Champions League review: smaller teams struggle but new stars rise
Champions League review: smaller teams struggle but new stars rise
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The final night of the group stage produced plenty of drama. We hand out honours and dishonours from the latest round of action. Manchester City. The relief was palpable, though the celebrations were hardly wild. The 2023 champions had snuck into the top 24 when it had seemed at half-time that Club Brugge would be the latest team to sink City. Brugge went 1-0 up just before the break as City’s midfield of İlkay Gündoğan, Bernardo Silva and Mateo Kovačić creaked with age. Hopefully one day we will get to see Pep Guardiola’s half-time team talk in its frenzied glory. Whatever he said worked. Kovačić’s goal began the comeback that Savinhho’s strike for 3-1 completed.
![[Ethan Nwaneri looks like a future star for Arsenal.]](https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/db5c27cd86cf5c06b781824e9813b9a395ba428d/0_193_5956_3575/master/5956.jpg?width=445&dpr=1&s=none&crop=none)
City are in the knockouts, and can still lift the trophy. Here is where the competition’s innovations come in: it’s either Real Madrid or Bayern Munich in the knockout phase playoff. Little wonder Brugge’s celebrations around a coach’s phone after their own qualification was confirmed took part in front of an emptying Etihad Stadium. A long road lies ahead, and Guardiola, with fresh scratches on his head, lamented what he has lost: “What I wish from the beginning of the season is to have the team back and players fit.”.
In the early weeks of the group stages, France’s lesser light shone while Paris Saint-Germain faltered. All four eventually made the top 24, PSG climbing above Monaco and Brest, leaving the northerners as France’s sole members of the top eight. On Wednesday, Bruno Génésio’s team were brilliant as they destroyed Feyenoord, who had hammered Bayern Munich last time out, with Angel Gomes showing off some outrageous skills. Jonathan David, soon to be a free agent, did his marketability a few favours with another goal. Lille were previously known as a club that spruced up talent but now they are a dangerous opponent.
