UEFA Champions League 2025/26 Season

[Antotena]

What a night for Real Madrid.. Two red cards in just 5 minutes of stoppage time, they must have been so aggressive and frustrated as usual, too bad I didn’t watch .

Benfica isn’t an easy team..just as Real Madrid needed the win to get an R16 seat, they also needed the win to secure a seat in the qualifiers. One is more pressing as the other can still get a chance in the qualifiers, so I wasn’t surprised.

Now Arbeloa will get more pressure from the management for losing one of the key match to staying ahead in UCL.

Real Madrid is that guy in the next block that people talked about all the time to be active and strong but when it's  time to show who they really are, they get their ass whoop. I can't believe a team that was on top of the league that everyone was saying they were the top of the league, they were even comparing their place with Barcelona that they were going to win the Laliga and at the same time win the Champions League but now, the story has changed.

They were given two cards towards the end of the match with Benfica, I knew that was the end immediately I saw that. Even if a team is in their worst form, the fact that the came to the Champions League and are also looking for the same qualifications to the next place in the Champions League, they will do anything to take down Real Madrid. It seems they thought if they over do it, they can win it but they couldn't, total failure tonight to be honest.

[rachael9385]

What a night for Real Madrid.. Two red cards in just 5 minutes of stoppage time, they must have been so aggressive and frustrated as usual, too bad I didn’t watch .

Benfica isn’t an easy team..just as Real Madrid needed the win to get an R16 seat, they also needed the win to secure a seat in the qualifiers. One is more pressing as the other can still get a chance in the qualifiers, so I wasn’t surprised.

Now Arbeloa will get more pressure from the management for losing one of the key match to staying ahead in UCL.

Real Madrid is that guy in the next block that people talked about all the time to be active and strong but when it's  time to show who they really are, they get their ass whoop. I can't believe a team that was on top of the league that everyone was saying they were the top of the league, they were even comparing their place with Barcelona that they were going to win the Laliga and at the same time win the Champions League but now, the story has changed.

They were given two cards in the beginning of the match with Benfica, I knew that was the end immediately I saw that. Even if a team is in their worst form, the fact that the came to the Champions League and are also looking for the same qualifications to the next place in the Champions League, they will do anything to take down Real Madrid. It seems they thought if they over do it, they can win it but they couldn't, total failure tonight to be honest.

what a shame,  losing to Benfica with such a goal difference was i expected, real  Madrid are very backward for some reasons and they keep getting worse. Real Madrid used to be known for dominating in the champions league but that's no longer the case. Their loss was a complete disappointment to me because my bet was on them to win.

[Alpha Marine]

Galatasaray played better than I expected. The score became 2-0 very early, and I thought the gap would widen even more, but Galatasaray pressed well upfront. City had chances, but goalkeeper Uğurcan made some great saves. Galatasaray's Play-Off opponent will be either Atletico Madrid or Juventus. In previous years, Juventus and Galatasaray have faced each other, and Galatasaray advanced to the next round.

I expected them to get a goal. I played the game BTTS, but I lost. They had a lot of chances to score, but they couldn't. Manchester City, too had chances to make it 3 or 4, but they couldn't. It was an interesting game all round, so I can't complain.

Until tonight, Álvaro Arbeloa was doing just fine as coach. In fact Most Real Madrid players had started to show glimpses of brilliance post the Xabi Alonso era. They fell short tonight but one should not just start to instantly blame the coach. There are a lot of matches to come.

Real Madrid has played 5 matches under Arbeloa, and they've won 3 and lost 2. But you have to put it into perspective. Two of the wins were very unpleasant 2-0 wins against Levante and Villarreal. The only convincing win was against Monaco, and we all know Monaco is not in form. So I cant call that "doing fine". He just lets te players express themselves better on the pitch without a clear plan to tactics.
I have not seen many changes from Madrid. They won games too under Alonso, so it's no different from now. The games they've lost are games a team like Madrid should have ordinarily won, but they struggled and lost them.
Being outplayed by Mourinho who is a manager that doesn't attack much is not acceptable.

