There was plenty of drama and some stunning goals as the penultimate matchday of the Champions League’s league phase drew to a close on Wednesday.
Real Madrid and Arsenal barely broke a sweat, putting themselves in strong positions to qualify for the knockout stages. Manchester City, however, are in danger of suffering elimination after collapsing and letting a two-goal lead go to lose 4-2 to Paris Saint-Germain at the Parc des Princes inspired by the brilliance of Ousmane Dembele.
With so much still to play for, here are the main talking points with just one matchday remaining of the league phase.
Who could play who?
There’s more than enough to whet your appetite for the round of 16, provided the standings do not shift considerably on the final match day.
GO DEEPER
How will the Champions League knockout play-offs work?
As it stands, Liverpool are in line to face one of Bayern, Real Madrid, Juventus and Celtic. While Arne Slot’s side would likely want to avoid one of these big-hitters, Liverpool beat Madrid 2-0 in the league phase in November and would likely be favourites against any of these potential opponents. And if one of these sides manages to avoid Liverpool, they could face second-placed Barcelona or Arsenal in third.
The playoff spots will likely experience a fair shift next Wednesday, but a clash between Juventus and Real Madrid or Bayern Munich appears to be the tastiest potential tie at this stage.
Dembele brings on Man City capitulation
Style and plenty of substance were on display at the Parc des Princes for PSG vs Manchester City, otherwise known as the ‘Battle of the Big Spenders’.
PSG debuted a new fourth kit for the affair, manufactured by the Jordan brand. The blue and white strip featured an aesthetic nod to the original Air Jordan logo, with wings on the shoulders and arms. Not to be outdone, the visitors lined up in the ‘Definitely City’ kit co-designed by Oasis songwriter and vocalist Noel Gallagher.
In the stands, San Antonio Spurs star Victor Wembanyama joined the long list of celebrities, including Leonardo Di Caprio, Mick Jagger and many of the Kardashian-Jenner clan, to be spotted drinking in Champions League action in Paris. Wembanyama, a Paris native and PSG fan, is back in his hometown to face the Indiana Pacers in the NBA’s annual showpiece match in Europe.
Wemby in attendance for @ChampionsLeague Match! ⚽️ pic.twitter.com/6nCiw4G0X9
— NBA (@NBA) January 22, 2025
Minutes before half-time, Wembanyama was up on his feet to applaud Achraf Hakimi, who thought he had put PSG ahead, only for referee Szymon Marciniak to rule the goal out for offside following a VAR review.
If the kits and celebrity attendees were the primary talking points of the first half, the on-field action jumped ahead front and centre in the second period.
Jack Grealish, the £100million man who went goalless for City throughout 2024, entered the fray at half-time and scored with a ferocious shot on the half-volley. Erling Haaland, who signed a nine-and-a-half-year extension at the club last week, extended the lead in the 56th minute, appearing to set Pep Guardiola’s side on track for a crucial win.
Manchester City NEED TO WIN their final #UCL league phase match against Club Brugge to have any sort of chance of advancing to the KO’s 😳 pic.twitter.com/qaSFd7cnPt
— CBS Sports Golazo ⚽️ (@CBSSportsGolazo) January 22, 2025
However, as they did against Feyenoord in November, City suffered a second-half collapse. Just three minutes after Haaland extended the lead, Ousmane Dembele, PSG’s standout performer after being introduced for the second period creating three chances and hitting the woodwork once, pulled one back for the hosts.
Bradley Barcola scored four minutes later — the fourth goal scored in 10 second-half minutes — before Joao Neves completed PSG’s epic second-half comeback with a header in the 78th minute. To add insult to injury, PSG striker Goncalo Ramos added a fourth in added time.
(Photo by THOMAS SAMSON/AFP via Getty Images)
With the 4-2 win, PSG’s youthful side have leapfrogged City into the round-of-16 play-off spots (see above), while Guardiola’s side have dropped into the elimination zone. To have any chance of qualification, they must beat Club Brugge at home next Wednesday and hope for results elsewhere to fall in their favour.
-2 – Paris won their first game after trailing by 2 goals in the Champions League. It was their first win despite being two goals down in all competitions since May 2012 against Valenciennes in Ligue 1 (0-2 then 4-3). Resilience. pic.twitter.com/DcoMG6d9Gx
— OptaJean (@OptaJean) January 22, 2025
Real Madrid getting on it again
It’s the new year. It’s the Champions League. Of course, Real Madrid appear to have found their groove.
The holders have 15 European Cups — eight more than nearest historical challengers Milan — because they have the extraordinary knack of progressing through the rounds, even when data indicates they may not have been at their best. Before the first ball was kicked on match day seven, Carlo Ancelotti’s side sat in 20th place on nine points, the same total as Celtic, who had not progressed into the knockout stage of Europe’s premier cup competition since 2012-13.
But it took 23 minutes for Rodrygo to open the scoring for the home side against Red Bull Salzburg, converting after Bellingham had miscontrolled a Vinicius Junior cross into his path. Eleven minutes later, there was no accident as Bellingham set up Rodrygo again, gracefully cushioning a pass into his team-mates’ path with his heel for Rodrygo to whip into the far corner.
