Arsenal top table as Champions League group phase delivers goal spree

Goals galore! That was the running theme as the league phase of the 2025/26 European Champions League season concluded on Wednesday, 28 January. A total of 61 goals were scored from the 18 matches played, which kicked off simultaneously to add to the intrigue of the closing round of Europe’s premier club competition.

At the end of the frenzy of goals, eight teams walked away with the biggest smiles. Arsenal, Bayern Munich, Liverpool, Tottenham Hotspur, Barcelona, Chelsea, Sporting and Manchester City. While Arsenal comfortably topped the group with eight wins from their eight matches after their 3-2 win over Kazakhstan’s Kairat Almaty, the bottom four teams within the top eight all ended on 16 points, with only goal difference separating them.

“I’m very proud of the players and the run that we had in this first stage of the competition. It’s very difficult to win eight games in a row in the Champions League; you can see what happened with all the [other] teams,” said Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta.

“Now the competition stops [for us]. We have a period of reflection for what we’ve done. Then we’re going to start preparing when we know our next opponent. Then we will go game by game, because you know that in this competition, one action or a moment can change the whole story. We are very conscious of that,” Arteta said.

Fine margins

The two teams that marginally missed out on the top eight, Real Madrid and Inter Milan, ended the league phase on 15 points apiece, demonstrating how tense the tussle for the top eight was. But why the scramble for a top-eight finish under this new format of the Champions League, where 36 teams battle it out (although they only play eight matches apiece)?

Well, the top eight teams have qualified directly for the round of 16. They will now watch as the 16 teams that finished between ninth and 24th on the table participate in a two-legged playoff. The winners of those playoffs will then progress to the round of 16 proper, where the top eight teams will be waiting.

The 16 clubs that missed out on direct qualification for the round of 16, but are still alive in the competition, are Real, Inter, Atalanta, Atlético Madrid, Borussia Dortmund, Benfica, Bodø/Glimt, Club Brugge, Galatasaray, Juventus, Bayer Leverkusen, Monaco, Newcastle United, Olympiacos, Qarabağ and reigning European champions Paris Saint-Germain.

A draw will take place on Friday, 30 January, to determine who will face whom in the playoffs round. The matches are scheduled for 17 and 18 February, with the second legs taking place on 24 and 25 February. The winners of those ties will then be drawn against the top eight, with round of 16 proper fixtures set to be played on 10/11 and 17/18 March. In the round of 16 proper, the teams that finished in the top eight will play their second legs at home.

Ajax, Athletic Bilbao, Copenhagen, Frankfurt, Marseille, Napoli, Pafos, PSV Eindhoven, Union Saint-Gilloise, Slavia Praha, Villarreal and Kairat were the 12 teams to be completely eliminated. The last three sides exited the tournament without a single win from their eight matches.

Real bullied by Benfica

One of the highest-scoring matches of the final league phase was record Champions League winners Real being beaten 4-2 by Portuguese side Benfica. Liverpool’s match against Qarabağ also featured six goals, although they were all for Arne Slot’s men as they won 6-0.

The loss for Madrid condemned the 15-time European champions to a playoff spot as they finished ninth. They had started the match day in the top four and even a draw would have been sufficient for them to seal a top-eight spot.

Instead, despite Los Blancos talisman Kylian Mbappé scoring a brace to take his tally for the season to 13 goals, they will play in the playoffs for the second successive season — much to the disappointment of Frenchman Mbappé.

“The defeat is deserved. I can’t say it’s not deserved because we didn’t play well in this game. We didn’t play well and they did. Benfica at home is always difficult. We knew it before, and it’s our fault,” said Mbappé.

Benfica – coached by former Real mentor José Mourinho – snuck into the playoff places as a result of their tenacious victory. The Portuguese team were already winning 3-2, but as the match neared its conclusion, the technical team heard that they needed one more goal to leapfrog Marseille into 24th place on the log.

That’s when Mourinho, out of subs as it was injury time, encouraged his goalkeeper Anatoliy Trubin to take a free kick. Incredibly, Trubin scored from that sequence of play. The Benfica glovesman became just the fifth goalkeeper to score a goal in a Champions League game.

“I don’t know what to say. A crazy moment. I am not used to scoring, so for me it was something completely new. I am 24 years old and for me it’s the first time,” said Trubin after the match.

His experienced manager Mourinho, who has seen and done it all in the sport, was equally ecstatic, saying: “I always say that for me, everything is déjà vu. But this is the first time I’ve experienced something like this. It’s an amazing goal for the guy.”

For sneaking into the playoffs, Benfica will face either Real again, or Inter. DM