The inaugural phase of a revamped Champions League featuring 36 teams concluded dramatically on Wednesday, marking a significant milestone in the tournament’s history.
The expanded format has led to numerous noteworthy statistics that encapsulate the season’s action. Firstly, the league phase comprised 144 matches this year, a considerable increase from the previous year’s total of 96 games in the old 32-team group format.
The new structure also brought about a rise in scoring, with an average of 3.27 goals per game this season, compared to last year’s average of 3.09 during the group stage.
In terms of individual performance, Robert Lewandowski from Barcelona and Serhou Guirassy of Borussia Dortmund emerged as the top scorers, each netting nine goals throughout the league phase.
Barcelona led the way offensively, scoring a remarkable 28 goals, which is six more than any other team. Notably, Manchester City, last season’s impressive scoring team, managed only 28 goals across their entire Champions League campaign, which included knockout rounds.
Liverpool’s streak of seven consecutive victories came to an end with a close 3-2 defeat at PSV Eindhoven. This setback resulted in no unbeaten teams advancing from the league phase, a stark contrast to last year’s six teams that finished their groups without a loss.
A total of 23 games in this phase were decided by a margin of four goals or more. Bayern Munich notably set a formidable precedent with their 9-2 victory over Dinamo Zagreb in the first matchday, highlighting the prevalence of lopsided results this season. In the previous year’s group stage, there were only four instances of similar margins. The new tiebreaker policy prioritizing goal difference motivated stronger teams to boost their goal tallies significantly.
Interestingly, despite the format’s expansion, no eastern European clubs made it to the knockout stages. Teams from regions such as Croatia, Czech Republic, Serbia, Slovakia, and Ukraine concluded their campaigns outside the top 24. Dinamo Zagreb came closest, finishing 25th, missing out on advancement due to goal difference even after pulling off a surprising victory against AC Milan. It’s worth noting that no eastern European team has progressed to the knockout rounds since Shakhtar Donetsk did so in the 2017-18 season.
