Matchday 6 in the UEFA Champions League offered a chance at course correction for a handful of Europe’s top sides, but only some took the opportunities in front of them.
Several European heavyweights came out of this week’s action with good news, most notably AC Milan, Juventus and Real Madrid as they strengthened their positions inside the top 24 and inched closer to a spot in the knockouts. Paris Saint-Germain also picked up their first win since Matchday 1 but still have a mountain to climb with two games left in the league phase, while Manchester City’s crisis worsened on Wednesday as they lost to Juventus and have just one win in their last 10 games.
The chaos of the Champions League’s first league phase means the race for knockout berths will likely come down to the wire, with two games left for all 36 teams to decide their fate. The monthlong countdown to the final games of the league phase will only add to the pressure a handful of teams are experiencing, especially as inconsistency remains a problem for some.
With Matchday 6 in the book, here’s the latest panic meter for some of Europe’s top sides.
Champions League standings
Key: Positions 1-8 qualify for Round of 16 while positions 9-24 qualify for Knockout Phase Play-Offs and positions 25-36 are eliminated.
| Pos | Team | GP | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Liverpool | 6 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 13 | 1 | +12 | 18 |
| 2 | Barcelona | 6 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 21 | 7 | +14 | 15 |
| 3 | Arsenal | 6 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 11 | 2 | +9 | 13 |
| 4 | Bayer Leverkusen | 6 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 12 | 5 | +7 | 13 |
| 5 | Aston Villa | 6 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 9 | 3 | +6 | 13 |
| 6 | Inter | 6 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 7 | 1 | +6 | 13 |
| 7 | Brest | 6 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 10 | 6 | +4 | 13 |
| 8 | Lille | 6 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 10 | 7 | +3 | 13 |
| 9 | Borussia Dortmund | 6 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 18 | 9 | +9 | 12 |
| 10 | Bayern Munich | 6 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 17 | 8 | +9 | 12 |
| 11 | Atletico Madrid | 6 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 14 | 10 | +4 | 12 |
| 12 | AC Milan | 6 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 12 | 9 | +3 | 12 |
| 13 | Atalanta | 6 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 13 | 4 | +9 | 11 |
| 14 | Juventus | 6 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 9 | 5 | +4 | 11 |
| 15 | Benfica | 6 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 10 | 7 | +3 | 10 |
| 16 | Monaco | 6 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 12 | 10 | +2 | 10 |
| 17 | Sporting Lisbon | 6 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 11 | 9 | +2 | 10 |
| 18 | Feyenoord | 6 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 14 | 15 | -1 | 10 |
| 19 | Club Brugge | 6 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 6 | 8 | -2 | 10 |
| 20 | Real Madrid | 6 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 12 | 11 | 1 | 9 |
| 21 | Celtic | 6 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 10 | 10 | 0 | 9 |
| 22 | Manchester City | 6 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 13 | 9 | +4 | 8 |
| 23 | PSV | 6 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 10 | 8 | 2 | 8 |
| 24 | Dinamo Zagreb | 6 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 10 | 15 | -5 | 6 |
| 25 | Paris Saint-Germain | 6 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 6 | 6 | 0 | 7 |
| 26 | Stuttgart | 6 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 9 | 12 | -3 | 7 |
| 27 | Shakhtar Donetsk | 6 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 13 | -8 | 4 |
| 28 | Sparta Praha | 6 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 7 | 18 | -11 | 4 |
| 29 | Sturm Graz | 6 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 4 | 9 | -5 | 3 |
| 30 | Girona | 6 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 4 | 10 | -6 | 3 |
| 31 | Crvena Zvezda | 6 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 10 | 19 | -9 | 3 |
| 32 | RB Salzburg | 6 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 3 | 18 | -15 | 3 |
| 33 | Bologna | 6 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 7 | -6 | 2 |
| 34 | RB Leipzig | 6 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 6 | 13 | -7 | 0 |
| 35 | Slovan Bratislava | 6 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 5 | 21 | -16 | 0 |
| 36 | Young Boys | 6 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 3 | 22 | -19 | 0 |
AC Milan
Remaining schedule (all times U.S./Eastern)
- Jan. 22: AC Milan vs. Girona, 3 p.m.
