9. Chelsea
Jose Mourinho’s side should’ve been out of sight in Group G but a 1-1 draw with Maribor last night has stunted them somewhat.
In their next fixture, they head to Schalke – not the easiest of trips – but they’re far from trouble. They need one win from their final two fixtures to get through to the next stage and welcome Sporting Lisbon to Stamford Bridge on Matchday 6. Still, they could’ve done without the added pressure and will look back on this week’s game as a missed opportunity.
8. Shakhtar Donetsk
Group H is a tricky one to analyse since it features BATE – the whipping boys. In four games, they’ve conceded 19 goals and 12 of those came against the Ukrainians. On Matchday 3, they racked up a magnificent seven while this week, they grabbed five – admittedly against 10 men.
Luiz Adriano has been a one-man wrecking machine with 9 goals so far, though 8 have come against the Belarussians. But with Darijo Srna and Alex Teixeira both impressing and the cult-hero Miricea Lucescu in charge, Shakhtar remain a perennial dark-horse.
7. FC Porto
On Matchday 2, Porto went to the Ukraine and were 2-0 down with five minutes to go. But Jackson Martinez cropped up with an 89th-minute penalty and a 94th-minute equaliser to ensure a draw.
The result showed character and resilience and with a collection of eye-catching players (Brahimi, Herrera, Tello, Martins-Indi), they’ll prove difficult for plenty of teams. Martinez has scored four times already and can be a handful while they’re already qualified after four games – an ideal scenario.
6. Atletico Madrid
After an opening-day defeat in Greece, last season’s beaten finalists have bounced back admirably with three straight wins. Most importantly, their defence has been drilled to within an inch of its life and they haven’t conceded in any game since the loss to Olympiakos. It wasn’t pretty against Malmo this week but it was effective, with Koke again on the score-sheet.
5. Paris St Germain
PSG are through to the knock-out stages, with a minimum of fuss really. The 3-2 victory over Barcelona has been the highlight of the group-stage, mainly because they managed more than a single goal.
For a team that features the offensive fire-power of Cavani, Lavezzi, Pastore and Lucas (Ibra is currently injured), a return of six from four games is unacceptable. Perhaps the fixture list has been kind to them – back-to-back games against the worst side in the group was an ideal situation given their struggles in front of goal.
But, it’ll be interesting to see how PSG fare at home to Ajax and away to Barcelona – certainly it will give us a better idea as to what we can expect from them in the knockout stages.
4. Barcelona
In Amsterdam, the Catalans struggled early on. And then on 36 minutes, a mistake from Jasper Cillessen allowed Marc Bartra hook the ball across the area and eventually Lionel Messi popped up to give them the lead. But Ajax were nearly level with twenty minutes to go – Milik heading against the post. Shortly after, Joel Veltman was sent-off and moments later, Messi scored his second.
It was clinical but far from captivating. However, this is a different Barca side and tiki-taka is long-gone. They take a different approach and remain a team in transition. But they can certainly still top the group and with Messi, they’ll always have a chance.
3. Borussia Dortmund
The Jekyll and Hyde act continues for Jurgen Klopp’s side. A miserable domestic campaign but a barnstorming European one. 4 games played, 13 goals scored and just one conceded – impressive.
Against Galatasary, they were tight and combative at the back with Sokratis Papastathopoulos excelling. They’ve netted eleven times in their last three games and it’s a massive contrast to the relentless disappointment of their current Bundesliga season.
2. Real Madrid
The hard work was done in Anfield a fortnight ago and Real barely got out of third gear against Liverpool this week. They knew their quality would win out in the end though it shouldn’t have been such a tight affair.
But with Gareth Bale back in the side after injury, the first-team looks even more impressive and though they still appear a little soft at the back (occasionally), they’ve got so much elsewhere that they’re rarely threatened. An ominous sign.
1. Bayern Munich
Pep Guardiola’s side needed a last-gasp winner to beta Manchester City and a penalty to get the better of CSKA Moscow. Still, the back-to-back games against Roma have been a substantial step in the right direction.
The 1-7 win in the Italian capital was a firm statement of intent and this week, it was one-way traffic once again. 24 shots on goal though only 6 of those found the target. More impressively, Roma were strangled and couldn’t get the ball, barely registering 30% possession.
It’s controlled, strategic and relentless. 8 of their starting XI on Wednesday achieved over 90% pass completion (Neuer was flawless: 23 from 23). Momentum is rapidly building.
Near misses: Juventus, Bayern Leverkusen, CSKA Moscow, Sporting Lisbon.
Do you agree with our choices? Let us know in the comments section below.
