The first season of the new table of 36 teams from the UEFA Champions League was built Wednesday evening at a crescendo with all the last games that will start at the same time – and he delivered the drama and the chaos of which we have envy.
A large part of the attention, of course, came across the variable fortune of the big cannons: Manchester City entered the Top 24, Paris Saint-Germain needed a victory to be certain of the qualifications, while the AC Milan fell without ceremony of the top eight with a 2 -1 defeat against Dinamo Zagreb.
But for each upperformant high level team, an outsider grabs its moment and taking its place. And during this phase, Aston Villa, Lille, Brest, Celtic and Club Brugge certainly accessed when they all obtained unexpected investments in the next round.
There are common themes among the teams that go beyond expectations: they have all benefited from the more egalitarian perspectives of the new format on the devices, they all had a particularly spectacular result which changed their perspectives, and almost all can thank their guards for goal for some really sensational performances.
Lille
Finish top 8
Which led their success: a brilliant goalkeeper, flourishing young stars and Jonathan David penalties
Lille fought tooth and nails to enter the phase of the Champions League group, counting on a penalty of the 118th minute of Jonathan David to beat Fenerbahce during the third qualification round, then passing in front of Slavia Prague 3-2 on aggregation to make the league phase. The range of emotions that these players and the fans had known even before they confirmed that their place in the competition itself was remarkable.
Lille started badly, falling 2-0 against the sports CP in a series of four consecutive defeats all competitions. It was therefore a surprise for everyone when they tightened and rightly deserved the Real Madrid 1-0 in the second match; Then was a shock squarely when a Young XI was heavily turned to play Atlético Madrid returned with a 3-1 victory.
David marked a penalty in each of these matches, which has become a clear theme of their campaign in the Champions League, but it is important which does not distract another important theme: the daring decision of Bruno Génésio to trust young people on the biggest scene. Ayyoub Bouaddi Played against Real Madrid at his 17th birthday, three of the starters in Atleti were 20 years old or under 20 years old and 20 years old NGAL’AYEL MUKAU was the man of the match with two goals in victory against Bologna. Sub-cut all this Lucas ChevalierExcellence between the sticks. The 23 -year -old is one of the best young guards in Europe and has delivered great performances.
Opta gave Lille just 33% chance of reaching the first eight before the last night, but by beating Feyenoord 6-1 in a bizarre game which had two its own goals by the same player, GERNOT TRAUNERallowed them to go beyond AC Milan and Atalanta.
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Aston Villa
Finish top 8
Which led their success: a famous victory of Bayern, Jhon Durán Wondergoals and Morgan Rogers“ Season at the rupture
This is the first Aston Villa campaign in the Champions League for 42 years and although the Premier League teams should occur strongly in Europe, a finish greater than eight has never been seriously spoken before the start of competition. But three consecutive victories to start, including a famous 1-0 victory against Bayern Munich, changed expectations and paved the way for success.
These first three performances were very different from the next five – they came at a time when Villa played confident football, so the young boys and Bologna were dismantled, while Bayern was seen thanks to an incredible grain, to a determination And to a Wondergoal by Jhon Durán. Morgan Rogers also exploded on the European scene, while his style of direct dribbling separated the teams.
From there, things have become more sticky, and at the end of the villa did enough, overcoming weird moments to qualify. During their trips to Monaco and Club Brugge, they had trouble. And in Brugge, Tyrone Mings I picked up the ball in his own box with a goal (causing the penalty that won the match). Leipzig’s penultimate day, they played exhilarating but fragile football to win 3-2.
This left an essential home fight with Celtic on a last day that ended up an emotional carnival. They went 2-0, were returned to 2-2, hit the post, had an erased shot from the line and missed a penalty on the way to a possible 4-2 victory, with Rogers ending a lagged hat trick To seal it.
Break
A comfortable top-24 finish
Which has led their success: to overcome injuries, Masterclasses of counterattack and heroic goalkeeper
Brest finished 14th in Ligue 1 in 2022-2010, so for them are found in the Champions League just over a year later is a remarkable realization in itself. The conservative target entering the competition was to be simply competitive, but they ended up qualifying comfortably for the playoffs and were even in the running to finish in the first eight in the last week of play.
They did it despite the fact of not being able to strengthen considerably during the summer window (the situation of the income from the broadcasting of Ligue 1 assigned all the Paris Saint-Germain bar teams), not playing At home matches in their own stadium (it is not UEFA standard) and they also lost two of the brilliant stars of last season – Pierre Lees-Melou And Bradley LOCKO – In injury.
Brest could have, and should probably collapse, but their ability to overcome these setbacks and to intensify collectively was immense. Their gaming plan was to meterer the attacks of attack and couples with the rhythm – a secular tactic that worked perfectly. The man who made this possible was the goalkeeper Marco BizotWho organized a handful of exceptional performance to keep them in the games and allow the strategy to play (if you look at the strengths, you can hear the crowd while singing “Bizot Bizot! Bizot!” After big stops.)
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CELTIC
A comfortable top-24 finish
What led their success: Peak Kasper SchmeichelBeat the Pot 4 teams and that night against RB Leipzig
Celtic is a European domestic name with more historical success at this level than the vast majority of clubs, but this last decade has represented thin choices for them in the Champions League. The last time they reached the last stages of the competition was 2013; Since then, these are many group finishes or qualification stadium eliminations. Thus, although the goal posts were a little moved – enlarged, you could say, since eight other teams now qualify that before – accumulating 12 points is proof that they have arrived and changed the story this year, whatever the format.
The start of the Celtic tournament was wild: they beat Slovan Bratislava 5-1, then lost against Borussia Dortmund 7-1. From there, however, they settled in a groove to be difficult to beat, based on goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel, who struck the high level shape.
Then came a magic night against RB Leipzig, when a Celtic winger Nicolas Gerrit Kühn marked twice in a 3-1 victory, Inviting the German newspaper Bild In an existential crisis, directing the amazed title: “The unnamed German embarrasses Leipzig!” (Which is strange, since he spent three years in Leipzig from 2015 to 2018.)
Schmeichel had time for another great evening at Villa Park, where he had a multitude of magnificent stops to make things nervous for Aston Villa, making an incredible phase of individual league.
Club brugge
Tightened in the playoffs
Which led their success: consistency of the selection, a little luck and Hans VanakenCalm
Make no mistake, the Brugge club is not foreigners in the Champions League; They played more than 100 games in this tournament and have been a fairly consistent presence since 2015. But they rarely seemed competitive and difficult to manage.
The secret of their power lies in the consistency of the selection of their team: six players began the eight league phase matches, while four others started all except one. But for a red card at Raphael Onyedika and a January transfer release for Andreas Skov OlsenThey would be very close to a complete 100% record with the same 11 players.
It is therefore not surprising that Brugge was able to dig and defend himself as a well perceived army unit, then get on the counter and do damage. Hans Vanaken, their captain and their heart rate in the midfield, played brilliantly, constantly choosing the right pass at the right time to guarantee the creation of chances.
His goal was to move forward Christos Tzolis In the match as often as possible and although it has only marked once in eight games, it was an animated presence in the absence of an appropriate goal No. 9.
Finally, it would be negligent to talk about the trip of the Brugge club without accepting that they have benefited from a little luck along the way. They beat villa 1-0 thanks to this incredibly strange penalty; And Celtic Cameron Carter-Vickers scored the strangest goal of the league phase, trying a simple pass to Schmeichel, but by guiding rather in his own net, in a match which finished 1-1.
