UEFA Champions League 2025/26 Season

[Adbitco]

Benfica versus Real Madrid seems to be more discussed bout from yesterday. Yeah, Jose Mourinho and Benfica did a shocker bit do you know which was more stunning?! Arsenal!

I mean, Arsenal did 8 games played and won all the 8 games in the Champions League, including beating Bundesliga finest side and also Italian league side Inter Milan.
If Real Madrid did the ⁸/⁸ winnings Arsenal did, they'd be buzzing and talked more about here,  we have to give Mikel Arteta credits for being the best side in the first round of the Champions League. Now the real test relies heavily on who wins the Champions League,  they better lock in and double up their performance for what's coming.

You're funny, trust me no one will talk about it even, Real Madrid and it's fans doesn't care about having a perfect group stage record because they are aware it doesn't matter, it's just the group stages, champions league champions are more bothered about when the real competition starts which is in the knockout stages, that's when things gets serious. Only mediocre teams are excited about winning all group stage games, it's just like winning the battle and forgetting about the entire war. The only reason why the loss to Benfica is talked about this much is mainly because Real Madrid started the night in 3rd position and a draw would have still made them them to finish within the top 8 were they will be excluded from playing those 2 extra games. For someone like me, I'm not bothered about Arsenal winning all the group stage games because I know they will still be knocked out as usual and it will come to reality that in the champions league, group stage performance doesn't matter, just qualify from it at least to face the real competition.

[$crypto$]

What a games we just have yesterday, we can all agree on the Benfica win deserve to goes into the next stage, just imagine beating Real Madrid in the last round and being out of the competition just because of a goal, it was gonna be super depresant for the team, thankfully they reach a goal and what a goal it was, one of the most epic moment in Champions League for sure despite the stage.

This kind of match reconnects me with the game of football. The Benfica goalkeeper will have something to tell his grandchildren when he's old.
Anyway, aside from the dramatic way they achieved the result they were looking for, Benfica fully deserved this result: they had several chances to score throughout the match.

Benfica were neck-and-neck with Marseille --- luckily the goalkeeper's last-gasp goal saw Benfica through to the knockout stages, but it was a dramatic match and some Real Madrid players were so provoked that they got their cards in the last minute.

I didn't expect Benfica to win such an epic match because I thought Madrid would win because they have a good mentality for Champions League matches, but the match said otherwise and the victory was in favor of Benfica.

[KTChampions]

Possible opponents to face off in this season's champions league play off and the winners will be able to qualify for the rounds of 16, extra two game for these teams that finished outside the top 8. Extra games means more tiredness for them, this is a punishment for finishing out the top 8 but last season PSG who took part in the play offs were the winners of the competition and this season they find themselves in the same fate, can they actually do a repeat of what happened last season even though it will be difficult to replicate. Real Madrid will either face Bodo/Glimt or Benfica again in their own fixture and I hope they get Benfica so Benfica can knock them out. PSG will get either Monaco or Qarabag. I remember last season in the rounds of 16, PSG were also drawn against a League One team. If they draw another League One team again, will it be a sign that PSG will win the champions league again?

Do you seriously think Benfica can knock out Real Madrid in a two-legged tie? I would rate this as a 5% probability. Interestingly, if Real Madrid wins, there's a 50% chance they'll face City. For the fifth time in a row (if you only count the playoffs)? I understand that practically the same teams play in the playoffs all the time, but if this happens again, it will be tiring. It's like rewatching the same TV series every year. Incidentally, it looks like Arsenal and Bayern could also meet in the Round of 16. An interesting matchup, but it would be disappointing at such an early stage.

[Sim_card]

The Napoli squad is clearly not ready to compete in more competitions. The team has limited numbers of players who are ready to play. Even on the bench, we can see that they are very limited. So whoever the coach is, we know that the team is not in good shape at all. A storm of injuries has hit the team, and it would indeed be better for the team to focus on just one competition. although failing in the UCL would still be very painful, the club owners should learn from what happened this season. The team needs to have more quality substitute players. This way, even if the starting players get injured, the team can maintain its quality with second-string players. arsenal is an example of a team that learned from the same issues Napoli is facing this season.