Kylian Mbappe, who has come into form since missing consecutive penalties in December, added a third in the second half before strike partner Vinicius put the exclamation point on with the fourth and fifth goals, taking past 100 in Real Madrid colours.
With one matchday remaining, Madrid have an outside chance of making it into the automatic knockout spots with an away win against Brest next week. And when there’s a chance, you should know better than to rule them out.
Strikers take chance in Champions League shop window
Hours before Arsenal kicked off their match against Dinamo Zagreb, The Athletic‘s James McNicholas spotted a notable change to the spray-painted murals adorning the walls on the way to the Emirates Stadium.
Under a mural for Josh Kroenke, the son of president and chairman Stan Kroenke and the public-facing representative of the family, there was a message: “Time to splash some cash, Josh”. And with strikers Benjamin Sesko and Viktor Gyokeres both on target in RB Leipzig’s 2-1 win over Sporting CP, the growing demand within the fanbase will only grow in the final week of the January window to add reinforcements to their frontline.
A mural of Arsenal co-chair Josh Kroenke on the approach to the Emirates Stadium (James McNicholas)
Arsenal were one of four Premier League clubs to express interest in Sesko last summer — Manchester United, Liverpool and Newcastle United were the others — but he signed a contract extension, committing his immediate future to the German club. There is a gentleman’s agreement not to stand in his way if a competitive offer arrives in the summer, and his sliding first-half finish against Sporting, displaying an athleticism akin to Erling Haaland or Zlatan Ibrahimovic, won’t have put any of his suitors off.
As for Gyokeres, manager Rui Borges’ decision to start him as a substitute was surprising, but he made up for lost time after coming on in the 55th minute. Despite Yussuf Poulsen scoring just three minutes later to put Leipzig ahead, Gyokeres’ goal was the outstanding one of the affair as he dribbled into the box, beat his defender and fired a left-footed shot into the top of the net.
Gyokeres is expected to depart in the summer. With so many Premier League clubs searching for a striker, perhaps they’ll both end up in England.
Arsenal Dubai-bound? And Celtic finally break through
While their form stutters in the league, Arsenal are marching on through to the round of 16 after a comprehensive 3-0 win over Dinamo Zagreb.
Declan Rice set the north Londoners on their way inside two minutes with a clean right-footed strike assisted by Kai Havertz, Arsenal’s fastest goal in the Champions League since November 2014. Havertz, who has experienced his share of criticism for Arsenal’s goalscoring woes in recent weeks, extended their lead in the second half with a well-placed header before Martin Odegaard added the icing on the cake.
While they still need a point to confirm their qualification into the round of 16, Mikel Arteta and co can start looking at flights and hotels for their customary mid-season trip to Dubai.
They could be joined in the automatic spots by Celtic, who are on 12 points after beating Switzerland’s Young Boys in extraordinarily complicated fashion.
The Celtic faithful will have been in disbelief in the first half, as they watched their side have three goals disallowed and miss a penalty. Their pressure finally paid in the 86th minute, when Adam Idah’s saved shot rebounded off Loris Benito and into the Young Boys net for an own goal.
THAT moment! 🤩#CelticBSCYB | #UCL | #CelticFC🍀 pic.twitter.com/EIlSI5rdOw
— Celtic Football Club (@CelticFC) January 22, 2025
Even if Celtic fail to achieve round-of-16 qualification next week, Brendan Rogers’ side have confirmed their status in the play-off round. With this result, Celtic are level on points (12) with Real Madrid, Borussia Dortmund, Juventus and Bayern, who were soundly beaten by Feyenoord. Good going, Bhoys!
Wednesday’s results
- Shakhtar Donetsk 2 Brest 0
- RB Leipzig 2 Sporting CP 1
- Sparta Prague 0 Inter 1
- Feyenoord 3 Bayern 0
- Arsenal 3 Dinamo Zagreb 0
- Milan 1 Girona 0
- PSG 4 Man City 2
- Real Madrid 5 Red Bull Salzburg 1
- Celtic 1 Young Boys 0
What’s next?
All eighteen matches on Matchday 8 will take place at 8pm GMT/3pm ET.
- PSV vs Liverpool
- Bayern Munich vs Slovan Bratislava
- Borussia Dortmund vs Shakhtar Donetsk
- Bayer Leverkusen vs Sparta Prague
- Girona vs Arsenal
- Barcelona vs Atalanta
- Brest vs Real Madrid
- Man City vs Club Brugge
- Young Boys vs Crvena Zvezda
- Lille vs Feyenoord
- Juventus vs Benfica
- Aston Villa vs Celtic
- Dinamo Zagreb vs Milan
- Inter vs Monaco
- Sturm Graz vs RB Leipzig
- Red Bull Salzburg vs Atletico Madrid
- Sporting CP vs Bologna
- Stuttgart vs PSG
(Top photo: Mateo Villalba/Getty Images)
