The new Champions League format wrapped Wednesday Jan. 29, making the last matchday something that has never been seen before. Here are some of the key takeaways:
New format was a success
The last matchday saw 18 different games played at the same time while only Liverpool and Barcelona had qualified directly to the Rounds of 16. In a span of 90 minutes, 64 goals and 3 different hat tricks were scored as only 25 teams progressed.
Giants like Bayern Munich, Juventus, Real Madrid, and Manchester City qualified for the first-ever knockout playoffs. Underdogs like Lille and Aston Villa secured direct qualification, beating out Atalanta by just one point.
The new format makes winning as crucial as ever. With the last format, a team could still progress having tied most of their games; the optimal outcome was either a win or a tie, however, with the new format that is no longer the case.
Following the conclusion of the group stage, every team is separated from the teams above and below them in the table by no more than three points. This means that one win can mark the difference between playing an extra play-off game, going directly to the Rounds of 16 or even being eliminated.
Draw takeaways
Some of the most notable games from the draw include Real Madrid vs Manchester City and Feyenoord vs Milan.
Real Madrid vs Manchester City is arguably the most eye-catching matchup from the draw. This will mark the fifth time in the last five years that these teams meet in the elimination phase. The record is currently 2-2 with the most recent win belonging to Los Blancos after they knocked out City to reach the semi-final of last year’s edition. It is also worth mentioning that both Manchester City and Real Madrid have been the winners of the last three editions of the tournament.
However, what makes this matchup more interesting than previous years is both, the teams recent form and the point at which they meet. Pep Guardiola is having arguably the worst managerial season of his career; winning only once in 12 games back in December. The two most notable recent losses of the season for Manchester City is a 4-2 come back loss against PSG and 5-1 away thrashing to Arsenal. Even more recently, the Citizens barely scraped a win in the FA Cup on Feb. 8, as a late Kevin De Bruyne goal was enough to beat EFL League One’s Leyton Orient F.C., 2-1.
Although Guardiola spent upwards of €200m this winter transfer window, the loss of Ballon d’Or winner Rodri has proved to be the dagger in the heart for this City side. The Blues will hope that new signings Nico Gonzalez, Abdukodir Khusanov, and Omar Marmoush will provide a much needed lifeline this Tuesday.
Real Madrid have also struggled throughout the season. After a rocky start to the season — giving up major victories to Barcelona, Lille, Milan and Liverpool — the Madrid-based club managed to win the final three games of the group stage to secure qualification.
Despite recovering their form, Los Blancos have failed to fully convince due to their lack of consistency. Everytime they seem to regain their footing they either drop points to relegation battling Espanyol or barely scrape a win against 17th placed Leganes in the Copa del Rey.
However, Madrid’s largest problem is their defensive situation. Dani Carvajal and Eder Militao have been ruled out for the rest of the season with ACL injuries, while David Alaba (adductor muscle injury) and Antonio Rudiger (hamstring) will miss both legs against City. Recently, in Real Madrid’s draw against Atletico Madrid, Lucas Vazquez picked up a hamstring injury that will also keep him out for two to three weeks.
To make matters worse for Los Blancos, they made zero signings in the winter transfer window, which closed Feb. 3. Ancelotti only has two available center-backs; Raul Asencio and Aurelien Tchoumeni with Ferland Mendy and Federico Valverde likely playing as full-backs. It is important to note that neither Tchoumeni nor Valverde are natural defenders.
Another game to look out for is AC Milan’s fixture against Feyenoord as Santiago Gimenez will face off against his old club in only his first Champions League game for the Rossoneri.
Gimenez completed a €35m move from the Dutch club this transfer window and has already made two goal contributions in his first two games. The Mexican international will be back at De Kuip for the first time since leaving the Rotterdam based club. Furthermore, AC Milan was fairly active during the transfer window this winter; picking up Joao Felix on loan, Riccardo Sottil and Warren Bondo on a permanent transfer, in addition to Gimenez.
AC Milan lost their first three games of the UCL group stage, before picking up four straight wins. Their 2-1 loss against Dinamo Zagreb proved to be enough to send them to the play-off phase. However, Feyenoord will prove to be a tough challenge for the Rossoneri.
It would not be the first time Brian Priske’s side manage an upset this UCL season, as they recently beat Bayern Munich 3-0. Despite their impressive victory, Feyenoord substantially lost the following matchday against Lille, letting up six goals. Furthermore, they will have to do without their top goalscorer in the competition, as they face him on Wednesday.
Players to look out for
Serhou Guirassy continues to be a player to look out for in this Champions League campaign. He scored or assisted in every single group stage game for Borussia Dortmund, and will look to continue his great form against wounded Sporting CP. Guirassy has arguably been the MVP for Dortmund and, although he has not recreated the same form in the Bundesliga, he managed to be the second highest goalscorer during the group stage.
Another player to keep an eye on is Joao Felix. Back in the Champions League for the first time since his Barcelona days, Felix joined the Rossoneri on loan from Chelsea and had an instant impact coming off the bench in his first game, scoring a goal. This time, the Portuguese will play for his fifth different club in his career, looking to build on his impressive start for AC Milan.
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