I'm not surprised at the poor performance of Napoli because I never expected them to be in the round of 16. They hardly take their Champions League matches seriously, they only focus on Seria A which is what is really affecting their mentality down to their performance because why would you care less about the biggest competition. It shows that they're not good enough outside Italy.

[Taricoins]

The Napoli squad is clearly not ready to compete in more competitions. The team has limited numbers of players who are ready to play. Even on the bench, we can see that they are very limited. So whoever the coach is, we know that the team is not in good shape at all. A storm of injuries has hit the team, and it would indeed be better for the team to focus on just one competition. although failing in the UCL would still be very painful, the club owners should learn from what happened this season. The team needs to have more quality substitute players. This way, even if the starting players get injured, the team can maintain its quality with second-string players. arsenal is an example of a team that learned from the same issues Napoli is facing this season.

I'm not surprised at the poor performance of Napoli because I never expected them to be in the round of 16. They hardly take their Champions League matches seriously, they only focus on Seria A which is what is really affecting their mentality down to their performance because why would you care less about the biggest competition. It shows that they're not good enough outside Italy.

We should take some ease off Napoli, them even taking a lead against Chelsea Is something I didn't even expect, especially coming from that disgraceful 3-0 lose against Juventus, just take a look at there injury list, it has been devastating for them, there creative players like De Bruyne, Neres and Politano all off, even Anguissa, there most valuable DM was also out due to injury so they should be cut some slack.

[Hvdv]

The Napoli squad is clearly not ready to compete in more competitions. The team has limited numbers of players who are ready to play. Even on the bench, we can see that they are very limited. So whoever the coach is, we know that the team is not in good shape at all. A storm of injuries has hit the team, and it would indeed be better for the team to focus on just one competition. although failing in the UCL would still be very painful, the club owners should learn from what happened this season. The team needs to have more quality substitute players. This way, even if the starting players get injured, the team can maintain its quality with second-string players. arsenal is an example of a team that learned from the same issues Napoli is facing this season.

I'm not surprised at the poor performance of Napoli because I never expected them to be in the round of 16. They hardly take their Champions League matches seriously, they only focus on Seria A which is what is really affecting their mentality down to their performance because why would you care less about the biggest competition. It shows that they're not good enough outside Italy.

We should take some ease off Napoli, them even taking a lead against Chelsea Is something I didn't even expect, especially coming from that disgraceful 3-0 lose against Juventus, just take a look at there injury list, it has been devastating for them, there creative players like De Bruyne, Neres and Politano all off, even Anguissa, there most valuable DM was also out due to injury so they should be cut some slack.

Yes, Napoli suffered a major disadvantage at this stage due to injuries to several key players. They must be very disappointed to be eliminated. However, that's football, and anything can happen. If Napoli hadn't lost to Chelsea at home, they might have had a chance. Now they can completely focus on their goal of winning the Italian league title. Perhaps having fewer games could propel them to the top of the table in Italy.

[Sims25]

https://talkimg.com/images/2026/01/29/UEC4ew.jpeg
Possible opponents to face off in this season's champions league play off and the winners will be able to qualify for the rounds of 16, extra two game for these teams that finished outside the top 8. Extra games means more tiredness for them, this is a punishment for finishing out the top 8 but last season PSG who took part in the play offs were the winners of the competition and this season they find themselves in the same fate, can they actually do a repeat of what happened last season even though it will be difficult to replicate. Real Madrid will either face Bodo/Glimt or Benfica again in their own fixture and I hope they get Benfica so Benfica can knock them out. PSG will get either Monaco or Qarabag. I remember last season in the rounds of 16, PSG were also drawn against a League One team. If they draw another League One team again, will it be a sign that PSG will win the champions league again?

Do you seriously think Benfica can knock out Real Madrid in a two-legged tie? I would rate this as a 5% probability. Interestingly, if Real Madrid wins, there's a 50% chance they'll face City. For the fifth time in a row (if you only count the playoffs)? I understand that practically the same teams play in the playoffs all the time, but if this happens again, it will be tiring. It's like rewatching the same TV series every year. Incidentally, it looks like Arsenal and Bayern could also meet in the Round of 16. An interesting matchup, but it would be disappointing at such an early stage.

