UCL league phase winners and losers: Top 10 revealed

Even while the stakes weren't as high as they were during the group rounds of past years, the competition's new format has already produced a lot of drama.

The first Champions League league phase is officially done after five exhausting months and 144 games, including 18 on Wednesday night.

'Liverpool FC.'

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With 64 goals scored, including five in Liverpool's encounter against PSV in Eindhoven, six in Aston Villa's win over Celtic at home, and seven in Lille's thumping of Feyenoord, the last matchday was undoubtedly entertaining. According to former Rangers striker Ally McCoist, "it was a little bit chaotic at times because there were goals going in everywhere," he said on TNT Sports. "I doubt that I will ever be able to watch just one game at home, on my couch. It was breathtaking.

The prior journey was a true drag, but it's hard to dispute with that judgment. The play-off knockout phase is scheduled for mid-February, so we still have 16 games left to play before the round of 16.

Liverpool, Barcelona, Arsenal, Inter, Atletico Madrid, Bayer Leverkusen, Lille, and Villa are all guaranteed a spot in the top eight, so they don't need to worry about that. However, a number of other major teams struggled as the level of competition on the top European stage declined dramatically.

Allegiances will play a major role in the debate over whether the new structure can be deemed an immediate success. In light of this, SPORTING presents the 2024–25 league phase winners and losers.

WINNER: Liverpool

Under Arne Slot, who took over as manager of Anfield from Jurgen Klopp in the summer, Liverpool have rapidly emerged as the top club in Europe. With 16 goals and just two goals let up, the Reds were the only team to win all seven of their league-phase games. AC Milan, Real Madrid, and Bayer Leverkusen were all easily defeated.

Liverpool enjoyed great success under Klopp's "heavy-metal" style of play, but Slot has elevated the team by enforcing greater discipline and emphasizing possession dominance, seamless transitions, and astute positioning. The unsettling aspect is that Liverpool hardly ever had to shift gears to get to the knockout stages.

Liverpool possess all the tools they need to win the Champions League for the eighth time, with Virgil van Dijk back to his best, Ryan Gravenberch controlling the center of the pitch, and the irrepressible Mohamed Salah spearheading the assault. The only thing that could stop them is injuries, but they should be aiming for a clean sweep of the main trophies as they have been setting the standard both at home and abroad for a while.

LOSER: Manchester City

It's reasonable to conclude that Manchester City have little chance of replicating its 2022–2023 success, but Liverpool may very likely win the treble. The team led by Pep Guardiola have changed from being an all-conquering powerhouse to a weak one with obvious weaknesses that other clubs may take advantage of whenever they want.

After an inconclusive win against Club Brugge on the penultimate matchday, City barely made it into the top 24 of the Champions League, and it wouldn't be shocking if they lost in the play-offs' knockout stage, where Real Madrid or Bayern Munich were waiting. Sporting CP, Juventus, and Paris Saint-Germain have all easily defeated Guardiola's club, and they also lost a three-goal lead to draw with Feyenoord at home.

Star midfielder Rodri's injury-forced absence has dealt City a severe blow from which they have yet to recover, and they are no longer feared by anybody. Guardiola has made some important January signings, but they won't alter City's course in Europe; this fragmented club is far from returning to the top of the league.

WINNER: Barcelona

With gung-ho methods that are far different from those of his predecessor Xavi, Hansi Flick has transformed Barcelona into one of Europe's finest entertainers this season. With a variety of vicious, explosive attackers ready to punish them, this Barca team searches for the quickest path to goal and presses high to drive the opponent into errors.

With 28 goals, Barca concluded the league phase as the top scorers. Robert Lewandowski and Serhou Guirassy of Borussia Dortmund are tied for the Golden Boot with nine goals apiece, while Raphinha is only one goal behind with eight. Flick's team has seemed invincible at times, especially in their 4-1 victory over Bayern, which saw the Bundesliga powerhouses well outplayed, especially with teenage wonder Lamine Yamal completing the front three.

They're everywhere throughout the store, which is a warning. No. 1 goalkeeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen has been a major absence as he continues to recuperate from a serious knee injury, and Dortmund and Benfica combined for six goals against Barcelona. Long-term costs might result from that weak underbelly, but the Blaugrana might outscore everyone on route to winning the Champions League for the first time since 2015.

LOSER: Juventus

Juventus' 2-0 triumph over Manchester City at the Allianz Stadium was one of the league's greatest outcomes, and they were well worth the money. However, the Bianconeri have been by far the most boring team to watch during the league, with the exception of that unforgettable December night.

Even though they only let up nine goals, Thiago Motta's team had the poorest offensive record in the top 23. This was mostly due to their utter lack of determination. Juve seemed to have lost all of its inventiveness under Motta, whose strict methods and strange selection decisions have caused a significant reversal.

Dusan Vlahovic has been an all-too-separated figure up front, summer acquisitions Teun Koopmeiners and Douglas Luiz have looked like shadows of the players they were at Atalanta and Villa, respectively, and Turkish wonderkid Kenan Yildiz has been ineffectual since being moved from his preferred No. 10 position out to the right flank.

Everything that is wrong with this Juventus team at the moment was summed up in a 2-0 loss to Benfica on the penultimate matchday at home; they won't be in the running for Champions League glory come May, and Motta may be gone long before then.

WINNERS: Brest

Last season, Brest earned their first-ever Champions League berth, culminating an incredible ascent to prominence for a team who dropped to France's amateur levels in 2000 and took 19 years to get promoted back to Ligue 1. As a result, nobody anticipated that they would pull up any trees on the largest stage in Europe. However, they got off to a fast start, defeating Sturm Graz 2-1 and then crushing Red Bull Salzburg 4-0 in Austria. From then, the excitement around Eric Roy's team only increased.

