The newly installed league format of the Champions League is about to reach its conclusion, and we’re starting to see which clubs are likely to qualify for the next round. If the league ended today, Liverpool, Barcelona, Arsenal, Inter Milan, Atletico Madrid, AC Milan, Atalanta, and Bayer Leverkusen will directly qualify for the Round of 16 following their positive runs of Champions League 2025 results.
Aston Villa, AS Monaco, Feyenoord, Lille, Brest, Borussia Dortmund, Bayern Munich, Real Madrid, Juventus, Celtic, PSV, Club Brugge, Benfica, PSG, Sporting, and VfB Stuttgart can also qualify for the Round of 16. However, they’ll likely go through a gauntlet in the play-off round.
Allow SBOTOP to look back and pay homage to the teams who have excelled in this competition thus far.
Liverpool
Arne Slot deserves plaudits in his first full season at Anfield, as his Reds are doing well both in the Champions League and Premier League. Liverpool have a six-point lead at the top of the English top-flight standings, and they’re the only club with a 100-per cent record in the Champions League.
Liverpool’s 2024-25 campaign started badly, conceding a goal from AC Milan’s Christian Pulisic in just the first three minutes. However, they righted the ship and secured an opening 3-1 win. The Reds then notched five consecutive clean sheet wins against Bologna (2-0), RB Leipzig (1-0), Bayer Leverkusen (4-0), Real Madrid (2-0), and Girona (1-0) before securing a 2-1 result against Lille last Tuesday. They will wrap up their league phase with a visit to PSV next Wednesday.
Luis Diaz is the Reds’ leading scorer in this tournament after scoring a hat-trick against Bayer Leverkusen last November. Darwin Nunez and Mohamed Salah have had their share of heroics, scoring matchwinners against RB Leipzig and Girona, respectively. With all of them firing, Liverpool are one of the prohibitive favourites to win this year’s trophy, according to the Champions League 2025 odds.
Arsenal
The Gunners are the second Premier League team in the Champions League Top 8. Arsenal are third in the Champions League table with 16 points, level with the fourth-seeded Inter Milan.
After a goalless draw against Atalanta to start, Mikel Arteta’s side secured wins over PSG (2-0) and Shakhtar Donetsk (1-0) but lost narrowly to Inter Milan (1-0). After that, they tallied a 5-1 win over Sporting, a 3-0 victory against AS Monaco, and a 3-0 result against Dinamo Zagreb. The Gunners will conclude their league phase with a visit to Girona next midweek.
Kai Havertz and Bukayo Saka are the Gunners’ joint-leading scorers in the tournament with four goals each. However, only one of them is active in the lineup, as Saka is out indefinitely due to a hamstring injury he sustained against Crystal Palace last month. However, at least team captain Martin Odegaard is back at full strength after missing the early part of the campaign.
Barcelona
Barcelona may not be in their best form, but they can take solace in the fact that they’re likely through to the Round of 16 since they’re second in the standings with 18 points.
After losing their opening game against AS Monaco (2-1), Hansi Flick’s men went on a tear stringing together six consecutive victories against Young Boys (5-0), Bayern Munich (4-1), Red Star Belgrade (5-2), Brest (3-0), Borussia Dortmund (3-2), and Benfica (5-4), which was a barn burner. The Blaugrana will have one more game against Atalanta, which might be another classic given the calibre of these two teams.
Robert Lewandowski (9) and Raphinha (8) have lit up the Champions League with 17 goals combined. Ferran Torres and Inigo Martinez have two goals each, while teenage sensation Lamine Yamal has one goal and two assists.
Hansi Flick has already won his first trophy as Barca manager during the Spanish Super Cup at the expense of El Clasico rivals, Real Madrid. They might pull off a double if they win the Champions League this term.
Biggest disappointments
Considering their history in the Champions League, Bayern Munich, Real Madrid, and Juventus are some of the disappointments in the new league format because they’re the 15th, 16th, and 17th seeds with 12 points each. However, a win in the final matchday could vault them into the Top 8.
But the biggest underperformer of them all is Manchester City, the reigning champions. Pep Guardiola’s side is 25th in the standings with only eight points, and they are on a four-game drought. Manchester City have a winnable final game against Club Brugge next week, but even if they win, their fate is out of their hands.
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