Multiple contributors
Jan 29, 2025, 06:18 PM ET
Well, what a dramatic final day that was! Manchester City snuck into the playoff round with a come-from-behind win over Club Brugge, Paris Saint-Germain thrashed VfB Stuttgart to keep themselves in the competition, Liverpool lost at PSV Eindhoven with a second-string team but still finished top of the league phase, thanks to Barcelona's 2-2 home draw with Atalanta.
As the dust settles on a wild night of UEFA Champions League action, ESPN FC writers and reporters take a look at the biggest talking points.
Man City 3-1 Club Brugge: Guardiola & Co. sneak through, but face a playoff gauntlet
MANCHESTER, England -- Manchester City are into the playoffs but they had to survive a huge scare. Nothing about this season has filled City fans with confidence and this was another nervous night. Club Brugge were terrific on the break for an hour and took the lead just before half-time.
At that point there were some very worried faces dotted around the Etihad Stadium. It was only when half-time substitute Savinho made it 3-1 with less than 15 minutes to go that the home fans began to take out their phones and look at the table to work out who they might play next.
The worry for Pep Guardiola is that they still don't look like a team who will get very far. Club Brugge made them look incredibly vulnerable before tiring towards the end. If the Belgians had taken more of their chances, City would be out of Europe. They might be quite soon anyway. Finishing 22nd in the table means they will play either Real Madrid or Bayern Munich in the playoff round.
Guardiola can only hope he has players like Rúben Dias and Nathan Aké back from injury by then because, if they continue in the Champions League in the same form, they aren't going to last much longer.
That, though, is a worry for another day. City needed to get over the first hurdle against Club Brugge and they did it. Just. -- Rob Dawson
PSV 3-2 Liverpool: Liverpool secure top spot despite loss
EINDHOVEN, Netherlands -- For weeks, debate has raged over how significant topping the league phase table might prove to be for Liverpool. On the eve of his team's meeting with PSV Eindhoven, however, Arne Slot showed that securing top spot ranked pretty low on his list of priorities, omitting nine first-team players -- including captain Virgil van Dijk and top goal-scorer Mohamed Salah -- from the matchday squad.
Despite Wednesday's clash being one of the more inconsequential ones of the evening, it was a highly entertaining first half at Philips Stadium, with PSV twice coming from behind before striker Ricardo Pepi gave them the lead on the stroke of half-time.
While there will be some disappointment that Liverpool were unable to maintain their flawless league phase record in Eindhoven, Slot will likely view it as important minutes in the legs for many of his second string. There were flashes of quality from some of Liverpool's young stars, with 20-year-old midfielder James McConnell particularly catching the eye, while it was heartening to see summer signing Federico Chiesa play 90 minutes for the first time since joining the club from Juventus.
With a tough Premier League assignment away to AFC Bournemouth to come at the weekend, the majority of Slot's main men have been afforded a well-deserved rest, while Barcelona's 2-2 draw with Atalanta means Liverpool top the league anyway. However, as everyone is discovering with this new Champions League format, the result could have some major ramifications down the line. PSV won and finished 14th, pushing PSG into 15th and into the route to play Liverpool in the round of 16. Had Liverpool not lost, PSG would have been 14th, and Liverpool would have played Monaco, Brest, Benfica or Feyenoord instead. -- Beth Lindop
Champions League playoff picture becomes clear
Perhaps the biggest development to recommend the new Champions League format -- beyond a dramatic matchday eight -- is the prospect of heavyweight play-off matches next month.
The draw takes place on Friday but already we know for certain that Manchester City will play either Real Madrid or Bayern Munich, pitching two of the pre-tournament favourites into a do-or-die battle to reach the last-16 over two legs on February 11/12 and 18/19.
City were 45 minutes away from going out altogether and the sense of unease which has accompanied their nervy route through the expanded group stage will only continue into the playoffs; no matter their opponent, City, on current form, will start that tie as the underdogs.
Paris Saint-Germain will consider themselves fortunate by contrast that they will play either Ligue 1 rivals Monaco or Brest (there is no country protection from here on).
PSG currently sit 13 points ahead of Monaco and 19 points above Brest in their domestic table. Victory, however will mean a last-16 meeting with either Liverpool or Barcelona.
AC Milan could face an all-Italian tie against Juventus, with Feyenoord their other possibility. San Siro rivals Internazionale may await in the last-16 but if not, Arsenal will be their opponent.
