in three seasons.
Losers
And finally, the losers.
Manchester United: It seems that The Red Devils appear on this list — as a loser — after every matchday. This time, however, the club was dealt the final blow after losing 1-0 against Bayern Munich at home. This loss cemented United’s last-place finish, resulting in a crash out of Europe entirely and being denied a chance to play in the Europa League. Instead, that chance will go to Galatasaray, who picked up four out of a total of six points against the English club. While one could blame Onana’s infamous blunders, the inconsistent attack or manager Erik Ten Hag’s tactics, seeing such a club drop out of Europe before the New Year is nothing short of tragic. However, United’s demise is part of the beautiful game, which provides occasions for underdogs — who display excellent performances — to compete among the best in the latter stages of Europe’s elite competition.
Sevilla FC: From Matchday 1 through 6, Sevilla seemed destined to underachieve, especially given the club’s porous performances in La Liga, where the club sits just above the relegation zone in 17th place. Following a 1-1 home draw with RC Lens on opening matchday, Sevilla could not build on its performance, instead drawing the next match 2-2 against PSV Eindhoven and subsequently losing the final four matches. With only two points, a blown two-goal lead on Matchday 5 — resulting in a 3-2 loss against PSV — and conceding a winner in stoppage time last week against RC Lens, Sevilla will be deprived of a chance to defend its Europa League title. Following the conclusion of its dreadful campaign and a 3-0 loss against Getafe on Saturday, Sevilla took action by sacking manager Diego Alonso. Now, Sevilla will need to use the second half of the season to focus on avoiding relegation while simultaneously use this period as a trial for its players to see who should remain at the club next season.
Newcastle United: Despite getting off to a great start with a solid defensive display in a scoreless draw away against AC Milan and a dominant 4-1 performance against PSG in the home opener, The Magpies nosedived from there. First, Newcastle dropped both contests against Borussia Dortmund 1-0 at home and 2-0 away, respectively. On Matchday 5, The Magpies were subject to total domination by Paris Saint-Germain, but managed to take a 1-0 lead thanks to Swedish ace Alexander Isak capitalizing on a rebounded shot. However, PSG was awarded an incredibly controversial penalty in the final minute, which was successfully converted by star scorer Kylian Mbappé. Despite dropping two points at the death, Newcastle dropped all three points in a 3-1 home loss against AC Milan. While The Magpies had the advantage and sat in second place for a considerable portion of the match after going up 1-0 against Milan, Warran Zaïre-Emery’s equalizer for PSG against Dortmund and Milan’s three unanswered goals led to Newcastle bottling the final matchday. Newcastle’s last-place finish — along with Manchester United’s last-place finish — in a UCL group became the first instance in the competition’s history where two Premier League clubs finished fourth place in the same edition. Not the most ideal outcome for a club making a return to UCL after a 20-year hiatus.
Round of 16 Draw
Following today’s Round of 16 draw, below are the following matchups:
Arsenal vs Porto;
Barcelona vs Napoli;
Real Sociedad vs PSG;
Atlético Madrid vs Inter Milan;
Borussia Dortmund vs PSV Eindhoven;
Bayern Munich vs Lazio;
Manchester City vs FC Coperhagen;
Real Madrid vs RB Leipzig.
