In the early morning of December 13, Beijing time, the final round of the Champions League group stage officially began. In the 4 groups of Group A-D, all matches have been completed, and each team has also given it their all. Overall, the game was a long-awaited affair with teams performing in different ways, with some teams unfortunately not getting the results they wanted, which is the norm in football. In Group A, Manchester United suffered a double defeat from Bayern. Manchester United's qualification situation is very tough, and they will have to beat Bayern Munich while relying on the results of the matches in Copenhagen and Galatasaray. However, United were sluggish from the start of the game and did not pose any effective threat to Manuel Neuer.
Bayern, meanwhile, used a 'fishing' tactic that kept time going until Coman scored a goal on 70 minutes, which ended in a 1-0 defeat that left United out of the Champions League round of 16 and a Europa League play-off. Manchester United have a record of 1 win, 1 draw and 4 losses, scoring 12 goals and conceding 15 goals, and are bottom of the group with 4 points. This means that Manchester United will say goodbye to European competition this season early and can only focus on domestic competitions. Manchester United became the fourth Premier League team to finish bottom of the Champions League group, and the Reds have been out of the group in four of their last nine appearances in the Champions League, which has also been a disappointment. In Group B, Arsenal have already secured top spot in the group after a big home win over Lens in the previous round, and the final round away to PSV Eindhoven was also full of rotation.
In the first half, Nketiah latched on to Nelson's pass and scored the first goal of the game. Although PSV Eindhoven equalised early in the second half through Feltsen, the result of the game did not have any impact on the outcome of the group. In the end, Arsenal and PSV Eindhoven each got one point each to qualify from the group, while Arsenal finished first, avoiding Bayern Munich and Real Madrid. In Group C, Manchester City beat Porto 2-0 away to secure top spot in the group. In the game, Manchester City had an absolute advantage, held absolute dominance on the field, and finally won the game smoothly. The result allowed Manchester City to qualify for the last 16 of the Champions League. In Group D, Liverpool beat Ajax 3-1 away to advance to the last 16 of the Champions League.
In the game, Liverpool were in excellent form, with Mohamed Salah, Sadio Mane and Gomez scoring three goals in quick succession to help the team win. Although Ajax resisted for a while in the game, they were ultimately unable to stop Liverpool's attack. Liverpool eventually qualified as group winners, while Ajax missed out on the knockout stages of the Champions League. Overall, the final round of the Champions League group stage was a long-awaited affair and the teams gave their best to show their quality. While some teams unfortunately fail to get the results they want, this is the norm in football. I hope these teams can continue to play at a high level in future competitions and bring more exciting games to the fans. Recently, the final round of the Champions League group stage has finally ended, and the qualification lists of 32 teams have been announced.
In Group C, Real Madrid became the only team to win all of their six games, while Napoli also qualified for the knockout rounds. However, Inter Milan in Group D unfortunately missed out on top of the group and became one of the teams that could face a big team in the knockout rounds. In the final round of Group C, Real Madrid faced a strong block from Union Berlin. Although Luka Modric missed a penalty, Joselu scored twice with back-to-back headers in the second half to help Real Madrid complete the comeback. In the end, Bellingham's stunning goal also allowed Real Madrid to defeat Union Berlin with a score of 3:2, becoming the only team to win all of them in the group stage and advance. Sevilla, meanwhile, are out of the tournament in this round.
Although Sergio Ramos equalised at one point, Lens' Firmini struck in the 96th minute to make it 2-1 for Sevilla. In this way, Roma and Liverpool in the Europa League are also relieved, because Sevilla have too much experience in the European arena. In Group D, although Inter Milan locked in the qualification in advance, they ultimately missed the first place in the group. Inter drew twice in the two legs against Real Sociedad and the goal difference disadvantage also cost them the top spot in the group. Despite this, Inter are still a very strong team and no opponent in the knockout rounds can easily underestimate their quality. In conclusion, the end of the Champions League group stage marks the beginning of the knockout rounds. In the next matches, each team will do their best to win and fight for their team honor.
I believe that this football feast will definitely bring countless surprises and touches to the fans. The dust has settled on the 14 places in the knockout stages of the Champions League, and the road to qualification for each team presents a different story. 5 teams in La Liga participated, including Barcelona, Atletico Madrid, Real Madrid, and Valencia, all of which advanced, which once again verified the strength of the La Liga giants. Serie A and Bundesliga each have three teams and the Premier League has two places, which also shows that the competitive landscape of Europe's powerhouses is changing. Among them, Napoli in Serie A successfully advanced with a score of 2-1 in the life-and-death match with Paris Saint-Germain, while Bayern Munich in the Bundesliga also easily defeated Tottenham Hotspur 3-1 and successfully advanced to the next round. The remaining two spots will also be in Group F with Paris Saint-Germain, AC Milan and Newcastleas well as Group H between Porto and Shakhtar Donetsk.
At the moment, Grand Paris and Porto are leading their respective groups and only need to win their next game to advance comfortably. AC Milan and Newcastle, on the other hand, need to win in the final round and hope that PSG will lose to have a chance of progressing to the next round. Shakhtar Donetsk will need to beat Porto in the final round to have a chance of reaching the knockout rounds. The Champions League knockout stages are as eye-catching as ever, with every game full of fierce competition and exciting moments. Fans are looking forward to the next knockout round, and even more to the teams they support can make new history and legends in the competition.