Can't wait to see that potential Arsenal vs Bayern match-up, as for Real Madrid, they have to beat Inter first before anything and I don't see that happening honestly. 

[whiteblue]

Heyy heyy let's see how Real Madrid was embarrassed by Benfica with a temporary score of 3-1, what's wrong with Real Madrid? are they no longer confident like before? or maybe there is something that I don't know in Real Madrid tonight why they lost to Benfica with a score like that?, I know maybe many are wondering, but yes Arbeloa has entered a more fierce competition room here, he must be strong, besides being strong in competing strategies with his team's enemies, he must also be strong in his ears, because there will be a lot of criticism of Real Madrid including this new coach who has only been in charge for a few weeks.

They've managed to score another goal to make it 3-2 so there's hope that they could comeback, Madrid needs to work on their defense all Benfica's goals are errors from their defence, they gave the host attackers to much space to penetrate their 18 yards box and couldn't help protect their keeper.
 Being the head coach of Real Madrid currently is a heavy task, something that Xabi Alonso couldn't handle so it's not what we expext to be easy for Arbeola, well I believe he was prepared for it that's why he agreed to take the role of a head coach after Xabi left, Real Madrid are just lucky that they're in a good position on the table.

It's now 3-2 in favour of Benfica in the game between them and Madrid, Some really interesting and shocking results coming out in tonight's games. I wasn't expecting Real to be losing, Chelsea has changed their game and they're now leading by 2-3.
Manchester city is enjoying a 2-0 lead over their opponent team Galatasaray, which I wasn't expecting based on Galatasaray's performance since this Champions League.

The result that was very unexpected by anyone in this match was the final point 4- two goals difference with Benfica and what must be regretted is that with this defeat Real Madrid had to enter the Play Off qualifying round, this is a very big loss for them because they only have a difference of 1 point with the eighth position to enter the Play Off directly, now they have to work harder to continue the Champions League, people who bet on Madrid I think they will feel deep pain from the results of this match, and what is actually underestimated is that Manchester City can successfully enter the Play Off, Manchester City must thank Real Madrid, because if Real Madrid does not lose then Manchester City does not have that chance.

[Wake Up]

Heyy heyy let's see how Real Madrid was embarrassed by Benfica with a temporary score of 3-1, what's wrong with Real Madrid? are they no longer confident like before? or maybe there is something that I don't know in Real Madrid tonight why they lost to Benfica with a score like that?, I know maybe many are wondering, but yes Arbeloa has entered a more fierce competition room here, he must be strong, besides being strong in competing strategies with his team's enemies, he must also be strong in his ears, because there will be a lot of criticism of Real Madrid including this new coach who has only been in charge for a few weeks.

They've managed to score another goal to make it 3-2 so there's hope that they could comeback, Madrid needs to work on their defense all Benfica's goals are errors from their defence, they gave the host attackers to much space to penetrate their 18 yards box and couldn't help protect their keeper.
 Being the head coach of Real Madrid currently is a heavy task, something that Xabi Alonso couldn't handle so it's not what we expext to be easy for Arbeola, well I believe he was prepared for it that's why he agreed to take the role of a head coach after Xabi left, Real Madrid are just lucky that they're in a good position on the table.

It's now 3-2 in favour of Benfica in the game between them and Madrid, Some really interesting and shocking results coming out in tonight's games. I wasn't expecting Real to be losing, Chelsea has changed their game and they're now leading by 2-3.
Manchester city is enjoying a 2-0 lead over their opponent team Galatasaray, which I wasn't expecting based on Galatasaray's performance since this Champions League.

The result that was very unexpected by anyone in this match was the final point 4- two goals difference with Benfica and what must be regretted is that with this defeat Real Madrid had to enter the Play Off qualifying round, this is a very big loss for them because they only have a difference of 1 point with the eighth position to enter the Play Off directly, now they have to work harder to continue the Champions League, people who bet on Madrid I think they will feel deep pain from the results of this match, and what is actually underestimated is that Manchester City can successfully enter the Play Off, Manchester City must thank Real Madrid, because if Real Madrid does not lose then Manchester City does not have that chance.

