Arsenal No. 1, Man City rising, Napoli in trouble? Champions League rerank after matchday 6

A year ago, in the first-ever Champions League league phase last season, a number of heavyweights messed around a little bit. PSG won only one of their first five matches and rallied to finish 15th in the 36-team table; their punishment was a round-of-16 matchup with top seed Liverpool. (This became more of a punishment for Liverpool when PSG's best-in-the-world form snapped into place over the winter.) Real Madrid lost three of their first five and drew Manchester City, which went four games winless, in the playoff round just to get to the round of 16. There were tangible consequences for inattention.

Well, consider it "lesson learned" because the heavyweights haven't messed around this season. Of the current top 12 teams in the Opta rankings, 11 are in the Champions League field, and all of them currently have at least 10 points. In 15th place, Barcelona is the lowest of these teams in the table, and they're only three points out of fifth. Even Liverpool, who have battled poor form, misfit pieces and off-the-pitch drama, is a comfortable ninth, three points from second.

The race for top-eight seeds will be pretty interesting over the final two matchdays, and slow-starting teams like Jose Mourinho's Benfica and Olympiacos are heating up the battle for the last few spots in the knockout rounds, but things are going mostly according to plan.

- UCL Talking Points: Liverpool better without Salah?
- Reaction: Man City's win piles more pressure on Madrid's Alonso
- Lindop: Slot vindicated as Liverpool win at Inter Milan

We've still seen some pleasant surprises in the first six matchdays, however, whether it be teams, players or individual matches. So while we wait to find out if Xabi Alonso is still employed by Real Madrid for the next Champions League matchday in mid-January, let's walk through some of my favorite surprises of the campaign.

But first, the table

Here's what the enormous league phase table currently looks like, with each team's points and goal differential, plus their odds of both advancing to the knockout rounds and winning the title, per Opta's supercomputer.

We have 18 teams at 97.6% or higher to advance, with another four at 80% or higher. The other 14 teams in the field are basically fighting over two to three spots at this point, and we have teams like Benfica and Olympiacos moving up and teams like Qarabag quickly running out of gas.

The most interesting race here is probably for a top-eight position and a bye to the round of 16. Arsenal, Bayern, PSG and Manchester City have to feel pretty good about their spot there, but any of about nine to 11 other teams have a decent shot with strong performances in the last two matchdays.

The 10 happiest surprises of the Champions League so far

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Is Liverpool's win vs. Inter a statement towards Mo Salah?

Craig Burley discusses the impact of Liverpool's 1-0 win vs. Inter in relation to Mohamed Salah's situation at the club.

1. Dominik Szoboszlai, Liverpool: When Liverpool made its epic wave of signings this past offseason, I was worried that the Hungarian international was going to be the odd man out. They were suddenly overflowing with new attacking talent, and their midfield duo of Ryan Gravenberch and Alexis Mac Allister worked so well last season that it was easy to envision Szoboszlai getting squeezed out.

Instead, despite being asked to play almost literally everywhere -- he's spent at least 270 minutes as a No. 10, a right winger, a defensive midfielder, a central midfielder and even a right back -- he currently leads the team in minutes, assists, chances created, shots on goal, progressive carries and ball recoveries, and he's either second or third in goals, progressive passes, ground duels won and even defensive interventions. Where in the world would this dysfunctional Liverpool team be without him?

It was, of course, Szoboszlai who stepped up and nailed the late penalty that gave Liverpool a 1-0 win at Inter on Tuesday. It was a huge result, one that somewhat offset their terrible loss to PSV in Matchday 5 and bumped them back in position to fight for a top-eight finish and a bye to the round of 16. He also led the team in progressive carries and chances created, but you probably already guessed that.

2. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Marseille: Through six games, three players currently have at least seven combined goals and assists in the Champions League: Real Madrid's Kylian Mbappé, Newcastle's Anthony Gordon ... and the 36-year-old Aubameyang, who spent last season with Al-Qadsiah in Saudi Arabia and had put together just six combined Champions League goals and assists in the last seven seasons. He had two goals a couple of weeks ago against Newcastle, and he assisted Mason Greenwood's first goal in Tuesday's win over Union Saint-Gilloise.

Auba has been a delight in all competitions this season -- he's averaging 1.05 G+A per 90 minutes in Ligue 1 play, which is his best average since, incredibly, 2017-18, the season in which he moved from Borussia Dortmund to Arsenal. (He was at only 0.64 per 90 in Saudi Arabia last year.) And he has raised his level even further, to 1.19 G+A per 90, in the Champions League. This is world-class stuff.

