England clubs’ worst show in 11 years
So much for the English taking over European football. The final Champions League group stage in its current format ended with representation from the supposedly all-powerful Premier League cut in half as Manchester United and Newcastle failed to advance to the knockout stage — and were even knocked out of European competition altogether.
Instead, there was a Spanish resurgence, a decent showing from the German contingent, and a couple of nice surprises making their way into the round of 16 in the form of Copenhagen and PSV Eindhoven.
This was the last year of the 32-team, eight-pool group stage, with UEFA pivoting next season to a single 36-team league that will see clubs play eight games — up from the current six. The top eight teams will advance automatically to the round of 16 knockout bracket and Nos. 9 to 24 in the standings go into a playoff round to decide the other eight qualifiers.
There will be wry smiles around Europe as English teams received a bloody nose, just when the Premier League seemed to have unstoppable momentum on the back of wealth generated from huge broadcast deals. Only defending champion Manchester City and Arsenal got through, marking England’s weakest Rd of 16 challenge in 11 years. It’s quite the slump for a country that has provided six of the last 10 finalists and three of the last five winners.
Not helping England’s cause was this being Newcastle’s first participation in 20 years, with the Saudi-owned northeast team plunged into the toughest group — containing Borussia Dortmund, PSG and AC Milan — and running into an injury crisis that hit a relatively shallow squad. Oh, and there was a huge refereeing error that ultimately cost Newcastle dear. As for United, it was a chaotic campaign for a club in something of a maelstrom amid ownership wrangles and concerns over the quality of their manager.
Of the eight group winners — Bayern Munich, Arsenal, Real Madrid, Real Sociedad, Atletico Madrid, Dortmund, Man City and Barcelona — four are from Spain.
While it was expected from Madrid, and potentially Barca and Atletico, too, given they were placed in weak groups,
Sociedad’s rise with a mostly homegrown team and coach is a welcome sight for romantics keen to see new names thrive. In their first Champions League in a decade, Sociedad were unbeaten and conceded just two goals. Barca are back in the big time, too, after failing to get out of the group stage in their first two post-lionel Messi seasons.
Real, fuelled by Jude Bellingham, were one of two teams — with Man City — to claim a maximum of 18 points while Atletico were unbeaten, too. Germany arguably performed the best of the rest, with Bayern and Dortmund winning groups and Leipzig second behind City.
Surprise packages
PSV, the European champions in 1988 and runaway leader in the Eredivisie, are in the knockouts for the first time since 2016. Their only loss in 26 games this season was a 4-0 beating by Arsenal in their opener.
Copenhagen’s only previous appearance in the Rd of 16 was in 2011. The Danish champions helped dump out Man United and have been boosted by playing in front of a passionate home crowd at the Parken Stadium. Having said that, the two clubs whose budgets are counted in tens of millions not hundreds are opponents that group winners likely will want to face next.
Adapting to the demands of the Champions League is difficult even for teams from well-financed top leagues. Newcastle and Lens returned after decades away and Union Berlin made their debut. They combined to win three of 18 games and only Lens will still play European games in February, in the second-tier Europa.
Newcastle and Lens are in seventh place and Union is 15th. Compare their fortunes with domestic league leaders Liverpool, Leverkusen and Girona — all free of Champions League commitments. So are Juventus — second to Inter in Serie A while serving a one-year UEFA ban for financial wrongdoing — and PSG’S closest rivals in France, Nice and Monaco. Sitting out the Champions League can help build the title challenge to get back into it.