Tuesday's matches (November 26) caused quite a stir in the overall table of the Champions League league stage. A table that's getting hotter and hotter. The fight for promotion to the Top 8 (direct entry to the 1/8 finals) and Top 24 (teams from places 9-24 fight for the 1/8 finals in the play-offs, i.e. 1/16) is entering the decisive phase, and each loss of points it hurts even more.
Inter and Barcelona issued a challenge. Liverpool responded brilliantly
On Tuesday, Inter Milan and FC showed their class Barcelona. The Italians defeated RB Leipzig 1-0, thanks to which they moved up to the table leader, and could wait for the response of Liverpool, who played against Real Madrid on Wednesday (1 point loss). In turn, Barcelona added points to the team from Anfield (12 points), winning 3-0 against Brest. Atalanta Bergamo (6:1 against Young Boys), Bayer Leverkusen (5:0 against Red Bull Salzburg) and Arsenal (5:1 with Sporting Lisbon).
Everyone was waiting for the response from the teams playing on Wednesday. This one turned out to be particularly crazy. An incredible miss in the match between Sturm Graz and Girona, potentially the most absurd own goal in the history of the Champions League in the match between Celtic and Club Brugge. In turn, very important things were also happening in the upper regions of the table.
Liverpool picked up the gauntlet thrown down by Inter. The Reds dominated Real Madrid at Anfield and won 2-0. Interestingly, we saw two penalty kicks in this match and neither was converted. And not just anyone scored, first Kylian Mbappe (saved by the goalkeeper), and then Mohammed Salah (missed). Thanks to this triumph, “The Reds” are again leading the table, and Real is in the top border. And not Top 8, but Top 24, because exactly in 24th place.
Monaco screwed up
Borussia Dortmund and Lille also recorded important triumphs. The German club beat Dinamo quite smoothly in Zagreb 3-0 and already has 12 points, just like Barcelona. However, Lille is also heading towards even being in the Top 8, because thanks to the 2-1 win in Bologna they have 10 points, just like all the teams in places 6-12. This is the number of points scored by, for example, AS Monaco, which (with Radosław Majecki in goal) was leading 2-1 at home against Benfica Lisbon, but Wilried Singo was shown a red card in the 58th minute. The weakened club from the Principality lost two goals, which is why it lost 2:3 and instead of being runner-up, it is only eighth.
Champions League table after five rounds of the league phase:
- Liverpool – 5 games, 15 points, 12-1 goal balance
- Inter Milan – 5 games, 13 points, 7-0
- FC Barcelona – 5, 12 points, 18-5
- Borussia Dortmund – 5, 12 points, 16-6
- Atalanta – 5, 11 points, 11-1
- Bayer Leverkusen – 5, 10 points, 11-5
- Arsenal – 5, 10 points, 8-2
- Monaco – 5, 10 points, 12-7
- Aston Villa – 5, 10 points, 6-1
- Sporting – 5, 10 points, 10-7
- Brest – 5, 10 points, 9-6
- Lille – 5, 10 points, 7-5
- Bayern Munich – 5, 9 points, 12-7
- Benfica – 5, 9 points, 10-7
- Atletico Madrid – 5, 9 points, 11-9
- AC Milan – 5, 9 points, 10-8
- Manchester City – 5, 8 points, 13-7
- PSV – 5, 8 points, 10-7
- Juventus – 5, 8 points, 7-5
- Celtic – 5, 8 points, 10-10
- Feyenoord – 5, 7 points, 10-13
- Club Brugge – 5, 7 points, 4-7
- Dinamo Zagreb – 5, 7 points, 10-15
- Real Madrid – 5, 6 points, 9-9
- PSG – 5, 4 points, 3-6
- Shakhtar Donetsk – 5, 4 points, 4-8
- VfB Stuttgart – 5, 4 points, 4-11
- Sparta Prague – 5, 4 points, 5-14
- Sturm Graz – 5, 3 points, 2-6
- Girona – 5, 3 points, 4-9
- Red Star – 5, 3 points, 9-17
- RB Salzburg – 5, 3 points, 3-15
- Bologna – 5, 1 point, 1-7
- RB Leipzig – 5, 0 points, 4-10
- Slovan Bratislava – 5, 0 points, 4-18
- Young Boys – 5, 0 points, 2-17