[Abdulzuruku01]

The Benfica goalkeeper has made the game more interesting than every other games because I was hoping that Real Madrid would get an equalizer but the second red card just turn things around for them. What an awesome header from the goalkeeper this was the best performance that I have ever seen from the Champions league and the funny part of it is that the goalkeeper wasn't expecting that he would be the one to score the goal because the celebration was absolutely something else.

Benfica goalkeeper Anatoliy Trubin really caught people's attention in their game. I was shocked to see him in that position when they were about to take the kick. I was like why did he want to take the risk when they're already leading? Not knowing he was about to make something great happen. What surprised me is that it was Barcelona we thought would end up in playoffs, but all of a sudden it's turned to Real Madrid. If care isn't taken Real Madrid will use this to punish Alvaro Arbeloa and sack him because it's a small thing for their side.

Out of the 8 teams that qualified for the knockout stage five are Premier League teams Arsenal, Tottenham, Chelsea, Liverpool, and Manchester City. Normally these teams are the strongest in the Premier League, and they've still pushed their performance in the Champions League I'm impressed by their performance.

[Agbamoni]

Arsenal is the first team to win 8 out of 8 games in the Champions League ever since the new method was introduced.
They are also the first team to win all 8 Champions League games by scoring 2+ goals in a single game.
I think they have been incredible in this league. They might actually win the Champions League before the Premier League. Right now, they are the favorites in both leagues.

[SatoPrincess]

The Galatasaray march at Manchester today was wild. I didn’t think that so many Galatasary fans would travel to the UK for the game. I’m rooting for Galatasary today because of Victor Osimhen, I really want to see him score a worldie today. Even though City are currently leading the game 1 nil, I’m hoping for a 3-2 win in favor of Gala.

You must really hate city that much to think that Galatasary will travel all the way from Turkey to Etihad stadium to come claim victory, is that how low you rate City? Well sorry to disappoint you Manchester city is already 2 goals ahead at halftime and Galatasary is yet to score. Manchester city is not a small club. Comparing the strength of both teams and the leagues both of them are playing, Manchester city is much better than Galatasary. If Manchester were playing at away Galatasary would have had little chance, but at Etihad stadium there's absolutely nothing for them here. They are even lucky that Manchester city new signings are not available for this match, if not city would have spelled their name with the number of goals today.

I don’t “hate” Manchester City. Surprised how you got that impression just from my prediction of the game. I’m a neutral in this match, and don’t care much if Manchester City win or lose. Even the best teams lose at home in football so it isn’t something that’s unheard of. Congratulations to City for qualifying to the round of 16.

[bitLeap]

When I saw the odds for the Galatasaray vs. Manchester City match, I briefly considered placing a bet on Galatasaray, especially since I support the team.  I'm glad I didn't. In the first half, Manchester City took the lead with goals from Haaland and Cherki. After that, they started playing more defensively.

Galatasaray had some moments of possession, but the players were very nervous and lacked concentration, so unfortunately, we didn't see many significant scoring opportunities in the match.

You should be thankful that you didn't bet on Galatasaray. Because if you had bet on that, you would have met the same fate as me

Poor performance from Real Madrid. The game ended beyond expectations and those betting for Real Madrid were slaughtered unfortunately.. They even failed to maintain their position among the first 8 teams. They have now to go through play-offs.
Paris Saint-Germain and Newcastle United prohibited themselves from qualifying directly with their draw. They have to go together to the play-offs.
Marseille, PSV Eindhoven and Napoli to leave while Benfica booked a ticket to stay is the real joke of the competition because Benfica was really failing but they woke up for good!

I bet on Madrid and was disappointed  
PSG were very unexpectedly held to a draw and had to swallow the result that cost them. Because for 7 matches they were very promising in the last 8 and now they will fight at all costs, just like Napoli. I think the last 8 matches have a lot of unexpected results, and I'm sure a lot of people are unlucky in betting today.

