In the early morning of November 3, in the final round of the Champions League group stage, Ligue 1 giants Paris defeated Bianconeri Juventus 2-1 away to advance to the Champions League knockout round with an unbeaten record of 4 wins and 2 draws. Mbappe surpassed Messi as the youngest player to score 40 goals in the Champions League, and Messi, who has collected assists, has also reached 12 goals and 14 assists this season, surpassing Haaland to become the most involved player in the five major leagues this season.
However, even so, Paris were very depressed, because they were not the first in the group with an unbeaten record. Portuguese Premier League giants Benfica beat Maccabi Haifa 6-1 away in this round, also winning four and drawing two for 14 minutes, and like Paris, they scored 16 goals and conceded seven. For the first time in the history of the Champions League, the number of points, goal difference and even goals conceded are exactly the same. In the end, the two teams were divided by the number of away goals, with Benfica scoring nine goals away, beating Paris to six goals and ranking first in the group. This time, the star-studded Paris is completely out of play.
As a consequence of finishing second in the group, Paris were listed as non-seeded teams in the subsequent knockout draw, and their potential opponents were the eight seeded teams that finished first in the group. According to the rules, Benfica, who are in the same group in the group stage, will not be drawn with the Grand Paris, and the remaining seven teams will have the same chance of meeting the Grand Paris. Of the seven teams, in addition to Porto, the remaining six are from the five major leagues: Napoli, Bayern, Tottenham Hotspur, Chelsea, Real Madrid and Manchester City.
Real Madrid are the defending champions, and it was they who held Paris out of the quarter-finals with a stunning comeback last season. Manchester City reached the last four last season, winning and losing the group stage with Greater Paris. But earlier in the 2020/21 season, they reached the final of the semi-final double-win in Greater Paris. In addition, Bayern and Chelsea have both won the Champions League in recent seasons, and Napoli have been in explosive form this season, and even Tottenham, who finally finished first in the group, can cause great trouble for Paris in the two-legged knockout round.
But for Greater Paris, the biggest fear is UEFA revitalization. Last season's Champions League knockout draw saw a super oolong, and the two major principles of avoiding the same league in the same group were not observed. In the midst of doubts, UEFA announced a new draw, and as a result, Paris was stuck with Real Madrid, and then there was a super reversal at the Bernabeu, and Messi was booed by the home fans after returning to Paris.
Now, Paris have put themselves in second place in the group, and if UEFA continues to rehabilitate, they are likely to encounter Real Madrid, Bayern or Manchester City early and stage a strong firefight. This kind of thing, UEFA can really do it.