The group stage of UEFA Champions League has come to a close, revealing the 16 teams that have made it into the playoffs, eight teams who made it into the Europa League and eight teams which fell short and will hope for better luck next year. Now let’s look at what happened in the sixth and final round of UCL.
Image source: UEFA.com
Group A
Qualified: PSG, Real Madrid
Europe League: Club Brugge KV
Not a lot of surprises in Group A, seeing how both top dogs – PSG and Real Madrid won their sixth and final fixture against the weaker sides. PSG were already guaranteed a spot in the playoffs, but still put up a show and decimated Galatasaray (5:0) in France to finish the group stage with a 5-1-0 record. Real Madrid on the other side also decided they won’t take any prisoners as they defeated Club Brugge KV 3:1 in Belgium to finish the group stage with a record of 3-2-1 and 11 points.
Group B
Qualified: Bayern Munich, Tottenham
Europe League: Olympiacos
While Bayern Munich defeated Tottenham for the second time of the group stage (3:1), Olympiacos and Crvena Zvezda battled it out for the third seed in what was a spectacular match, which ended in Olympiacos’ favour who edged past the Serbs 1:0 in Greece. It was a rather unfortunate loss for Crvena Zvezda, who already bested Olympiacos in round two (3:1), but were unable to repeat their success in Greece. With that, the Serbian squad was sent home empty-handed, while Olympiacos are going to venture off into the Europa League
Group C
Qualified: Manchester City, Atalanta
Europe League: Shakhtar Donetsk
Despite their struggles in the domestic league, Manchester City managed to top Group C with confidence. Despite already being guaranteed the first seed, Man City defeated Dinamo Zagreb in round six of the group stage to end their campaign with a 4-2-0 record and 14 points. A couple of hundred kilometers away, Atalanta produced an incredible display as the took down Shakhtar Donetsk (3:0) at their own stadium to come back from a terrible 0-0-3 start of their group stage campaign and are now qualified for the playoffs. Shakhtar Donetsk who failed to take their chance to make it into the final 16 will now be playing in the Europa League.
Group D
Qualified: Juventus, Atletico Madrid
Europe League: Bayern Leverkusen
Juventus added their fifth win of the group stage against Bayern Leverkusen (2:0) in Germany and with that prevented them the chance to fight for the promotion. That being said, a win for the Germans would not save anything, seeing how Atletico already secured the second ticket for the playoffs with a 2:0 win against Lokomotiv Moscow. It was a hectic group, to say the least, but in the end, it’s safe to say the stronger two teams made it through.
Group E
Qualified: Liverpool, Napoli
Europe League: Salzburg
Liverpool and Napoli won their round six fixtures and with that secured a spot in the final 16. Group E was an interesting group, seeing how nothing was decided up to the last round. Salzburg were given a solid chance to break into the top two but fell flat 0:2 at their home stadium against Liverpool who are now entering the playoffs with a 4-1-1 record. Napoli on the other side flexed their muscles against Genk who they defeated 4:0 last round and with that punched their ticket for the next stage. Salzburg will go into Europa League with a bitter taste in their mouth and hope they can make something happen there.
Group F
Qualified: Barcelona, Borussia Dortmund
Europe League: Inter
It was an exciting round six in group F, seeing how Inter were chasing a ticket for the playoffs against Barcelona but fell flat as they lost 1:2. Dortmund on the other side edged past Slavia Prague (2:1) in a slightly underwhelming performance, yet a good enough to make it into the last stage of the tournament.
Group G
Qualified: RB Leipzig, Lyon
Europe League: Benfica
A shocking turn of event happened in group G, seeing how we have Benfica entering the Europa League after an impressive display against Zenit (3:0) who only needed a draw to secure themselves a playoff ticket, but even that task proved to be too tough to achieve. Lyon on the other side impressed with a 2:2 draw against RB Leipzig, which saw them secure the second seed by the skin of their teeth.
Group H
Qualified: Valencia, Chelsea
Europe League: Ajax
Much like Group G, Group H produced a very exciting ending with Valencia and Chelsea securing a spot in the final 16, leaving Ajax with an underwhelming ticket for the Europa League. Out of the two fixtures, it was Valencia who took all the spotlight with a win against Ajax (1:0) in the Netherlands. A shocking, yet well-deserved win which not only earned them a promotion but also saw them finish the group stage as the first seed. Chelsea on the other side had a much easier job, seeing how they faced the whipping boys of Group H – Lille. The match, however, ended much closer than expected, considering Chelsea just barely edged past their French adversaries (2:1). Nonetheless, a win is a win and it’s hard to argue Chelsea did not deserve to make it out of the group.
With that, the group stage of UCL has come to a close, meaning, that all there is left to do is wait for the round of 16 draw, which is set to take place on December 16, 2019. There we will also get introduced with the dates and location of the playoffs matches.