[JiiBs]

Arsenal is the first team to win 8 out of 8 games in the Champions League ever since the new method was introduced.
They are also the first team to win all 8 Champions League games by scoring 2+ goals in a single game.
I think they have been incredible in this league. They might actually win the Champions League before the Premier League. Right now, they are the favorites in both leagues.

You can give it to them, they’ve been exceptional in the champions league this season. Who would have believed Arsenal would be looked upon as a champions league team. They’ve being way too consistent in the champions league, even much better than they play in the premier league.

One thing that has helped them archive this level of success in the champions league is their attacking ability and teams in the champions league are always out to play, they try to attack rather than seat back and that’s what Arsenal is good at. That’s where they become consistent.

[SUPERSAIAN]

I didn't watch the Real Madrid vs. Benfica match. I watched the Galatasaray vs. Manchester City match. I looked at some highlights and statistics. Benfica won overwhelmingly, dominating the game. They had 12 shots on target, while Real Madrid only managed half of that.

Real Madrid took the lead with Mbappe's goal, but what happened afterward was astonishing I couldn't have predicted Benfica's performance would be so good. What can Mbappe do alone? At most, he'll score two goals there's nothing more he can do.

[AHOYBRAUSE]

It has started. I'm going over 1.5 in all matches for today except juventus. You can never fully trust them with goals when you need it. If all goes well I'm treating myself to some pizza.

Yeah, most of the matches has already played over 1.5 but Borussia Dortmund versus Inter Milan is still at goalless draw and the match is coming to the ending minutes and also Union Saint-Gilloise versus Atalanta is still in 1:0 which means you will likely have a lost bet. However, what has amazed me is about the match you skipped which is Monaco versus Juventus because they are also in a goalless draw, even if there will be a winner in that match it will just be a 1:0 win by either team. Seems there will be no pizza for you

Well, Dortmund managed to disappoint again in the UCL. Once they face a half way decent team they even lose at home, pretty sad. I mean, the match was wide open and conceding the first goal late through a free kick of course is unlucky, yet Inter was the team that actually controlled the game where Dortmund didn't really seem to know what to do to create chances. I was hoping they would maybe at least draw, this would have helped their situation, but a loss at home truly is disappointing.
In the playoffs they will now face Leverkusen or Atalanta, I hope there will be a German encounter in this one!

[BitcoinHunt3r]

Real Madrid management should be ashamed of themselves, they sacked experienced clash Xabi Alonso to hire amateur coach, the has made Real Madrid look like a middle team, king of Champions League will be playing playoff spot, it's so horrible, I never saw it coming.

Benfica outshined Real Madrid and got the play off spot,they deserve it. They fought a good fight, Jose Mourinho is such an experienced coach and his impact and experience shows on the game tonight, he proven to be ahead of Alvaro.

They didn't sack Xabi Alonso, but that was an agreement between the two parties. I saw that in that match Real Madrid defense was very bad also in several previous Champions League matches they always conceded well if we have to look for the cause then I can say it is the defense line. It is a shame that a team like Real Madrid has to go through the Play-off Qualification round even though previously we thought they were safe enough. By the way, for the top 8 standings we can see that the teams from the Premier League are dominating, yeah 5 teams managed to take their places there and that's one of the indications that one of them will go to the final.

[MorganaX]

I didn't watch the Real Madrid vs. Benfica match. I watched the Galatasaray vs. Manchester City match. I looked at some highlights and statistics. Benfica won overwhelmingly, dominating the game. They had 12 shots on target, while Real Madrid only managed half of that.

Real Madrid took the lead with Mbappe's goal, but what happened afterward was astonishing I couldn't have predicted Benfica's performance would be so good. What can Mbappe do alone? At most, he'll score two goals there's nothing more he can do.

