The Champions League group stage wrapped up on Tuesday and Wednesday with a full suite of cross-continental video games. With simply the highest two groups of every four-team group advancing, half of the match’s 32 groups have now been eradicated.
However the group stage hasn’t merely completed for the 2023-24 competitors. It is completed altogether, because the Champions League is shifting towards a brand new group-free format for future iterations of the match.
This is what we have realized from the ultimate group stage of the UEFA Champions League.
Pedigree is not every little thing on this competitors. A bunch like Group A–Bayern Munich, Manchester United, Galatasaray and FC Copenhagen–looks easy on paper. Bayern and Man United are huge names with loads of historical past and 9 Champions League trophies between them, whereas Galatasaray and Copenhagen, hailing from Turkey and Denmark respectively, are sometimes seen as European minnows.
However Group A wound up being something however easy. Whereas Bayern gained it, Man United wound up ending final after a string of wasteful performances. It was FC Copenhagen who rose by means of the ranks and took Man United’s anticipated place within the knockout rounds. Viewing Copenhagen–a staff who dominates the Danish league and infrequently makes Champions League appearances–as an underdog towards a Man United staff struggling to string two wins collectively feels awfully foolish in hindsight. We most likely ought to’ve seen Copenhagen’s rise, and United’s fall, coming from a great distance off.
Two groups made group stage historical past. By ending the group stage with an ideal 6-0-0 file, each Real Madrid and Manchester Metropolis have entered an elite fraternity: they’re simply the twelfth and thirteenth groups to attain the feat.
‘Coefficients’ are shifting. Common viewers of the Champions League know that completely different international locations ship completely different numbers of groups to the competition–this yr, England despatched 4, Portugal despatched three and France despatched two. However how do these numbers get determined? By averaging the success of a rustic’s performances over the course of the competitors towards the variety of groups it entered. That determine is named a nation’s coefficient, and by profitable the Champions League final season, England elevated its coefficient and secured the utmost variety of spots this season.
Subsequent yr, the highest nations in Europe will have the ability to ship 5 groups to the Champions League as a substitute of 4. Many assumed that England could be the nation to safe all 5, since its groups have executed so effectively within the Champions League prior to now. However with two of England’s 4 Champions League teams–Man United and Newcastle–eliminated in spherical one, England’s coefficient has taken an enormous hit. England now sits behind Germany, Spain and Italy within the race for 5 spots subsequent season.
That is dangerous information for groups like Spurs, who have been relying on that additional spot. Nevertheless it’s even worse for Man United and Newcastle themselves. They’re each within the working for fifth within the Premier League…however their very own poor performances in Europe could imply that fifth will not be sufficient for them to qualify for Europe as soon as once more.