It was actually very difficult to predict that Real Madrid would lose this match because Benfica wasn't playing well in the Champions League. Many people naturally considered Real Madrid the favorites before the match, but Benfica later staged a magnificent comeback and had already secured the win. Furthermore, there was one more goal needed to secure qualification for the top 24 teams, and even goalkeeper Trubin joined the final attack to try and put pressure on the nine-man Real Madrid defense. That's when we saw one of the most beautiful aspects of football: the goalkeeper scored a magnificent header to secure his team's playoff spot. It was one of the most enjoyable matches I've watched recently.

[rangga28]

It was actually very difficult to predict that Real Madrid would lose this match because Benfica wasn't playing well in the Champions League. Many people naturally considered Real Madrid the favorites before the match, but Benfica later staged a magnificent comeback and had already secured the win. Furthermore, there was one more goal needed to secure qualification for the top 24 teams, and even goalkeeper Trubin joined the final attack to try and put pressure on the nine-man Real Madrid defense. That's when we saw one of the most beautiful aspects of football: the goalkeeper scored a magnificent header to secure his team's playoff spot. It was one of the most enjoyable matches I've watched recently.

That's a very common prediction and certainly understandable, as Real Madrid has a strong reputation in the Champions League, but their performance has declined drastically this season due to several internal issues.

The match was truly excellent, and Benfica were highly motivated to win, managing to close the gap with a brilliant effort. On the other hand, I also saw Mourinho's immense ambition in that match, which resulted in him crushing his former club and truly hurting Mbappé and his teammates.

[Jewan420]

It was actually very difficult to predict that Real Madrid would lose this match because Benfica wasn't playing well in the Champions League. Many people naturally considered Real Madrid the favorites before the match, but Benfica later staged a magnificent comeback and had already secured the win. Furthermore, there was one more goal needed to secure qualification for the top 24 teams, and even goalkeeper Trubin joined the final attack to try and put pressure on the nine-man Real Madrid defense. That's when we saw one of the most beautiful aspects of football: the goalkeeper scored a magnificent header to secure his team's playoff spot. It was one of the most enjoyable matches I've watched recently.

This was probably the best Champions League match so far. I enjoyed the match and felt a little relieved to see Real Madrid's helplessness at the end. Because Benfica's great performance in that match made me support them, and even their efforts to secure the play-offs made me support them even more. I was especially lucky to see the last goal in the last minute, which allowed Benfica to continue their fight in the Champions League. The team performance was behind the win, but I have to praise goalkeeper Anatoliy Trubin for making it to the top 24, he was the only hero.

[Mustang Shelby]

It was actually very difficult to predict that Real Madrid would lose this match because Benfica wasn't playing well in the Champions League. Many people naturally considered Real Madrid the favorites before the match, but Benfica later staged a magnificent comeback and had already secured the win. Furthermore, there was one more goal needed to secure qualification for the top 24 teams, and even goalkeeper Trubin joined the final attack to try and put pressure on the nine-man Real Madrid defense. That's when we saw one of the most beautiful aspects of football: the goalkeeper scored a magnificent header to secure his team's playoff spot. It was one of the most enjoyable matches I've watched recently.

This was probably the best Champions League match so far. I enjoyed the match and felt a little relieved to see Real Madrid's helplessness at the end. Because Benfica's great performance in that match made me support them, and even their efforts to secure the play-offs made me support them even more. I was especially lucky to see the last goal in the last minute, which allowed Benfica to continue their fight in the Champions League. The team performance was behind the win, but I have to praise goalkeeper Anatoliy Trubin for making it to the top 24, he was the only hero.

From Trubin's perspective, it was an unforgettable night. Scoring against a team like Real Madrid is every striker's dream. But goalkeepers don't even dream of it. Trubin achieved something that goalkeepers wouldn't even dream of, and I think he experienced some of the most enjoyable moments of his football career. He probably won't experience anything more exciting than that. As for Benfica, they played a game that deserved the win against Real Madrid, and I can say they deserved to be in the playoffs.

