by Editor’s note: These ratings refer to the teams’ performance in this week’s round of matches and not their chances of winning the competition as a whole.
A+
FC Copenhagen
Completing the task of qualifying from a difficult group by beating Galatasaray 1-0 represented a great achievement. Despite Galatasaray and Manchester United’s many failures, the Danish club were still not expected to qualify, but they did so after completing the job with a disciplined victory. Copenhagen are through to the round of 16 for the first time since the 2010-11 season, an achievement well ahead of their UEFA coefficient ranking. Lukas Lerager scored the goal, but then, due to poor discipline, it could have cost his team two yellow cards, but his teammates managed to achieve it. Jacob Neestrup, his 35-year-old coach, has announced himself as a great talent.
TO
Lens
The northern French club earned their place in the Europa League in their first European season in 15 years, and they did it the hard way against Sevilla. It took an Angelo Fulgini goal in stoppage time to beat an opponent of previous European pedigree, with Sergio Ramos at his best/worst provocative. A pass from Florian Sotoca set up Fulgini to score the winning goal, and he coolly took his chance as the home crowd went understandably wild. PSV’s 1-1 draw with Arsenal, which came out of the accelerator already qualified, prevented Lens from reaching the round of 16 of the Champions League.
TO-
Milan, Celtic, Antwerp, Atlmytitic
Both Celtic and Antwerp ended their losing streaks and, although Milan join them in exiting the Champions League after Dortmund did them a disservice, they enter the Europa League looking like one of the teams more capable of secondary competition. After absorbing the pressure, energy and atmosphere of Newcastle’s St James’ Park, Milan salvaged their best result and performance so far of their Champions League campaign. They could have won by more than 2-1, Christian Pulisic started the match with a good finish before Samuel Chukwueze, coming off the bench to replace Pulisic, was sent off to score the winning goal on the breakaway. If Rafael Leão had taken advantage of his opportunities, Milan would have been much more comfortable.
B+
Real Sociedad, PSV
Returning to the competition for the first time in 10 seasons, Real completed their passage to the round of 16 for the first time in 20 years with a careful performance at the San Siro to draw 0-0 and take the top spot in the group. They even managed to dominate possession over Internazionale, particularly in the first half, but were content to keep out last season’s finalists, who failed to score for the first time this season. Take Kubo appeared to have won a penalty in the 75th minute, but VAR correctly ruled that he had dived to win it. His team endured without him and goalkeeper Álex Remiro had relatively little to do.
b
Bayern Munich, Real Madrid, Benfica, Porto
Considering the shock and awe of the weekend’s 5-1 defeat of Eintracht Frankfurt, beating Manchester United was a significant victory for Thomas Tuchel’s regime. Speculation about the former Chelsea and Borussia Dortmund manager is mounting, but thanks to Harry Kane’s vision, winning the Champions League group gave them some respite in their Bundesliga campaign. Bayern have two more games left to play before a vital winter break, and Tuchel must hope the likes of Leroy Sane and Jamal Musiala finish better than they did at Old Trafford. That said, Kane’s reverse pass for Kingsley Coman’s well-taken goal was an absolute beauty.
C+
Internazionale, Napoli, Union Berlin, RB Leipzig, Borussia Dortmund
Goodbye, then, Union Berlin, who have enjoyed their first season in the Champions League, despite abandoning European football altogether by failing to reach the Europa League. It took a late winner from Dani Ceballos to deny Union and their partisan fans after what had probably been his best performance in the competition against a strong Real Madrid side. Alex Král seemed to have scored a point, but reality became apparent. Union return to their battle against relegation from the Bundesliga, from which the Champions League has been a welcome distraction.
c
Manchester City, Arsenal, Red Star Belgrade
A poor Manchester City line-up left Red Star Belgrade facing relatively heavy weather, although excellent goals from Micah Hamilton and Oscar Bobb were good signs for the next generation of City players. Kalvin Phillips, probably headed for the January departure lounge, scored the decisive penalty, his first goal in 30 games for City, although his celebration suggested a bit of embarrassment at having been given the chance by Phil Foden. A night of enjoyable experimentation for Pep Guardiola, which is probably his favorite form.
C-
PSG, Galatasaray, Shakhtar, Feyenoord, Lazio
PSG is back in the round of 16 of the competition that has brought them so much pain. In Dortmund, they looked likely to inflict the annual pain on themselves, with the same series of missed opportunities that had marred their campaign so far. Warren Zaire-Emery contributed to his burgeoning reputation with the equalizing goal and the man of the match award, but his team failed to find the winner who would have kept their fate in their own hands. Kylian Mbappé was especially out of tune and few teams will fear the Parisians in the round of 16. Despite all their talent, they remain unstable and self-destructive.
D+
Newcastle, Red Bull Salzburg, Braga, Young Boys
Fatigue and injuries have affected Eddie Howe’s team, and questions may be raised about his team management and perhaps his training methods. The extra workload was always likely to test Newcastle, but their riotous 4-1 victory over PSG in October now looks a long way off. That they have come out at the hands of a Milan team that was far from old, and have taken the lead thanks to a wonderful goal from Joelinton, will be a huge disappointment. A double-leg loss against Dortmund was the real key to his failure to play European football next season. As is his inability to score more than two goals beyond PSG’s victory. It may be a learning experience, but a painful one.
d
Seville
There will be no Sevilla in the Europa League, which practically leaves that competition open for the rest, such has been their usual dominance. The prodigal return of Sergio Ramos has not turned his childhood club into another competitor in the big daddy’s trophy. Instead, he earned his 250th career yellow card for crashing into Lens goalkeeper Brice Samba after scoring a Panenka penalty. Ramos then could do little to prevent Angelo Fulgini from scoring a winning goal that proved a happy consolation for Lens.
D-
Barcelona
Sure, they had already won their group, but losing to Antwerp was quite endemic to Barça’s poor season. Conceding in the second minute and then in added time beyond full time betrayed their usual lack of defensive concentration. Marc Guiu seemed to have denied the Belgians their first victory and yet, almost as soon as it started, George Ilenikhena was able to go through the other side and score the winning goal. After the weekend’s La Liga defeat to Girona, Xavi may soon find himself under minimal pressure.
F
manchester united
Oh darling. This season, in the Champions League, United had played their best attacking football, except that their defense was correspondingly terrible. Tuesday’s decider at Old Trafford never looked like anything resembling a famous European night. Raphaël Varane’s return to defense after a period of exile added some defensive quality, but United were hopeless in attack. Rasmus Højlund was unable to add another five goals in the Champions League (he has yet to score in the Premier League) due to a sincere lack of service. Erik Ten Hag spoke afterwards of having “no regrets”, but his management is surely becoming more unstable after being eliminated so easily by Bayern. Perhaps the lack of Europa League football on Thursday nights could make their domestic season easier, but United remain the fastest falling star in European football.