- Jan. 29: Dinamo Zagreb vs. AC Milan, 3 p.m.
The games have not always been easy, but AC Milan now have four wins in their last four Champions League fixtures and feel like one of the surer bets to advance to the knockouts. They will be the heavy favorites in their remaining two games against Girona and Dinamo Zagreb, and with only one point separating them from the top eight, straight passageway to the round of 16 is not out of the question. The only question for Milan is if their mounting injury crisis will be a problem a month from now – while Christian Pulisic’s injury is a short-term one, it’s still too early to know if Alvaro Morata and Ruben Loftus-Cheek will be on the sidelines for a serious amount of time.
Panic level: 2/10
Juventus
Remaining schedule (all times U.S./Eastern)
- Jan. 21: Club Brugge vs. Juventus, 3 p.m.
- Jan. 29: Juventus vs. Benfica, 3 p.m.
Thiago Motta’s Juventus have sometimes left more points on the table than they would have liked, but things are definitely going in their favor in the Champions League. They came out of one of their most difficult European fixtures against Manchester City with a convincing 2-0 win and will be favored in their remaining matches, making them a top contender for a spot in the knockouts. Like Milan, they are within touching distance of the top eight with just two points separating them from Lille, so they will have plenty of motivation for a strong finish to the league phase.
Panic level: 3/10
Real Madrid
Remaining schedule (all times U.S./Eastern)
- Jan. 22: Real Madrid vs. Red Bull Salzburg, 3 p.m.
- Jan. 29: Brest vs. Real Madrid, 3 p.m.
Tuesday’s 3-2 win over Atalanta will inspire newfound confidence in Real Madrid, who used the win to slowly rise up the league phase table. They were not actually the better side in Italy but, with their stars on the scoresheet, offered a reminder that imperfection did not get in their way en route to the Champions League and La Liga titles last season and it does not necessarily have to be the case this time around, either. Real Madrid will be helped by the fact that one of their remaining games is against Red Bull Salzburg, one of this season’s punching bags in the Champions League, and they will still be the favorites against a high-flying Brest side on Matchday 8. The latter game, though, will probably still require Real Madrid to be at their best, which means they are not out of the woods just yet.
Panic level: 7/10
Manchester City
Remaining schedule (all times U.S./Eastern)
- Jan. 22: Paris Saint-Germain vs. Manchester City, 3 p.m.
- Jan. 29: Manchester City vs. Club Brugge
The good news for Manchester City is they are still inside the top 24 and one of their remaining games is against Club Brugge, who may outrank them right now but will still be the underdogs on Matchday 8. The bad news for Manchester City is that their form is abysmal – the serial winners now have only one win in their last 10 and are getting outplayed by teams of different calibers. There’s plenty of time to snap out of this funk, especially since Premier League sides are saddled with plenty of games this time of year, but the alarming thing is that they have yet to do so. Pep Guardiola, the master tactician who has rightly earned a place in the history books, has yet to find a solution to this problem or even properly diagnose it. It potentially creates a make-or-break moment in their Matchday 7 trip to Paris in a must-win situation few saw coming – and if they cannot fix their issues now, it forces the question of if they will be able to do it at all.
Panic level: 9/10
Paris Saint-Germain
Remaining schedule (all times U.S./Eastern)
- Jan. 22: Paris Saint-Germain vs. Manchester City, 3 p.m.
- Jan. 29: Stuttgart vs. Paris Saint-Germain, 3 p.m.
Luis Enrique’s side may have finally notched their first win since Matchday 1 on Tuesday against Salzburg, but they have not been able to dig themselves out of 25th place with two games to go in the league phase. Their next Champions League fixture against City is a must-win, but the same is true for their league phase finale against Stuttgart. This young-skewing PSG must find a way to score goals in these big games to avoid disaster, which will require some real work over the course of the next month. Considering the fact that they face few tests in Ligue 1, though, it is hard to know how good this version of PSG are at this time. Their form over the course of the Champions League season, especially after drawing one of the more difficult league phase schedules, raises serious questions about their ability to stack up to the competition. With City’s poor recent form and PSG’s oddsmakers’ favorite status against Stuttgart, there’s no reason to rule them out just yet, but PSG have much to prove when the Champions League returns in the new year.
Panic level: 10/10
