The new Champions passes its halfway point with greats in trouble and a very tight ‘Top 8’

Liverpool, the only team that has achieved full victories so far, leads the classification of the League Phase of the Champions League, a table in which FC Barcelona is the only Spanish team in a ‘Top 8’ in which There are no favorites to lift the title in Munich like the current champion, Real Madrid, Manchester City, Bayern Munich or Arsenal.

The League Phase of the new Champions League has reached its halfway point after the fourth matchday, and there are many teams that are not in the expected position. So far, only one team has been able to achieve full victories in the four rounds, Liverpool. The English team, also leader of the Premier League, has surpassed Milan, Bologna, Leipzig and Leverkusen with ten goals scored and one conceded.

After the ‘reds’, three teams that were not called to be part of the ‘Top 8’, but that are performing at an excellent level. Sporting of Portugal, Monaco and French Brest have 10 points and remain undefeated, as is Inter Milan, the only one that has not yet conceded a goal in the competition. Atalanta completes the number of teams that have not yet lost, although in their case with two wins and two draws.

For this reason, you have to go down to sixth position to find the first of the Spanish teams: FC Barcelona. Hansi Flick’s team has reacted to the defeat on the first day in Monaco with three consecutive victories against Young Boys (5-0), Bayern Munich (4-1) and Red Star (2-5) that have allowed to place among the top eight.

Furthermore, the Blaugranas are the most prolific team in front of goal with 15 goals and have in their ranks two of the top scorers in this Champions League: the Polish Robert Lewandowski and the Brazilian Raphinha, both with five goals.

The rest of the Spanish teams have a more uncomfortable situation since neither Real Madrid, Atlético de Madrid nor Girona are in the top eight after four games, so they would have to go through a round of 32 to access the round of 16 , in which they would have to play the second leg away from their stadium.

The case of the current champion is striking. Carlo Ancelotti’s team has six points in its locker and already has two defeats under its belt, against the modest Lille at home (1-0) and last Tuesday against AC Milan (1-3) at the Santiago Bernabéu where They have beaten, with difficulty, the Germans Stuttgart (3-1) and Borussia Dortmund (5-2).

However, the defeat against the seven-time champion has complicated a direct pass to the round of 16 for the whites, who are currently eighteenth and although they are only three points behind eighth place, their schedule is demanding with consecutive visits to Liverpool and the Atalanta, in addition to Brest, and only one home game, against Salzburg.

For its part, Atlético de Madrid achieved a very important victory at the Parque de los Príncipes on the fourth day, three points that allow it to breathe and move out of the elimination positions with six points. The ‘colchoneros’, who suffered a painful victory against RB Leipzig (2-1) and lost against Lille (1-3) and Benfica (4-0), have a difficult time reaching the ‘Top 8’, although the calendar is favorable for them with visits from Slovan Bratislava and Bayer Leverkusen, and away games against Sparta Prague and RB Salzburg.

PROBLEMS FOR PSG

The debutant Girona has a worse situation. Michel’s team are the only Spanish team that, at this moment, would be eliminated from the Champions League. The Catalan team has only had one victory in four games, against Slovan (2-0), while they have been defeated against PSG (1-0), Feyenoord (2-3) and PSV (4-0). Thus, their margin for error is slim in the face of a complex schedule with matches against Sturm Graz, Liverpool, Milan and Arsenal.

Beyond the Spanish teams, there are also teams that were destined to be among the top eight in trouble. Manchester City, which is suffering from the loss of Rodri Hernández, has seven points after losing in Lisbon against Sporting (4-1) and they still have to visit two complicated fields such as the Juventus Stadium and the Parc des Princes of PSG, while who will have more affordable rivals at home like Feyenoord and Bruges.

Bayern Munich (6 points), Arsenal (7) and Juventus (7) would also have to go through the playoff today to access the round of 16, although their score is not alarming and they continue to maintain their chances of being among the top eight intact. Yes, the situation of Luis Enrique Martínez’s PSG is alarming, right now eliminated from the competition after adding only four points and still facing demanding duels against Bayern and City.

On the negative side, there are the Italian Bologna, the German RB Leipzig, the Austrian Sturm Graz, the Swiss Young Boys, the Serbian Red Star and the Slovakian Slovan Bratislava, who still do not know victory and already seem doomed to almost certain elimination . Of them, only the Serie A team has added a point, although they have not yet scored.

Only four days of the new format of the Champions League have been enough to make fans see that it lends itself to many more surprises than the previous one. Furthermore, the equality between the majority of teams and the extra value that goals have, due to the number of ties on points that occur, make each match and result relevant for the final classification.