3. PSV Eindhoven 6, Napoli 2 and PSV 4, Liverpool 1: You cannot question PSV's commitment to entertainment. They've gotten thumped a couple of times, but they proved in both Matchday 3 against Napoli and Matchday 5 at Liverpool that when their counterattacking game is rolling, they can beat anyone in this competition. They won't make a title push, but you do not want to draw them in an early knockout round. You might blow them out, but they can easily do the same to you.

4. Atalanta: There may not be many surprises near the top of the table, but Atalanta, currently 12th in Serie A with one win in their last 10 league matches -- their domestic form has not improved at all since firing Ivan Juric in early November -- have saved nearly all of their best performances for the Champions League. They've gone five games unbeaten and they put on a genuinely rousing performance on Tuesday, falling behind at home to Chelsea, but taking over in the second half and winning 2-1. A home win over Athletic Club on Matchday 7 would give them tremendous odds of a top-eight finish.

5. Anan Khalaili, Union Saint-Gilloise: Acquired from Maccabi Haifa a year and a half ago, the 21-year-old right midfielder had already been Union Saint-Gilloise's best player in the Champions League before Tuesday. He has served as both an all-hustle defender (his 105 defensive interventions are the second-most in the competition) and an important ball progressor (second on the team in progressive carries, first in ground duels won). But on Tuesday, he also scored a pair of goals and nearly helped USG to erase a mid-game deficit against Marseille.

Anan Khalaili gives Union Saint-Gilloise the early lead 🔥 pic.twitter.com/rh6X7eSwL6

Playing with three at the back asks your wide midfielders to basically play as two full players at once, and Khalaili is doing exactly that; he's one of the breakout stars of the tournament in my eyes.

6. Real Madrid 4, Olympiacos 3: In retrospect, it was a sign of two different trends at once. After some patchy early form, Olympiacos have been outstanding of late: This loss, on Nov. 26, is their only in any competition in 11 matches, and they've both taken the lead in the Greek Super League and have rallied to within two points of a spot in the Champions League knockout rounds. It also exposed Real Madrid's increasing defensive issues: In their last six matches in all competitions, they've scored 11 goals but allowed 10, and they've won only two of their last eight overall. The issues are comprehensive, from injuries at the back to poor pressing structure up front.

Beyond all that, however, this match was just spectacular fun, maybe my favorite of the competition. Olympiacos nearly rallied from 3-1 down in front of a charged home crowd, and it took four Kylian Mbappe goals to fend them off.

7. Vitinha, Paris Saint-Germain: He was already one of the best midfielders in the world, but he's doing everything right now. It's incredible. Among all players in this competition, he's currently first in total touches (700, and no one else has more than 540), first in pass completions (589, and no one else has more than 433), fourth in progressive passes (71), fifth in progressive carries (70), seventh in goals scored (four, only one of which was a penalty) and and even fifth in ball recoveries (40). He genuinely might be the best player in the world right now.

8. PSG 7, Bayer Leverkusen 2 and Bayer Leverkusen 2, Manchester City 0: Bayer Leverkusen are fourth in the Bundesliga, and their nine points puts them in the "mostly safe" category in the Champions League. Considering what they lost this past summer -- Xabi Alonso, Florian Wirtz, Granit Xhaka, Jonathan Tah, Piero Hincapié, Jeremie Frimpong, Amine Adli -- that's a solid, semi-normal year. But they've gotten to semi-normal in the strangest possible way. They fired Erik ten Hag after about 90 seconds, and in the Champions League they've both allowed seven goals to the defending champions and beaten Manchester City at the Etihad. They led, then trailed, then tied Newcastle on Wednesday, and they're careening all over the place.

It's at least more entertaining than "semi-normal," right?

9. Qarabag: Granted, this was a far more rousing story a month or two ago, when they were beating Benfica and drawing with Chelsea. They've lost their last two matches to fall to only 22nd in the table, and they'll desperately need to defeat defenseless Eintracht Frankfurt on Matchday 7 to hold onto a knockout round spot. But one of the most enjoyable aspects of a competition like this is when the smaller clubs get to light up their home crowd for a bit, especially against a heavyweight, and Qarabag did exactly that.

