Champions League: PSG on right track despite finishing second in group
The group stage of the 2022-23 UEFA Champions League is complete after Wednesday's final six first round contests, with the draw for the 16 knockout stage-bound clubs — AC Milan and RB Leipzig were the last two teams to secure their spots — set for Monday.
Here are five quick thoughts following Match Day 6.
Is this finally Paris Saint-Germain's year?
It's hard to know what things will look like in the new year, with the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar to be played between now and then. Still, as of today, it's hard not to like PSG's chances — even after Benfica edged them on away goals Wednesday to win Group H.
While defensive questions linger for the Parisians, the club's murderer's row of front line has been all but unstoppable for months. As out of sorts as Kylian Mbappe, Lionel Messi and Neymar looked at times during Messi's debut season in 2021-22, this year they're operating almost as one. And each is still a match winner in his own right, with Mbappe's brilliant solo goal in Tuesday's 2-1 victory over Juventus a timely reminder:
How PSG's three-headed attacking monster comes out of the World Cup bears watching. Messi is 35. Neymar turns 31 in February. The longest season in European history will be draining mentally as well as physically. The draw matters, too; it's possible that PSG will end up kicking themselves for missing out on a second round seed at the final hurdle. If PSG is performing in the spring the way they have been lately, though, look out.
Milan, Leipzig make no mistake
All AC Milan had to do Wednesday to guarantee a knockout stage invite to the second was not lose to FC Salzburg. Not leaving anything to chance, the Rossoneri dismantled the Austrians 4-0 at the San Siro. Thirty-six-year-old Olivier Giroud was the star man, scoring the opener, setting up the hosts' second with a clever header and ending any chance of a comeback when made it 3-0 early in the second half:
Leipzig's path to the knockout stage was rockier; they had to go to neutral ground in Poland to play the sentimental favorite, Ukraine's Shakhtar Donetsk, which still had a chance of a top-two finish in Group F.
Yet like Milan, the Germans rolled to a 4-0 victory to reach the last 16 for the third time in four seasons. They're also one of four Bundesliga teams to advance.
Against the odds, Tottenham finishes on top
Spurs' group stage rollercoaster ended Tuesday the same way it started on Sept. 7 – with an important win over French side Marseille. In between was plenty of drama for the London club, which was soundly beaten by Sporting Lisbon in their second game and held to a point by the Portuguese again last week.
That set up a thrilling finale, in which Tottenham waited until the fifth minute of second half stoppage time to score the winner via Pierre-Emile Højbjerg. The three points were enough for Spurs to leapfrog Eintracht Frankfurt — which came from behind to beat Sporting 2-1 in Lisbon Tuesday — and claim the Group B title. Third place Sporting actually sat atop the quartet halfway through Tuesday's match. Instead, they were relegated to the Europa League while Marseille, which was also 45 minutes from advancing after Chancel Mbemba gave them the lead on just before halftime, finished last.
Spurs' passage to the knockout stage should move Antonio Conte's side to add reinforcements during the January transfer window, especially after Son Heung-min suffered a fractured orbital bone Tuesday that will require surgery. Whether it's enough to return to the final — they were runners-up to Liverpool in 2019 — remains to be seen.
Liverpool returns the favor against Napoli
With the Reds and Napoli already qualified for the second round, Tuesday's meeting on Merseyside was all about pride. Liverpool's pride. Jurgen Klopp's team desperately needed a win after losing consecutive Premier League matches to teams in the relegation zone.
That it was Napoli they happened to be up against Tuesday made the need for a good performance all the more important. The Italians have been lights out all year both in Serie A and in the Champions League, in which they look like genuine trophy contenders. The Neapolitans smashed the Reds in both teams' first match back in September, a 4-1 win that could've been more one-sided.
In truth, Liverpool weren't great in the rematch. It looked like they'd fallen behind in the second half before VAR came to their rescue. But Mohamed Salah — who else? — broke the scoreless deadlock with five minutes to play, and Darwin Núñez sealed a victory that snapped Napoli's perfect record in stoppage time. How the Reds did it is secondary, though. The question now is what opponent they'll face in the round of 16, and what type of form they'll be in when that two-leg series begins in February.
Don't sleep on Bayern Munich
What a silly thing to say about a six-time champ and the lone team (of 32) to finish the first half of this year's competition a perfect 6-0, right? Nonetheless, when you talk title favorites, Manchester City, PSG and defending champs Real Madrid probably come to mind before the Bavarians.
It's understandable. Bayern's utter domination of the Bundesliga over the last decade has rendered Germany's top flight a bore. Julian Nagelsmann's squad has been even more ruthlessly efficient in the Champions League this season despite being drawn into the group of death alongside Barcelona and Inter Milan — teams with three European titles between them since 2010. By ruthlessly brushing aside Inter 2-0 on Tuesday, they showed what could lie ahead in the new year.
Much will depend on the draw, of course. But Bayern's the real deal, the truth, a foe none of the remaining 15 teams will want any part of over a two-goal, total goal series in the round of 16 or beyond. While they aren't the sexy pick to win it all, don't be surprised if it's Nagelsmann's side standing alone after the June 10 final in Istanbul.
Doug McIntyre is a soccer writer for FOX Sports. Before joining FOX Sports in 2021, he was a staff writer with ESPN and Yahoo Sports and he has covered United States men’s and women’s national teams at multiple FIFA World Cups. Follow him on Twitter @ByDougMcIntyre.