Perhaps the least attractive quartet of possibilities on paper is the prospect of Sporting CP or Club Brugge facing Atalanta or Borussia Dortmund. However, that foursome feeds into a last-16 tie against either Lille or Aston Villa, both of whom have exceeded expectations to this point and will already feel a quarterfinal appearance is a distinct possibility. -- James Olley
Stuttgart 1-4 PSG: Dembélé shows his class as Luis Enrique's team come good
STUTTGART, Germany -- Ousmane Dembélé seems to have spent his entire career waiting to realise his potential, but everything that made the Paris Saint-Germain forward such an exciting prospect in his younger days came to the fore while scoring a stunning Champions League hat trick in a crushing 4-1 win against VfB Stuttgart.
Dembele, 27, was unstoppable for Luis Enrique's team, having also made a match-winning impact as a substitute in the 4-2 win against Manchester City last week.
The former Borussia Dortmund and Barcelona forward was too much for Stuttgart with his pace, movement and finishing ability -- his second goal was hit so hard that the netting had to be re-attached to the goal before the game could be re-started.
With PSG ditching their previous blueprint of signing superstars such as Lionel Messi, Neymar and Kylian Mbappé, the club are now turning to the best emerging talent in France to help launch a new era in Paris.
And while there is no doubt that young stars such as Bradley Barcola, who scored PSG's first goal, Désiré Doué and Warren Zaïre-Emery can build a great future for PSG, the experience and quality of Dembele will also be crucial.
For so long, Dembele has had to overcome injury and inconsistency to prove he can be the player who once cost Barcelona €148 million when he moved to Camp Nou from Dortmund as a teenager.
Dembele blows hot and cold, just like PSG during this season's Champions League, but there are clearly a team that is developing fast. This season might be too soon for them to win the competition, but if PSG can keep the squad together, their future is bright. -- Mark Ogden
Dinamo Zagreb 2-1 AC Milan: 10-man Rossoneri advance, Zagreb's win doesn't matter
And to think, it was all set up so nicely for Milan. Beat Dinamo Zagreb -- a club who had changed managers in December and who had played just two games since before Christmas -- and a top eight spot was assured. Heck, even a draw, depending on results elsewhere, might do the trick.
Instead, the 2-1 defeat means they're headed to the playoffs, where they'll play either Feyenoord or, ahem, Juventus. You don't want to scapegoat Yunus Musah, but obviously getting yourself sent off with your team a goal down in the first half isn't too clever. He felt it was harsh, but you can't put yourself in those positions. Milan may also be aggrieved about Rafael Leão's elbow on Samy Mmaee that wiped out (via VAR) the penalty referee Francois Letexier awarded (which would have put them 2-1 up). They ought to be equally aggrieved about Matteo Gabbia gifting Martin Baturina the opener.
Incidents may have gone against them, but you can't escape the performance which, once again, wasn't particularly good. New manager Sérgio Conceição was supposed to be kick butt and take names -- previous boss Paulo Fonseca, for some reason, was seen as milquetoast -- but he's dealing with many of the same issues as his predecessor. Theo Hernández and Leao are as intermittent as turn signals, whichever partnership plays at the back gives Mike Maignan nightmares, the guys off the bench (on Wednesday it was Sami Chukwueze, Noah Okafor and Tammy Abraham) don't move the needle.
As for Dinamo, they exit with the same points as Manchester City. That's not nothing. They'll be cursing the 9-2 defeat to Bayern on Matchday 1 which left them with a putrid goal difference which ultimately condemned them. -- Gab Marcotti
Barcelona 2-2 Atalanta: Hansi Flick's entertainers finish second
BARCELONA, Spain -- Given Barcelona's recent struggles in the Champions League, they would have snapped your hand off if you had offered them second place at the start of the league phase. However, there was an air of disappointment as the competition's great entertainers this season failed to deliver a seventh straight European win.
In many ways, this 2-2 draw was Barça's Champions League campaign in a nutshell: capable of scoring at any moment but also liable to concede. Lamine Yamal's 10th goal of the campaign was the perfect encapsulation of how good they are on the counter, Raphinha and Robert Lewandowski combining to set up the 17-year-old. Ronald Araújo demonstrated they can also score from set plays, taking their goal tally in the competition to 28 -- six more than any other side.
Unfortunately, they also concede more than most, a weakness Atalanta exploited as they twice came from behind. Éderson's goal was a brilliant individual effort, but Mario Pašalić's equaliser was the result of sloppy defending. Barça have now conceded 13 goals in this season's competition and of the teams left, only Feyenoord, Manchester City and Celtic have leaked more. Entertainment should be guaranteed in their last 16 tie.