[hyudien]

It was very satisfying to see some of the matches last night, there were quite a few surprises and epic matches. But there were 3 picks for the worst matches for me, even though I only saw snippets of them, I was really disappointed with Juventus, Dortmund and Atalanta. Not only were Juve unable to score a single goal, they even only created 4 shot opportunities, same with Dortmund, while Atalanta, wasted too many chances. 3 teams that ruined my bet.

[Jaycoinz]

It was very satisfying to see some of the matches last night, there were quite a few surprises and epic matches. But there were 3 picks for the worst matches for me, even though I only saw snippets of them, I was really disappointed with Juventus, Dortmund and Atalanta. Not only were Juve unable to score a single goal, they even only created 4 shot opportunities, same with Dortmund, while Atalanta, wasted too many chances. 3 teams that ruined my bet.

Those games were tight in terms of the goal aspect but other teams filled up for that space as we saw a five hall thriller in the benfica vs Real Madrid game and also a very late dramatic end to the game for me that game was the most interesting game of the night as benfica scored their last goal through a late header from the player in the field that no one would have guessed would score the goal. Best game of the game for me is most definitely this game and it didn't disappoint at all.

[tygeade]

Obviously everyone will be talking about the last minute goal by Trupin, and they are fully right because that is the fun part of this new way of UCL, and once more I can easily say that this new method of UCL is far greater than before, it's really fun. But, I would like to also point out one more thing that not many people are talking about, Arsenal ended up with 8 wins out of 8 games, and that is just purely insane. Not because there weren't teams that did 6/6 before, but they faced easier teams.

Arsenal faced big teams and still managed to do this, they were great all group stage long and that shows power for the rest of the year as well. They have great depth, and they have great players and they are doing a wonderful job.

[mv1986]

You're funny, trust me no one will talk about it even, Real Madrid and it's fans doesn't care about having a perfect group stage record because they are aware it doesn't matter, it's just the group stages, champions league champions are more bothered about when the real competition starts which is in the knockout stages, that's when things gets serious. Only mediocre teams are excited about winning all group stage games, it's just like winning the battle and forgetting about the entire war. The only reason why the loss to Benfica is talked about this much is mainly because Real Madrid started the night in 3rd position and a draw would have still made them them to finish within the top 8 were they will be excluded from playing those 2 extra games. For someone like me, I'm not bothered about Arsenal winning all the group stage games because I know they will still be knocked out as usual and it will come to reality that in the champions league, group stage performance doesn't matter, just qualify from it at least to face the real competition.

Why would you go so bonkers about the point you are trying to make here? Let's go through the facts.

Real Madrid missed the knockout stage for now and has to go through playoffs. Real Madrid's potential opponents for the playoffs are Bodo/Glimt and Benfica Lisbon. This leads me to my first question: why did Real Madrid miss the knockout stages?

Only mediocre teams are excited about winning all group stage games

Arsenal is mediocre. Bayern tried and therefore is mediocre. Barcelona tried and therefore is mediocre. Like what the fuck, what is this sentence even? Top teams want to win it all even during times when they try to manage their physical resources. Your sentence is so dumb, if phrase the counter argument as per your logic, the best teams would always to lose a game.

If Benfica is up against Real Madrid and they kick Real Madrid out, would you reconsider

group stage performance doesn't matter

? You could use so much more logic in your statements because I think deep inside you, you have the ability to write posts that are packed with less nonsense.

[Spaceman1000$]

On Madrid's performance this season i am getting confused as i can't tell why they are going through consistency issues even with there squad qualities and records yet they still come back with unpredictable results at last. Although last season they narrowly qualified from the first quarter of the tournament but did perfectly well at last maybe they are looking towards getting same record this season.

What is happening to real Madrid is a clear indication that you need more than just quality, a team that is ready to play together to achieve the set goal of the club and not one that is allowing the fame and title they have won in the past affect them at present. of cause, being Madrid alone is a responsibility on it own but that being said, what makes them a big teams is when they are able to do well in the midst of such responsibility. for real, Madrid has not performed as expected. imagine that they are not even part of the team that has qualified yet for the knockout phase of the tournament. if they continue performing this poorly, teams will start looking down on them and it will just be their old trophies that they can hold on to as what they can brag about.

from what we have seen with the teams that have qualified into the round of sixteen of the champions league it is a clear indication that the English teams are way stronger than teams from other league.

