The group stage of the 2022-23 Champions League was completed on Thursday early this morning after 16 teams finished their last match on matchday VI. Initially, the most awaited news from the last matchday this morning was who the last two teams would win tickets to qualify for the round of 16. And that involves the fate of Italy’s top team, AC Milan in Group E.
What happened, Milan managed to qualify after a big 4-0 win over Austrian team, RB Salzburg at the San Siro. Milan passes. His status as runner-up under Chelsea, which was not overtaken. Another ticket was contested by the Ukrainian team, Shakhtar Donetsk and the German team RB Leipzig in Group F. Leipzig, who eventually qualified as runners-up, accompanied Real Madrid.
With the passage of AC Milan and RB Leipzig, it means that the quota of 16 teams that will play in the round of 16 of the 2022-23 Champions League is complete. Eight teams that qualify for the round of 16 as group winners are Group A winners Napoli, Group B winners FC Porto, Group V winners Bayern Munich, Group D winners Tottenham Hotspur, Group E winners Chelsea, Group F winners Real Madrid, Group G winners Manchester City, and Group H winners Benfica.
The eight teams that qualified for the round of 16 as runners-up, consecutively from Group A to Group H were Liverpool, Club Brugge, Inter Milan, Eintrach Frankfurt, AC Milan, RB Leipzig, Borussia Dortmund, and Paris Saint Germain aka PSG. Well, it was the name of the last club that became an unexpected surprise in Group H this morning.
In this group, the potential for surprises has actually passed because the two qualifying tickets have already belonged to the top French team, Paris Saint Germain (PSG) and the Portuguese team, Benfica. While Juventus have been sentenced to fail to qualify since last week.
Until, early this morning, PSG with a trio of Lionel Messi, Neymar, and Kylian Mbappe who was seeded would win the group, it turned out that they could only end the elimination in second place. Group winners Benfica.
It cannot be separated from the combination of results in Turin and Haifa. PSG who went to Turin to face the host Juventus, won 2-1. Mbappe scored a beautiful goal in this match. While Benfica won big 6-1 at the headquarters of Maccabi Haifa. With this victory, PSG and Benfica both have 14 points. As a rule, if two teams have the same points, then the head to head meeting of the two teams in the group phase becomes a reference.
However, head to head cannot be decisive because the two teams in two meetings drew 1-1. So, the number of goals for both teams is a reference. And it turns out, the number of goals for PSG and Benfica is also the same, 16-7 aka entering 16 goals and conceding 7 goals.
So, what made Benfica finally win the group? Is it just because the name of Benfica’s alphabet is the letter ‘B’ before PSG’s ‘P’? No. Not because of that. Reporting from uefa.com, Benfica’s position is above PSG in Group H because they are superior in the number of goals in away matches.
Benfica have scored more goals away from home than PSG. Benfica have scored 9 goals in four away games. While PSG 6 goals. And the decisive thing happened in the match this morning. For PSG, the reality of being runners-up under Benfica may be annoying. But for football connoisseurs, PSG’s status to qualify for the last 16 of the Champions League as runner-up is worthy of gratitude.
Because, we will have the possibility of big matches when the draw for the round of 16 will be held on November 7, 2022. Just for your information, the drawing rules are like this. The eight group winners will be drawn in a cross, meeting the runners-up teams. The teams that were previously in the same group in the preliminary round, will not meet again in this round of 16. Likewise, compatriot teams, will not meet each other.
If so, then PSG might be able to meet Bayern Munich, Chelsea, Real Madrid, or Manchester City. You can imagine how exciting PSG would be, such as meeting Real Madrid. Sergio Ramos, Lionel Messi and Neymar will meet Madrid. Not just because of PSG.
The potential for a big match in the last 16 of the Champions League season is increasingly open because Liverpool are also runners-up in Group A. Plus there are Inter Milan and AC Milan. Therefore, I wrote the word “PSG and friends” in the title of this article. We can imagine, Liverpool could meet Real Madrid or Bayern Munich. If he meets Bayern, Sadio Mane will reunite with his former club.
Then, AC Milan has the possibility to meet Bayern Munich, Real Madrid, Manchester City. And Inter Milan can meet Chelsea, Real Madrid or Manchester City. Because there are PSG and friends in the group of runners-up teams, it seems that the clubs who won the group this time will not feel they have the ‘privilege’ to meet good opponents in the round of 16 as usual.
Ah, the draw for the round of 16 will be thrilling. But, it will be a pleasure for football connoisseurs. Waiting for the potential for the morning final. But indeed, it is surprises like this that save football from a boring terror. This PSG and Liverpool-style surprise made the Champions League maintain its reputation as the most elite football competition in Europe.
Because, how exciting the Champions League last 16 will be if it turns out that all the top teams win the group. The big match possibilities that I wrote above, would not have happened if Liverpool and PSG had won the group. Not Napoli and Benfica. We may have to wait for the quarter-finals to be treated to a big game. So, congratulations on waiting for the potential for a big match to occur during the draw for the last 16 of the Champions League later.
ASL
