European football will have more decisive nights than this, but the new Champions League format almost ensures that the craziest of the year is the one that in 2026 has fallen this Wednesday, that of the last day of their league phase.
For history remains Anatoli Trubin’s goal in the 97th minute that gave Benfica the classification at that time while finishing off its Real Madrid romp in the rain Lisbon, but there are more examples.
To put one without leaving the Spanish league, At half-time FC Barcelona was out of the top 8 and at the end it was the only Spanish team to directly qualify for the round of 16.
But there were even more radical changes towards the end of the night. At around 10:40 p.m., With just a few minutes left to play on each field, they still maintained their privileged position Among the top 8 are Real Madrid and the current champion, PSG, that in what was left to play were advanced for the goals in other stadiums of the Chelsea and the Sporting Portugal.
He Sporting’s goal came with Athletic already defeated to break a 2-2 that left Valverde’s men out, who instead until after match time I had the classification in his pocket while he was winning.
Fully announced weeks ago was the end of the Villarreal, whose 3-0 defeat in Leverkusen condemns the penultimate place in the league, tied on a single point with bottom player Kairat Almaty.
Now in the next Friday’s draw the rivals of Madrid they can be your own Benfica o el Bodo/Glimt and that of Athletes will come out between Galatasaray and Bruges. From passing to eighthsthose of Arbeloa would be measured at Manchester City o al Sporting from Portugal and those of Simeone to Tottenham about Liverpool. He Barça waits in that round PSG, Newcastle, Monaco about Qarabag.
In an analysis by country, a glance is enough to know who has dominated this first phase: five Premier League teams are already in the round of 16 and the other, the but classified, has been Newcastle, twelfth and who also had a chance to move into the top 8 until the end of their match.
FINAL CLASSIFICATION OF THE FIRST PHASE OF THE CHAMPIONS LEAGUE 2025/2026 AS OF JANUARY 28
They go to the second round directly
1. Arsenal – 24 points (+19 goal difference)
2. Bayern Munich – 21 points (+14)
3. Liverpool – 18 points (+12)
4. Tottenham – 17 points (+10)
5. FC Barcelona – 16 points (+8)
6. Chelsea – 16 points (+7)
7. Sporting de Portugal – 16 points (+6)
8. Manchester City – 16 points (+6)
Teams that go to the playoff as seeded
9. Real Madrid – 15 points (+9)
10. Inter Milan – 15 points (+8)
11. PSG – 14 points (+10)
12. Newcastle – 14 points (+10)
13. Juventus – 13 points (+4)
14. Atlético de Madrid – 13 points (+2)
15. Atalanta – 13 points (0)
16. Bayer Leverkusen – 12 points (-1)
Rest of the teams that go to the playoffs
17. Borussia Dortmund – 11 points (+2)
18. Olympiacos – 11 points (-4)
19. Witches – 10 points (-2)
20. Reading – 10 points (-2) points (-2).
21. AS Monaco – 10 points (-6)
22. Qarabag – 10 points (-8)
23. Bodø/Glimt – 9 points (-1)
24. Benfica – 9 points (-2)
Teams that are eliminated
25. Olympique Marseille – 9 points (-3)
26. Paphos FC – 9 points (-3)
27. Union Saint Gilloise – 9 points (-9)
28. PSV Eindhoven- 8 puntos (0)
29. Athletic Club – 8 points (-5)
30. Naples – 8 points (-6)
31. FC Copenhagen – 8 points (-9)
32. Ajax – 6 points (-13)
33. Eintracht Frankfurt – 4 points (-11)
34. Slavia Prague- 3 points (-14)
35. Villarreal CF – 1 point (-13)
36. Kairat Almaty – 1 point (-15)