The Management of Real Madrid should be very careful, they should understand that clubs do go through trial period, and they shouldn't rush to approach winning ways. I like the way the management of Manchester City are handling Pep Guardiola, they understand that this is not a good period for them, yet they've given Guardiola ample time to recover, believing that he would return to winning ways once he gets his acts right, but i believe Real Madrid doesn't have such patience for a coach, and they just want to come back to winning ways without proper fixing.

[snipie]

Real Madrid missed the knockout stage for now and has to go through playoffs. Real Madrid's potential opponents for the playoffs are Bodo/Glimt and Benfica Lisbon. This leads me to my first question: why did Real Madrid miss the knockout stages?

Because they are unstable and weak. Because they lost the service of their main coach, Xabi Alonso, and the new one, Arbiola, just came in the middle of the mess and he cannot fix the team. They are trying now to pick Unai Emery from Aston Villa..

Only mediocre teams are excited about winning all group stage games

Arsenal is mediocre. Bayern tried and therefore is mediocre. Barcelona tried and therefore is mediocre. Like what the fuck, what is this sentence even?

I was wondering the same. What does this mean? Real Madrid is the real mediocre team here because that defeat that happened yesterday was ridiculous. They were knocked by one of the weakest teams in this competition. Benfica failed in so many matches against weak teams and successfully humiliated Real Madrid.

[whiteblue]

The result that was very unexpected by anyone in this match was the final point 4- two goals difference with Benfica and what must be regretted is that with this defeat Real Madrid had to enter the Play Off qualifying round, this is a very big loss for them because they only have a difference of 1 point with the eighth position to enter the Play Off directly, now they have to work harder to continue the Champions League, people who bet on Madrid I think they will feel deep pain from the results of this match, and what is actually underestimated is that Manchester City can successfully enter the Play Off, Manchester City must thank Real Madrid, because if Real Madrid does not lose then Manchester City does not have that chance.

It was actually very difficult to predict that Real Madrid would lose this match because Benfica wasn't playing well in the Champions League. Many people naturally considered Real Madrid the favorites before the match, but Benfica later staged a magnificent comeback and had already secured the win. Furthermore, there was one more goal needed to secure qualification for the top 24 teams, and even goalkeeper Trubin joined the final attack to try and put pressure on the nine-man Real Madrid defense. That's when we saw one of the most beautiful aspects of football: the goalkeeper scored a magnificent header to secure his team's playoff spot. It was one of the most enjoyable matches I've watched recently.

A goalkeeper who managed to score a goal in the Benfica vs Real Madrid match became a big conversation because he used his header to score a goal, he dared to come forward because he got orders from the coach, Trubin has a very good height so he has his chances in this match, which in my opinion is also a good guess for him for this match.
Real Madrid brought false hopes for their fans, more precisely they lost the strategy they built, if we talk honestly from the depth of Benfica players are far below Real Madrid.

[Adams0001]

Those games were tight in terms of the goal aspect but other teams filled up for that space as we saw a five hall thriller in the benfica vs Real Madrid game and also a very late dramatic end to the game for me that game was the most interesting game of the night as benfica scored their last goal through a late header from the player in the field that no one would have guessed would score the goal. Best game of the game for me is most definitely this game and it didn't disappoint at all.

Sometimes if I see Real Madrid lose against benfica I will says Real Madrid leave them so that they can get the opportunity to qualify to next round because they really need the winning more then Real Madrid and they way they start performing very great in the first half have noticed that he will be difficult if they didn’t win Madrid but I see mbappe scoring first I think Madrid will achieve the three point or draw the match.

Benfica really do well to win the match and they get the chance to win. Since I so Madrid have getting a lot of card and red card I see they can’t get the three point anymore in the match. They should just try and win there playoffs game and get the opportunity to qualify for the next round.