Brest placed themselves in the running for an automatic last-16 qualifying position with hard-fought victories over Sparta Prague and PSV in addition to an outstanding 1-1 draw with Bayer Leverkusen. Unluckily, they were brought back to reality with consecutive losses to Real Madrid and Shakhtar Donestk, but Brest managed to pull off a miracle by qualifying for the playoffs.

Given the club's financial constraints, persistent injury issues, and the fact that they have been playing their "home" games in Guingamp rather than at Stade Francis-Le Ble, Roy and his team have accomplished an incredible amount thus far. Brest will continue to be the underdog to advance to the next round, but they love it that way.

LOSER: RB Leipzig

RB Leipzig were a Pot One club for the league-phase draw after finishing fourth in the Bundesliga and reaching the Champions League round of 16 in 2023-24, with some labeling Marco Rose's squad as dark horses for the championship. Leipzig losing their first six European matches and being one of the first teams to be sent out of the competition under the new system was a huge upset.

To be fair, Leipzig did suffer close losses to Atletico Madrid, Juventus, Liverpool, and Inter during that run, but they also lost 3-1 on the road to Celtic, and their terrible defense caused them to lose to Aston Villa at home. They could have done far better as an attacking squad featuring Dutch schemer Xavi Simons, Belgian tyro Lois Openda, and Slovenian sensation Benjamin Sesko.

Although they managed to preserve face by beating Sporting CP 2-1, they were humiliated by Sturm Graz's 1-0 victory. It is certain that Leipzig's Champions League campaign was a complete failure, as they appear to have stalled under Rose in recent months.

WINNER: Unai Emery

Aston Villa accomplished a feat by qualifying for the Champions League for the first time since 1983 under Unai Emery, but they haven't been happy to merely fill up the numbers. With five victories from their eight league-phase games, including a thrilling victory over Bayern Munich at home in which 21-year-old phenom Jhon Duran instantly became a hero with an incredible lofted winner from 30 yards out, Villa easily advanced to the round of 16.

Given their general lack of squad depth, Villa's decline to eighth place in the Premier League was predicted, but Emery has always placed a high priority on his team's European obligations. The four-time Europa League champion can do it again with the Villans after defying the odds at Sevilla and Villarreal, the latter of whom he oversaw and who advanced to the Champions League semifinals.

No club will want to play Villa Park, but it is still too early to label them "dark horses." Though the impending departure of Duran, a wildcard forward, may leave Emery's team thin up front as the young player is expected to make a surprise move to Al-Nassr, home of Cristiano Ronaldo, before to the winter transfer deadline, don't be shocked if Emery's team has a run into the latter stages.

LOSER: The Minnows

Brest may have been the upbeat story of the 2024–25 Champions League season thus far, but they were the only underdogs to outperform their peers throughout the league round. As expected, Red Bull Salzburg accumulated four points to Sparta Prague's three, Sturm Graz and Red Star ended 29th and 30th, respectively, with just six points each, while Young Boys and Slovan Bratislava, the lowest two teams, both lost all eight of their games.

All of these teams are accustomed to competing for trophies in their home leagues, but the jump to the Champions League level proved too much once more. Supporters had nothing to celebrate, despite the fact that UEFA's new structure increased revenue due to more games against the top teams.

From Young Boys' humiliating 6-1 home loss against Atalanta to Dinamo Zagreb's 9-2 thrashing at Bayern, embarrassing outcomes were the norm. The minnows' chances of making it to the knockout round are now lower than ever, as the needless expansion to 36 teams has undoubtedly degraded the competition's quality. In the past, there was always a chance of an upset if the draw was favorable in four-team groups.

WINNERS: Mauricio Pochettino and the USMNT

With Christian Pulisic of AC Milan spearheading an incredible American surge, the U.S. men's national team has already surpassed its own record for the most player starts in a single Champions League season. The former Chelsea player helped the Rossoneri earn a spot in the playoffs by contributing five goals during the league phase. Yunus Musah, a fellow countryman, also made an impression for the Italian powerhouses.

Weston McKennie and Tim Weah both contributed significantly to a Juventus team that just missed out on automatic qualification for the round of 16. Meanwhile, Auston Trusty and Cameron Carter-Vickers' outstanding defensive performances helped Celtic qualify for the playoffs, and PSV's Ricardo Pepi and Malik Tillman combined for five goals as they made the top 24. With only two starts for Borussia Dortmund, Gio Reyna hasn't played as much in the Champions League as his international teammates, but as last season's finalists, he will probably receive more opportunities to impress.

The United States currently has a number of well-known players making an impression in the most prominent club football tournament, which is encouraging for the growth of the national team in preparation for the 2026 World Cup in North America.

LOSERS: UEFA

Opinion on UEFA's 'Swiss Model' league phase is utterly split. Since we've seen exciting performances like Barcelona's 5-4 comeback victory over Benfica and PSG's 4-2 triumph over Man City, and because 16 of the 18 games on the final matchday still had something riding on them, some people think it's increased the level of excitement.

However, not everyone has had their eyes blindfolded. This 144-game league stage finished with only 12 teams eliminated instead of 16, making the 96-game group stage far less tedious.

The top clubs are now far too protected since the stakes have been minimized. Instead of going all hard for automatic qualifying, teams like Bayern, Real Madrid, City, and Juventus were content to accept play-off berths, and none of the big games felt particularly threatened.

The schedule was already packed with all of these extra games, so it's hard to blame those clubs for taking it easy either. When UEFA approved this needless expansion, they did not consider the wellbeing of the players or the competition's essence, which has been essentially destroyed in the name of profit.