10. Pafos: I feel like I write (or think about writing) this in every matchday recap, but damn, do the Cypriot clubs (Omonia, APOEL, now Pafos) punch above their weight class. Paphos is a city of about 40,000 on the western coast of Cyprus, and with 38-year-old David Luiz leading the way in the back, they have put together a stubborn and physical effort in their first ever Champions League appearance. It looked for a while as if they might take a point at Juventus on Wednesday, and it's possible that a win over Slavia Prague in the final matchday (assuming they take no points at Chelsea in Matchday 7) might sneak them into the knockout rounds.

Ranking all 36 teams after Matchday 5

(Note: These rankings are based on my personal opinions for where teams stand at the moment: it's not intended to directly reflect the current table.)

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Leboeuf and Burley disagree on Arsenal's form

Frank Leboeuf and Craig Burley debate how well Arsenal are playing after they continued their perfect record in this season's Champions League.

1. Arsenal. The defense was looser than expected in their 3-0 win over Club Brugge -- Brugge attempted 18 shots and forced seven David Raya saves -- but Arsenal is mastering this "easing to an early win" thing.

2. Bayern Munich. Against Sporting, Bayern did what Bayern do: Land a flurry of shots to score a knockout. It didn't happen until after halftime, and Sporting briefly took the lead with a hospitable Joshua Kimmich own goal, but three goals in 13 minutes -- including the latest technically perfect strike from Lennart Karl -- did the deed.

Goals from Serge Gnabry and Lennart Karl complete the comeback for Bayern Munich ⚽⚽ pic.twitter.com/caupNWXt1r

3. Manchester City (up four spots from Matchday 5). They're too reliant on Erling Haaland's goal scoring in attack, they have moments of total defensive fragility ... and they're now top-four in this competition and two points out of first in the Premier League, and they've outright won 15 of their last 20 matches in all competitions. Oh, to be so flawed.

4. PSG (down 1). The xG god is an unstable and fickle god at times. Here are PSG's shot, xG and goal totals from their last four matches in all competitions.

- vs. Tottenham: 15 shots, 1.85 xG, five goals (5-3 win)
- at Monaco: 17 shots, 1.33 xG, zero goals (1-0 loss)
- vs. Rennes: 20 shots, 2.23 xG, five goals (5-0 win)
- at Athletic Club: 18 shots, 2.05 xG, zero goals (0-0 draw)

Distribute those goals differently, and it's four comfortable wins. Instead, it's two wins and a draw. They're fine. Frustrated, but fine.

5. Chelsea (down 1). I don't know if I've ever changed my mind about a team more than I have about Chelsea in about the last six months. Their 3-0 win over Barcelona in the last Champions League matchday was their third straight in all competitions and their ninth in 11. They were looking like a top-five-in-the-world team.

They haven't won since. They drew with Arsenal, which was obviously fine, but a draw with Bournemouth and losses to Leeds and Atalanta are less encouraging. They've been outscored 6-2 in this four-game span, and it hasn't been particularly bad luck -- their xG differential is minus-3.2. The last time that Cole Palmer played and they actually won? The Club World Cup final almost five months ago. Weird team, weird season.

6. Inter Milan (down 1). Disappointing performance on Tuesday. Liverpool were wobbly and dramatic, Inter had won three straight matches by a combined 11-1, and Inter just ... didn't do anything for most of 90 minutes. They managed just one counterattacking shot attempt against Liverpool's dreadful transition defense, and they created just 0.5 xG in all.

7. Real Madrid (down 1). They obviously missed Kylian Mbappe against Manchester City on Wednesday, but they got enough from Vinícius Júnior and Jude Bellingham (seven shots, 1.04 xG, zero goals) to have hoped for something better than a 2-1 loss. They ramped up the pressure over the last 20 minutes and forced six late saves from Gianluigi Donnarumma, but the Bernabeu magic never kicked in.

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Is Thomas Frank slowly improving Tottenham?

Gab Marcotti and Julien Laurens react to Tottenham's 3-0 victory over Slavia Prague in the UEFA Champions League.

8. Tottenham Hotspur (up 3). Spurs had won just one of eight matches, and the heat was building on manager Thomas Frank, but in the last four days they've beaten Brentford and Slavia Prague by a combined 5-0 with almost no drama whatsoever. Granted, two of their goals against Slavia were penalties, but youngsters Xavi Simons and Archie Gray have both looked good in the midfield, and left back Djed Spence is pushing the ball like crazy. It's something!

