After six days of the Champions League, eight teams are guaranteed to compete in at least the play-offs for the round of 16, including Brest and Lille.
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Two days before the end of the league phase, the ranking is becoming clearer and the first qualifiers are starting to take shape, including Brest and Lille. A good week for French clubs, since Paris also won but is still in an unfavorable tie. Only Monaco lost, Wednesday December 11, against Arsenal.
The Brest epic continues, Lille also qualified
Brest has a recipe for success. Stade Brestois scored a valuable victory against PSV Eindhoven (1-0), thus securing its fourth victory in six games since the start of the season. As in any great adventure, the people of Brest found a hero for this meeting: Marco Bizot. The goalkeeper made several decisive saves and was able to maintain his clean sheet.
Despite the absence of key players (Pierre Lees-Melou, Kenny Lala) and the suspension of Ludovic Ajorque, the Bretons once again proved that they were up to the competition. With 13 points, they are now guaranteed to participate, at least, in the play-offs for the final phase with a provisional seventh place.
On Wednesday, Losc imitated the Bretons by also validating their ticket for the dams, at least. The Mastiffs dominated Sturm Graz but scared themselves by letting the Austrians score two goals due to lapses in concentration, just before and after the break. A goal from Hakon Haraldsson (81st), who came on less than a minute earlier, gave the Northerners victory (3-2). They also have 13 points and are 8th due to a lower goal difference.
Paris revives, Monaco sinks
They were on the verge of collapse, but now they are back in the race for qualification. With only four small points collected since the start of the Champions League season, PSG no longer had room for error. In Salzburg, the Parisians, led by an omnipresent Achraf Hakimi, regained their offensive efficiency by scoring three goals (3-0), without conceding a goal (a first away since 2020).
Désiré Doué took advantage of this meeting to score his first goal in C1. Despite this victory, the Parisians stagnated in the rankings due to the results of their direct competitors and are still virtually eliminated, in 25th place.
For Monaco, on the other hand, the heavy defeat at Arsenal (3-0) had major consequences in the standings. Eleventh before this day, the Monegasques tumbled to 16th place. The fault of a missed match, in which they did not exist and were largely dominated by a solid London team. AS Monaco is experiencing a second consecutive defeat in the Champions League and will have to recover against the surprising Aston Villa team, and against Inter Milan.
Mbappé guides Real then gets injured, Manchester City in difficulty
Stopped in his tracks. Author of the first goal against Atalanta Bergamo, his 50th in the Champions League, Kylian Mbappé was forced to leave after 36 minutes of play. Feeling muscular discomfort, he preferred to give up his place. Real Madrid’s number 9 let his teammates play without him, but the Madrilenians still achieved a good performance by winning in Italy (3-2). The reigning champions are back in the middle of the ranking (20th) but remain in danger for qualification.
Manchester City cannot say the same. The English champions are two places further (22nd) after their 2-0 defeat at Juventus Turin on Wednesday. Yet dominant, they suffered from Turin’s efficiency with goals from Dusan Vlahovic and Weston McKennie. This is their seventh defeat in their last ten matches in all competitions.
At the top of the table, although leader Liverpool did not offer a flamboyant performance against Girona, they continued their success with a sixth consecutive victory. The Reds are ahead of Barcelona, winner in Dortmund (3-2). With 13 points each, Bayer Leverkusen, winner of Inter (1-0), and Aston Villa, who triumphed over Leipzig (3-2), are assured of participating in the play-offs. The same goes for Arsenal and Inter Milan.