Atalanta could yet join them there. They will be disappointed to drop out of the top eight on the final matchday, but they have shown they can clearly match Europe's best. -- Sam Marsden
Aston Villa 4-2 Celtic: Watkins stands out on a busy day of transfer talk
BIRMINGHAM, England -- Even if he hadn't scored the winner, Ollie Watkins was going to be featured prominently in Aston Villa's key Champions League match against Celtic on Wednesday.
In the end it was his 60th-minute goal that helped Villa to a 4-2 victory and granted them a coveted spot in the top eight of the table, with an automatic path to the knockouts. On any other night, Morgan Rogers' hat trick would dominate the headlines, but Watkins' winner and brilliant performance came just a few hours after Villa rejected a bid from Arsenal for his services.
Beyond that, it was a wild night on the field at Villa Park: Rogers scored twice in the first five minutes to give Villa a 2-0 lead, only for Adam Idah to grab two in a minute to make it 2-2 at the break. It was a lot for Villa to process, and all that amid reports that Jhon Durán was edging closer to joining Saudi Arabia's Al Nassr as well. He remained on the bench, playing up to the cameras at half-time, but it was Watkins in the spotlight as he gave Villa the lead and then ballooned a penalty over the bar a couple of minutes later.
Rogers rounded things off late on, but this was always about securing the win for Villa. Their 4-2 triumph means they finish in the top eight of the standings and avoid the playoffs. That'll offer a welcome respite for a team hit badly by injuries, with Matty Cash limping off on Wednesday night, though this was Watkins and Rogers' match.
At full-time it was eerily quiet as they waited for news from elsewhere. Villa had done what they needed to do, and then after a couple of minutes came confirmation of Barcelona's 2-2 draw with Atalanta. A cheer broke out around Villa Park and Aston Villa, the music blared out, and Watkins and Rogers could plan for the knockout stages of the Champions League. -- Tom Hamilton
Brest 0-3 Real Madrid: Ancelotti's side advance, but still look vulnerable
Real Madrid's night lacked the tension felt elsewhere in Europe. A top-eight finish was always highly unlikely and with a playoff place assured, all that was left was beating Brest, scoring as many goals as possible, and then seeing what the playoffs would bring.
Madrid's performance at the Stade du Roudourou was typical of the team this season, showcasing their wealth of attacking firepower -- even without the suspended Vinícius Júnior -- but also their somewhat unconvincing all-round game and a flimsy backline. If a team like Brest can force goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois into making five saves -- two of them really impressive -- what might a better side, even an out-of-form Manchester City, do in the next round?
One of the positives was Rodrygo, who followed his brace against Salzburg last week with two more against Brest to make it 24 Champions League goals with Madrid. It was another demonstration that Rodrygo feels more comfortable -- and is most dangerous -- on the left, a position usually occupied by Vinícius.
Jude Bellingham scored too, while Kylian Mbappé had six shots without finding the net, but played a key part in Rodrygo's second goal, spinning away from the defender. At the other end, Madrid's defence is still a headache for manager Carlo Ancelotti, with Courtois' save from Kenny Lala was perhaps the moment of the night.
Madrid will go into the playoffs hoping their attacking strength outweighs their defensive weakness with a team that, for all its stars, still raises more questions than answers. -- Alex Kirkland
Lille, the surprise guests in the top 8
A Champions League top eight with the likes of Barcelona, Liverpool, Arsenal and other top European clubs is what you would expect. You could even make a case for Aston Villa. But a name you would not have bet on at the start of the competition is certainly Lille.
Bruno Genesio and his players concluded an almost perfect league phase with the demolition of Feyenoord. Seven goals scored and an unstoppable second half means that Les Dogues will watch the playoff round from their sofas, and deservedly so. They have been outstanding from start to finish. Even with some of their usual superstars (Jonathan David, Benjamin André, Edon Zhegrova and Hakon Arnar Haraldsson) not in the starting XI on Wednesday due to different reasons, they still showed their class.
After beating Real Madrid, Atletico Madrid, Bologna, and Sturm Graz, drawing with Juve, they added a stellar win against Feyenoord. Only Sporting -- under Ruben Amorim -- on the opening matchday and Liverpool at Anfield have managed to beat them.
Genesio became only the second manager with Jurgen Klopp to beat Jose Mourinho, Guardiola, Ancelotti and Diego Simeone in Europe in the history of the game. They will wait to see what their fate will be for the last 16 round but, for now, they will have a long party to celebrate their great achievement to make it into the top eight against all odds. -- Julien Laurens