9. Atletico Madrid (up 1). Somehow Diego Simeone's team plays some of the most delightfully wild matches in any given season. Their 4-4 Copa del Rey draw with Barcelona might have been my favorite match of last season, and they've already played five matches this season with at least five combined goals. Better yet: They've won four of them! Their 3-2 win over PSV on Tuesday was a breathless affair with loads of quality opportunities (combined xG from the two teams: 4.9). And Alexander Sorloth was dynamite, producing a goal and an assist from four shot attempts and three chances created.

10. Barcelona (up 2). Hansi Flick's high line worked to perfection against Eintracht Frankfurt on Tuesday, as the Bundesliga side was caught offside more times (eight) than they had shot attempts (six). But the attack couldn't create much value: Raphinha, Robert Lewandowski and Lamine Yamal attempted eight shots worth just 0.4 xG. But they won anyway because Jules Koundé got free for two headed goals?

Jules Koundé delivers back-to-back headers in three minutes as Barcelona storm back against Frankfurt 🔵🔴 pic.twitter.com/glUWfsaaQJ

Whatever works, I guess.

11. Borussia Dortmund (down 3). They were a bit unfortunate in Wednesday's 2-2 draw with Bodo/Glimt -- total xG: BVB 2.89, Glimt 1.38 -- but even with Niko Kovacs' attempts to increase stability, BVB remain randomly fragile in defense. Bodo/Glimt can't defend, but they sure can pounce on fragility.

12. Newcastle (down 3). After a slow start, they saved themselves and took control at Leverkusen, only to give up a late goal and settle for a 2-2 draw. That's basically Newcastle's 2025-26 story: solid, high-potential and a little bit disappointing.

13. Atalanta. After Tuesday's win over Chelsea, they've lost only two of their last seven matches against English teams. And they did it by slowly tilting the pitch and taking control:

Oh, and they got a great performance and a great game-winner from Charles De Ketelaere.

14. Liverpool (up 1). Liverpool desperately needed some positivity, and they found it by deploying an old-school 4-4-2 and beating Inter with a (reasonably tame) penalty in the 88th minute. I guess winning at the San Siro doesn't have to be pretty.

15. Bayer Leverkusen (up 2). The art of "Laterkusen" still lives.

Alejandro Grimaldo comes up with a big goal to secure a point for Bayer Leverkusen 🇩🇪 pic.twitter.com/YeyurJiEBb

Alejandro Grimaldo's late equalizer brought Leverkusen to nine points, still within reach of a top-eight finish and not entirely safe from elimination.

16. Marseille (up 3). How shaky will Liverpool still be in late-January? Because OM have won two straight in this competition, and wins over Liverpool (home) and Club Brugge (away) might be enough to earn them a bye to the round of 16. Regardless, they're all but guaranteed to advance now.

17. Monaco (up 5). It looked for a while as if this was going to be quite the "sports are dumb" night for Monaco against Galatasaray -- they attempted 19 shots worth a whopping 3.37 xG, but Denis Zakaria missed a penalty in the 51st, and they were still scoreless into the 68th. But Folarin Balogun bundled one in off a corner, and the right team won.

They now have nine points in four matches since a Matchday 1 dud at Club Brugge.

18. Juventus (up 3). Juve keep scraping out points while looking great for the smallest amount of time possible. On Wednesday against Pafos, it was Weston McKennie to the rescue.

Jens Petter Hauge brings Bodø/Glimt level for the second time against Borussia Dortmund 🇳🇴 pic.twitter.com/jXRXr8bOTi

McKennie has scored two goals this season, and both were go-ahead goals in Juve's last two Champions League matches.

19. Sporting CP (down 3). They were spirited and feisty in Munich, but offered next to nothing up front: They had four total shot attempts, only one worth more than 0.08 xG, and maybe their two best scoring chances were an own goal and near-own goal.

20. Galatasaray (down 7). They've followed three straight Champions League wins with two disappointing performances and losses to Union Saint-Gilloise and Monaco. Last week's draw with Fenerbahce also means they've won just two of their last six matches in all competitions.

21. PSV Eindhoven. Even with Tuesday's loss to Atletico, they're in pretty good shape to advance, and that's good -- they remain one of the most watchable teams in the competition (for better or sometimes worse).

22. Benfica (up 4). The biggest benefit of an eight-match league phase is that you can start slowly and rebound. Benfica lost their first four Champions League matches, but they were consistently competitive (unlike, say, Ajax), and eventually the tide turned. Jose Mourinho's squad followed up a win over Ajax with a dominant 2-0 win over Napoli, and now they're only a point behind the qualification line. And at 37, Nicolás Otamendi remains so steady at the back.

