Hello Rank Squad!

It's time for your final Champions League Takeaway of the League Stage for 2025/26, with the 36 team battle culminating in a blitz of chaos and craziness, eliminations and ecstasy, in an 18-game bonanza that delivered more drama than we thought possible.

In Lisbon, Jose Mourinho downed his protege Alvaro Arbeloa and former club Real Madrid, with a last minute headed goal from the Benfica goalkeeper sending them through to the Playoff stages, whilst Real Madrid slipped out of the top eight; meaning they could meet again in just a couple of weeks time.

In Paris, Newcastle came from behind to hold PSG, nearly break Parisian hearts, and end up dooming both sides to a stint back in the chaos of the Playoffs, in a game where the momentum swung wildly between both sides with the sound of the half time whistle.

In Naples, Chelsea came from behind to ruin the dreams of former manager Antonio Conte and Napoli thanks to a João Pedro brace, despite the magical storyline of local lad Antonio Vergara scoring his first goal for his boyhood club...after doing a Maradona spin at the Maradona. Poetry and pain.

In Bilbao, Sporting ruined Athletic's fun with a last minute dagger from Alisson Santos - the Brazilian boy beating the Basques in their backyard - and in the process sent themselves into the Last 16, finishing ahead of Manchester City, Real Madrid, PSG, Inter and a whole host more. Not bad for a side who lost their star striker and superstar manager in the last year and half or so.

And that's just four games from a cast of 18, plenty of which threw up huge storylines of their own. Liverpool hit six, Arsenal made it eight from eight, Spurs continued their Jekyll and Hyde form from domestic to European matters, Barcelona did some chaos, Atleti lost at home to Glimt, Brugge battered Marseille, Pafos scored the goal of the night, Villarreal were a joke, and there was plenty more besides. We break it all down.

It's Ranks!

And remember, if you’d like more from the Rank Squad, including extra podcasts every Monday and Friday (including our weekly Postbox taking a look at the whole weekend of football) and access to our brilliant Discord community, then why not join us here on Patreon?

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Hello Rank Squad!

It's the belated second Champions League Takeaway of the week, looking back at the games from Wednesday night, as well as taking a step back to see what the League Table means after seven matchdays - examining the dominance of the Premier League teams across the competition's higher ranks and also how that might play out in the knockout stages.

It's Ranks!

And remember, if you’d like more from the Rank Squad, including extra podcasts every Monday and Friday (including our weekly Postbox taking a look at the whole weekend of football) and access to our brilliant Discord community, then why not join us here on Patreon?

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Hello Rank Squad!

It's the first Champions League Takeaway of the week, looking back at Tuesday's action from the seventh Matchday of the League stage. We start at San Siro, where Arsenal made it seven wins from seven and guarantee themselves a top two spot in the competition with a very impressive 3-1 win over Inter; before heading to the Arctic Circle, where Manchester City fell to a shock 3-1 defeat to Bodø/Glimt, who put in a performance for the ages to down Pep's reeling charges.

In Part Two we head to the Bernabeu, where Real Madrid hammered Monaco 6-1 with a special show from Vini Jr to abate the crowd who had been baying for blood at the weekend; and also to North London, where Spurs gave Thomas Frank a stay of execution with perhaps their best performance under him as they beat Borussia Dortmund 2-0.

In the final part, we round up all the rest of the action - Sporting CP picked up a famous victory over reigning European Champions PSG with a smash and grab in Lisbon; Villarreal's dreadful run in the competition carried on with a 2-1 loss to equally struggling Ajax; Club Brugge and Olympiacos kept their playoff hopes alive with wins over Kairat Almaty and Bayer Leverkusen respectively; and Napoli drew 1-1 with 10-man Copenhagen as their campaign teeters on the edge of failure.

It's Ranks!

And remember, if you’d like more from the Rank Squad, including extra podcasts every Monday and Friday (including our weekly Postbox taking a look at the whole weekend of football) and access to our brilliant Discord community, then why not join us here on Patreon?

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.