Winners and Losers of the UEFA Champions League League Stage

A madcap night of UEFA Champions League football gave us some of the most memorable moments of the League stage in this season. From last-minute goals to mind-numbing red cards and teams etching themselves in history, there was an emotion for every fan as we witnessed a matchday for the ages.

However, there were a few who ended up as big winners after the conclusion of those fixtures, while a few of them were left to rue their losses and contemplate on what could have been.

Here are the winners and losers after the end of the UCL League stage.

Winner: Qarabag

Until this season of the UEFA Champions League, not a single team from Azerbaijan were able to win a single match in the tournament, let alone qualify for the knockout stages. But Qarabag this season have gone where no other Azeri team have gone, thereby creating their own unique bit of history in the competition. 

They beat Benfica to register their first-ever win in the competition, and then went on to beat Copenhagen and Frankfurt while also earning a very creditable draw against Chelsea to seal their place into the playoff round. Under the management of Gurban Gurbanov, who is known as the “Azeri Sir Alex Ferguson”, they have managed to reach the summit of their history. Even though they ended up on the wrong side of a 6-0 defeat against Liverpool last night, the taste of knockout football will be a sweet experience for them.

Loser: Napoli

The reigning Serie A Champions would have fancied their chances given the relatively high number of favourable fixtures that they had against the likes of PSV, Frankfurt, Benfica, and Copenhagen. But their performances against these very sides not only left a lot to be desired, but also ended up being the cause of their elimination from the tournament.

Draws against Frankfurt and Copenhagen only went on to dampen their chances. Their huge 6-2 loss to PSV and a 2-0 defeat against Benfica meant that they had to get a win in the final match against Chelsea to keep their hopes alive. Alas, they were unable to do so as they slumped to a defeat after being 2-1 up, thereby once again highlighting manager Antonio Conte’s poor record in the European top division.

Winner: Benfica and Jose Mourinho

The entirety of the Estadio da Luz went through a cacophony of emotions from the start of their must-win game against Real Madrid. After going a goal down, they stormed back in stirring fashion to lead 3-1 against the 15-time European Champions. However, a Kylian Mbappe goal to make it 3-2 meant that there were a lot of anxious and downright terrified faces in the stands,

When manager Jose Mourinho made two defensive changes at stoppage time, he was under the assumption that they were through, until someone told him seconds later that they needed another goal, prompting pandemonium because the changes were already made and he had no more subs to make. However, an absolutely chaotic phase of 2 minutes that saw two Real Madrid players get sent off meant that when Benfica had an attacking free-kick in what was virtually the last kick of the game, they had a 2-man advantage.

However, Mourinho was not happy with that. Instead, he vociferously signalled his goalkeeper Anatoliy Trubin to also go all the way to attack that free-kick. And it was fitting that Trubin was the one to score the goal that sparked absolutely visceral scenes to not only take Benfica through, but also vindicate Mourinho’s decision to gamble at that instant.

‘Football Heritage’ Indeed!

Loser: Pafos FC

Now, we know this will sound very very harsh given that they were first-time entrants in this competition, but the reason for putting them here is solely due to the circumstances they found themselves at the end of it all.

For a team that is playing in the Champions League for the very first time, they did exceedingly well. With a total of 9 points that has 2 victories, one of which was a big European name in Villarreal, they missed the knockouts agonisingly by virtue of just goal difference. They will rue the goalless draw against fellow debutants Kairat Almaty when a win could have made them only the second Cypriot side to qualify for the knockouts after APOEL Nicosia way back in 2012. However, they can hold their heads up high after a campaign where they exceeded expectations.

Winners: English sides in the UCL

It is a good time to be affiliated with the Premier League after last night’s round of fixtures. The race for that extra Champions League spot has ensured that all teams fight tooth and nail for that in terms of the coefficient points that are on offer. And it was a pretty relaxed place for the English sides to be in at the end of it all.

5 out of the 6 Premier League sides qualified directly to the Round of 16. Man City, Arsenal, Liverpool, Chelsea, and Tottenham Hotspur all registered victories to secure their passage, while Newcastle United managed a spot in the playoffs after a very creditable draw against the defending Champions PSG, which also consigned them to the playoffs for the second year running.

Manchester United and the other sides in the Premier League with Champions League aspirations will be casting a keen eye on how things pan out in the knockouts, but for now, they can breathe a sigh of relief for a job well done.