23. Napoli (down 5). They're pulling a Reverse Atalanta: They're tied with AC Milan atop Serie A, but while they're averaging nearly two goals per match domestically, they have just six goals in six Champions League matches. And they were completely outplayed by a resurgent Benfica, 2-0, on Wednesday. Confusing team.

24. Olympiacos (up 5). With three straight solid performances -- a draw with PSV, a delightful 4-3 loss to Real Madrid and a more-resounding-than-the-score 1-0 win over Kairat -- the Greek champs' odds of advancing have begun to rise. Evidently Gelson Martins is the key: He's played all 90 minutes in all three matches, and he's both scored two goals and racked up 27 ball recoveries, a massive energy boost up front.

25. Bodo/Glimt (up 2). Like Brugge, they're too open defensively, and they take the "only attempt good shots" thing to an extreme sometimes, but high-quality shot attempts allowed them to snag a point in Dortmund.

They probably aren't going to advance, but they're first in xG per shot (0.22); they're always delightful to watch with the ball.

26. Club Brugge (down 2). They're far too open in defense, and Arsenal broke them down too easily, but they get bonus points for an ever-interesting attack.

Bonus watchability points, anyway. They might need to win their last two to earn enough real points.

27. Eintracht Frankfurt (down 4). In 21 matches in all competitions this season, Eintracht have scored a healthy 42 goals ... and allowed a ghastly 46. They had allowed 13 in their last four matches in all competitions heading to Barcelona on Tuesday, and the plan was clear: bunker in and hope. Ansgar Knauff's breakaway goal gave them an early lead, and while they allowed 75% possession and 19 shots to Barca, very few of them were worth anything. And they still gave up two goals from Jules Kounde headers and lost. Ouch.

28. Qarabag (down 3). Continuity helps you so much when you're a smaller club, and Qarabag has done some damage in this competition by playing nearly the same lineup in every match -- nine players have logged at least 440 of 540 minutes. But when things go awry, continuity can also mean a lack of options. And once the tide turned against them after going up 2-1 on Ajax, they had no answers. The tide remained turned.

29. Union Saint-Gilloise (down 1). Khalaili's exploits aside, USG really could have used a result on Tuesday. With a trip to Bayern up next, they'll need a home win over Atalanta in Matchday 8 to have any hope of advancing.

30. Pafos. Pafos have been a pain in the butt for everyone but Bayern in this tournament, and for 40 minutes against Juventus, they were clearly the better team. Unfortunately, matches are longer than that.

- First 40 minutes (0-0): Pafos 0.72 xG, Juventus 0.34
- Last 50 minutes (2-0 Juve): Juve 2.31, Pafos 0.39

A win over Slavia in Matchday 8 might still give Pafos a chance to advance, but a point on Wednesday would have been nice.

31. Copenhagen (up 2). Big Andreas Cornelius pounced on a deflection and scored the game-winner at Villarreal, and suddenly Copenhagen have pulled six points from two matches and have sneaked into the top 24. Their entire attacking plan is "cross to a big guy," and it's starting to work. I love it.

32. Athletic Club. PSG attempted 18 shots worth 2.1 xG, and they put five on target, worth 1.8 post-shot xG. Unai Simón saved all five and earned Athletic a point. They'll need at least four points from their last two games (at Atalanta, Sporting CP) to have any shot at advancing, but they're alive for now.

33. Villarreal (down 2). Like Napoli, club form hasn't translated at all here. Villarreal have won six straight in LaLiga play, and they're only a point behind Real Madrid for second place, and they have one point in six Champions League matches. They've been both unlucky and poor. Wednesday's 3-2 home loss to Copenhagen was both.

34. Ajax (up 1). Granted, it took some particularly sizzling finishing -- they scored four goals from shots worth 1.6 total xG, the goals themselves amounted to 0.4 xG -- but Ajax have officially shown up for the 2025-26 Champions League with their 4-2 win at Qarabag. Their odds of advancing remain infinitesimal, but they've won three in a row in all competitions under caretaker manager Fred Grim. That's something.

35. Slavia Prague (down 1). Slavia went up 2-0 over the first 75 minutes in Matchday 1 against Bodo/Glimt. In their last 465 Champions League minutes, they have been outscored 11-0.

36. Kairat Almaty. They missed out on perhaps their best win opportunity with the loss to Olympiacos on Tuesday. One more decent chance: Club Brugge visits on Matchday 7. (They visit Arsenal to finish up.)