This was embarrassing from the real Madrid and Benfica play, as I don't expect Real Madrid to play like the way they played. And one thing I will say is that, Real Madrid deserve the lost and to Benfica, we need to give them their flowers.
To the Madrid players I don't think it will be necessary for them to play with anger because the ref has not been siding them or is totally against them. This will be a time when they needed to play with calmness. Benfica really came to win and they totally got the win.

[Sexylizzy2813]

Arsenal is the first team to win 8 out of 8 games in the Champions League ever since the new method was introduced.
They are also the first team to win all 8 Champions League games by scoring 2+ goals in a single game.
I think they have been incredible in this league. They might actually win the Champions League before the Premier League. Right now, they are the favorites in both leagues.

These are records that comes with a trophy, winning the champions league this season with this 8/8 record would be one of the biggest achievement since the club was created, I like their style of play and how they approach the game in the UCL, they should apply this same method, this same energy to the games in the EPL and if it happens that the Gunners apply this same strength they are showing here to the EPL I believe no team will ever come close, let's forget about the team they play today, this energy they came with shows that they are ready for any team but my anger is why are they seeing much pressure in the EPL than the Champions League? We know many rival fans want the Gunners to continue in their normal perpetual failure, that's ok but they need to see it as part of the biggest task to prove many wrong and if they eventually win the league I mean the EPL title then that respect might come in but for now they should endure and keep fighting harder to win something this season, congratulations to Arteta and his boys.

[GbitG]

What a night for Real Madrid.. Two red cards in just 5 minutes of stoppage time, they must have been so aggressive and frustrated as usual, too bad I didn’t watch .

Benfica isn’t an easy team..just as Real Madrid needed the win to get an R16 seat, they also needed the win to secure a seat in the qualifiers. One is more pressing as the other can still get a chance in the qualifiers, so I wasn’t surprised.

Now Arbeloa will get more pressure from the management for losing one of the key match to staying ahead in UCL.

Hahaha that's sounds hilarious  

They were too frustrated because their coach was Arbeloa and to be honest Arbeloa know nothing except aggregation, foul, bad tempo etc..... Anyway the match were too competitive both sides made some extraordinary efforts but at the end Benfica just got superiority and establish his quality to get them pounded hard. And at the end the funny thing I have ever seen in my life is the Goalkeeper goal like he cooked them with brilliant header goal.

GOAT will always be GOAT. Jose Mourinho knew what he need to do. Arbeloa is his students and never compared student to his teacher.

Mourinho is simply Brilliant....  

[EL MOHA]

They didn't sack Xabi Alonso, but that was an agreement between the two parties. I saw that in that match Real Madrid defense was very bad also in several previous Champions League matches they always conceded well if we have to look for the cause then I can say it is the defense line. It is a shame that a team like Real Madrid has to go through the Play-off Qualification round even though previously we thought they were safe enough. By the way, for the top 8 standings we can see that the teams from the Premier League are dominating, yeah 5 teams managed to take their places there and that's one of the indications that one of them will go to the final.

It was actually a very dominant display by the premier league teams, with them and the Spanish Laliga having more clubs at this season tournament with only The premier league having all their six clubs in into next round I think we can call the league as been competitive but that doesn’t mean all or one of them will even make it to quarter final. Yes there are two that is probability that two might be at the last 8 but there is no gurantee that they will be at the final or even semi final.

As for Real Madrid I think they will just bury their heads tonight after such a bad game. Now they have actually force themselves into this round of 32 with some very strong side in it too. But that doesn’t mean anything, they can still win it from there.

[JiiBs]

This was embarrassing from the real Madrid and Benfica play, as I don't expect Real Madrid to play like the way they played. And one thing I will say is that, Real Madrid deserve the lost and to Benfica, we need to give them their flowers.
To the Madrid players I don't think it will be necessary for them to play with anger because the ref has not been siding them or is totally against them. This will be a time when they needed to play with calmness. Benfica really came to win and they totally got the win.

