{"id":49477,"date":"2026-10-16T16:05:58","date_gmt":"2026-10-16T22:05:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.gambyl.com\/?p=49477"},"modified":"2026-10-16T16:06:04","modified_gmt":"2026-10-16T22:06:04","slug":"champions-league-early-surprises-in-the-league-phase","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.gambyl.com\/en\/uefa-champions-league\/champions-league-early-surprises-in-the-league-phase\/","title":{"rendered":"Champions League: Early Surprises in the League Phase"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Aston Villa has the joint-best goal difference in the Champions League. Inter Milan have no points.<\/strong>

Villa is third on six points and a +7-goal difference, level with Paris Saint-Germain and Barcelona.<\/strong> They won 3-2 at Club Brugge and then beat Fenerbah\u00e7e 6-0<\/strong>.

Inter are 29th of 36.<\/strong> They lost 2-1 at Real Madrid and then lost 3-4 at home to Club Brugge<\/strong>, the same Brugge side Villa had already beaten.

And Matchday 2 produced 78 goals across two nights<\/strong>, a figure that reads like a misprint until you add the scorelines up.

Two matchdays into a competition that runs until 27 January, here is what the table actually says.

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The League Phase After Two Matchdays<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
#<\/em><\/th>Club<\/em><\/th>Pts<\/em><\/th>GF-GA<\/em><\/th>GD<\/em><\/th><\/tr><\/thead>
1<\/em><\/td>Paris Saint-Germain<\/em><\/td>6<\/em><\/td>10-3<\/em><\/td>+7<\/strong><\/em><\/td><\/tr>
2<\/em><\/td>Barcelona<\/em><\/td>6<\/em><\/td>9-2<\/em><\/td>+7<\/strong><\/em><\/td><\/tr>
3<\/em><\/td>Aston Villa<\/strong><\/em><\/td>6<\/em><\/td>9-2<\/em><\/td>+7<\/strong><\/em><\/td><\/tr>
4<\/em><\/td>VfB Stuttgart<\/strong><\/em><\/td>6<\/em><\/td>6-1<\/em><\/td>+5<\/em><\/td><\/tr>
5<\/em><\/td>Liverpool<\/em><\/td>6<\/em><\/td>8-4<\/em><\/td>+4<\/em><\/td><\/tr>
6<\/em><\/td>Sporting CP<\/em><\/td>6<\/em><\/td>5-1<\/em><\/td>+4<\/em><\/td><\/tr>
7<\/em><\/td>Arsenal<\/em><\/td>6<\/em><\/td>4-0<\/strong><\/em><\/td>+4<\/em><\/td><\/tr>
8<\/em><\/td>Real Madrid<\/em><\/td>6<\/em><\/td>6-4<\/em><\/td>+2<\/em><\/td><\/tr>
9<\/em><\/td>Real Betis<\/strong><\/em><\/td>6<\/em><\/td>6-4<\/em><\/td>+2<\/em><\/td><\/tr>
10<\/em><\/td>Bayern Munich<\/em><\/td>4<\/em><\/td>8-3<\/em><\/td>+5<\/em><\/td><\/tr>
11<\/em><\/td>Shakhtar Donetsk<\/em><\/td>4<\/em><\/td>4-2<\/em><\/td>+2<\/em><\/td><\/tr>
12<\/em><\/td>Como<\/strong><\/em><\/td>3<\/em><\/td>6-4<\/em><\/td>+2<\/em><\/td><\/tr>
13<\/em><\/td>Manchester United<\/em><\/td>3<\/em><\/td>4-2<\/em><\/td>+2<\/em><\/td><\/tr>
17<\/em><\/td>Manchester City<\/em><\/td>3<\/em><\/td>4-4<\/em><\/td>0<\/em><\/td><\/tr>
18<\/em><\/td>Borussia Dortmund<\/em><\/td>3<\/em><\/td>3-3<\/em><\/td>0<\/em><\/td><\/tr>
24<\/em><\/td>Bod\u00f8\/Glimt<\/em><\/td>3<\/em><\/td>1-5<\/em><\/td>-4<\/em><\/td><\/tr>
25<\/em><\/td>AS Roma<\/em><\/td>1<\/em><\/td>4-5<\/em><\/td>-1<\/em><\/td><\/tr>
29<\/em><\/td>Internazionale<\/strong><\/em><\/td>0<\/strong><\/em><\/td>4-6<\/em><\/td>-2<\/em><\/td><\/tr>
32<\/em><\/td>Napoli<\/strong><\/em><\/td>0<\/strong><\/em><\/td>1-4<\/em><\/td>-3<\/em><\/td><\/tr>
36<\/em><\/td>Slovan Bratislava<\/em><\/td>0<\/em><\/td>1-9<\/em><\/td>-8<\/em><\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The cut lines are what make this format brutal.The top eight go straight to the round of 16.Teams 9 to 24 are drawn into two-legged playoffs for the remaining places.The bottom twelve are eliminated before February.<\/strong>

Real Betis is ninth on six points.<\/strong> Nine points’ worth of nothing separates a direct route to the last 16 from an extra two-legged tie.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Aston Villa Are the Story Nobody Predicted<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Nine scored, two conceded, and a goal difference only par with PSG and Barcelona.<\/strong>

They opened by winning 3-2 at Club Brugge<\/strong>, a result that looked routine at the time and looks considerably better now that Brugge has gone to Milan and won. Then they put six past Fenerbah\u00e7e without reply.<\/strong>

That 6-0 is the largest winning margin in the competition so far<\/strong>, bigger than PSG’s 6-1 over Slovan Bratislava and Bayern’s 5-0 against Bod\u00f8\/Glimt.

Villa’s next two fixtures are the test: Viking at home on Wednesday, then Barcelona away on 3 November.<\/strong> First should keep the run going. The second will say whether this is real.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Stuttgart, Sporting, and Betis: Three More on Maximum Points<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

VfB Stuttgart is fourth on six points with a 6-1 goal difference.<\/strong> They beat Viking 3-1 and then won 3-0 away against Slovan Bratislava. Only Arsenal has conceded fewer.<\/strong> They host Atl\u00e9tico Madrid on Tuesday, which is the first real examination.

Sporting CP are sixth with five scored and one conceded.<\/strong> They beat Galatasaray 3-1 and then won 2-0 at Lens. Two wins, two clean-ish sheets, no fuss.<\/strong>

Real Betis are ninth, and they have done it the hard way.3-2 at Lille, then 3-2 at home to Porto<\/strong>: two single-goal wins against opponents who are now 34th and 30th respectively. Six points is six points, but the margins say they are closer to the playoff places than to the top eight.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Arsenal Have Not Conceded a Goal<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Four scores zero against. The only side in the competition yet to be breached.<\/strong>

They won 0-1 at Napoli on Matchday 1 and 3-0 against Lille on Matchday 2.<\/strong> On a matchday that produced 78 goals, Arsenal kept a second clean sheet.

Seventh place on that record is a quirk of goal difference<\/strong>: PSG, Barcelona, and Villa are all at +7 on the back of heavier scoring. Arsenal’s profile is the one most likely to survive January.<\/strong>

They are travelling to Bayern Munich on Wednesday.<\/strong> That is the fixture of the matchday after PSG-Barcelona.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Inter Milan Are the Collapse<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Zero points from two games, 29th in the table, and the manner of it matters more than the position.<\/strong>

They lost 2-1 to Real Madrid<\/strong>, which is forgivable. Then they lost 3-4 at home to Club Brugge<\/strong>, which is not.

Conceding four at the San Siro to a Belgian side that Aston Villa had already beaten is the single worst result of the league phase so far.<\/strong> Inter scored four and conceded six in two games.

They host Shakhtar Donetsk on Wednesday<\/strong>: Shakhtar being on four points and 11th. A third defeat would leave Inter needing something close to four wins from five.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Napoli Have Scored One Goal<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

0-1 at home to Arsenal, then 3-1 at Villarreal. One goal in two matches, no points, 32nd.<\/strong>

Napoli are in the bottom twelve, and the bottom twelve go out.<\/strong> They play Bod\u00f8\/Glimt at home on Tuesday (a side with three points from a 0-5 defeat and a 1-0 win) and it is already a game they cannot lose.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Manchester City Are 17th<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Won 2-0 at Porto. Lost 2-4 at home to Paris Saint-Germain.<\/strong>

Four scored, four conceded, three points, seventeenth.<\/strong> For a club whose domestic season has been dominated by the regulatory case against them, a mid-table European return is not the distraction they need.

PSG scoring four at the Etihad is the number to sit with.<\/strong> City host AEK Athens on Tuesday, which should be three points, and then travel to Leipzig.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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