They were playing against a mid tier team but, with an experienced and elite manager like Mourinho. It was a resounding victory for Mourinho and his Benfica team today. I didn’t think they could pull it up with the likes of Vini Jnr and Mbappe on the other end. They managed to mess what could have been an easy win for Real Madrid real good. Starting the scoring only to have Benfica to come from behind and win the match, Real Madrid has become that much of a joke.

[Marykeller]

Arsenal is the first team to win 8 out of 8 games in the Champions League ever since the new method was introduced.
They are also the first team to win all 8 Champions League games by scoring 2+ goals in a single game.
I think they have been incredible in this league. They might actually win the Champions League before the Premier League. Right now, they are the favorites in both leagues.

Arsenal should go ahead and make a name for themselves. Where everybody is waiting for them is for them to lift the Premier League trophy, then everyone will begin to give them the respect they truly deserve, because being the first to do this and that as a team in the Champions League, and not winning it, doesn't make a difference. What makes a difference is the number of trophies the team will have in its custody at the end of the season

[Jostern]

Arsenal is the first team to win 8 out of 8 games in the Champions League ever since the new method was introduced.
They are also the first team to win all 8 Champions League games by scoring 2+ goals in a single game.
I think they have been incredible in this league. They might actually win the Champions League before the Premier League. Right now, they are the favorites in both leagues.

This record you just mentioned now, I don’t think it’s really important when it comes to the Champions League, because you don’t win the Champions League by just topping the table, everyone who qualified for the last 16 that finished 1st-8th in that table is the same thing as Arsenal finishing 1st, so I don’t think there is anything special about Arsenal finishing above everyone, they might still end up getting knockout in the next round of the Champions League, I can still remember last season Champions League, how Liverpool were flying and winning, they were excited for Topping the group stage, unfortunately for them Paris-Saint-German was struggling and went through playoffs and meet Liverpool in the Last 16 and Eliminated Liverpool on penalties.

Everyone thought Liverpool was the favorite just like you think now that Arsenal are the favorites because they Topped the Champions League Table, the knockout stage is absolutely a different ball game entirely from League Table Phase, Arsenal doesn’t have any history in the Champions League, Arsenal doesn’t look like a team that can win the Champions League, Teams like Liverpool knows how to play in the Champions League because they have the history and mentality for playing Champions League, and there are special ways of winning the Champions League, Arsenal doesn’t have what it takes to win the Champions League.

[Agbamoni]

They were playing against a mid tier team but, with an experienced and elite manager like Mourinho. It was a resounding victory for Mourinho and his Benfica team today. I didn’t think they could pull it up with the likes of Vini Jnr and Mbappe on the other end. They managed to mess what could have been an easy win for Real Madrid real good. Starting the scoring only to have Benfica to come from behind and win the match, Real Madrid has become that much of a joke.

Obviously, he wont Jose Mourinho wont forget what happened tonight in Benfica. I can recall when he told the goalkeeper to get in the box when he heard he needed one goal to qualify for the playoffs. According to him, this is not the first time the goalkeeper has made that attempt. In the last two games, it was against Porto, Trubin was very close to scoring a decisive goal. Truly, the worst night for Real Madrid, I hope they can survive the play off, because teams wont take it liley with them.

[MarjorieZimmermanGinger]

Arsenal should go ahead and make a name for themselves. Where everybody is waiting for them is for them to lift the Premier League trophy, then everyone will begin to give them the respect they truly deserve, because being the first to do this and that as a team in the Champions League, and not winning it, doesn't make a difference. What makes a difference is the number of trophies the team will have in its custody at the end of the season

Many people doubt Arsenal's ability to win the Champions League because the competition in this league is much tougher, especially given the team's failure to win the Premier League in the last three seasons despite playing very well at the start. In the group stage especially in the Champions League, Arsenal's achievements were extraordinary as they never lost. Now it will be a little more difficult entering the next round because the competition will be much more competitive and Arsenal will be expected to perform much better to reach the next round and the final.