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The group stage matches of the UEFA Champions League 2017-18 concluded last week. All the six matchdays had quite a few thrills and spills and as usual, the Champions League stood up to its tag of the most elite competition in Europe.
Follow the draw live: Catch UEFA Champions League draw LIVE
There were a few routine results, but the group stage did have its fair share of shocks. Here are the talking points from the recently group stages:
#5 Shock exits
Few elite teams failed to meet the level of expectation and were knocked out, while some underdogs rose to glory.
Atletico Madrid, the finalists of 2014 and 2016 will miss the knockouts this year. They had a poor start to the group stage matches, and finally, Simeone and his boys were knocked out of the tournament. They registered a single win out of the six group fixtures. Two draws against Qarabag FK was perhaps where Los Rojiblancos shot themselves in the foot.
Napoli were expected to cross the group stage hurdle as well. However, a brilliant Manchester City and a sensational Shakhtar Donetsk had left them behind in the race to knockouts. A squad comprising of Dries Mertens, Lorenzo Insigne, Marek Hamsik and Jose Callejon, winning just two games out of six, was quite a shocker.
After, a dream run till the semifinals last year, AS Monaco were expected to make it to the knockouts this year. The summer transfer window had a big impact on their squad. Big names like Kylian Mbappe, Bernardo Silva, Benjamin Mendy and Tiemoue Bakayoko left for elite clubs of Europe. Still, they have players like Radamel Falcao and Thomas Lemar and their inability to register a single win out of six fixtures was unexpected.
#4 Performance of the English sides
It was 2012 when an English team last won the UEFA Champions League. It was 2013-14 when all the English teams (four teams) in the group stage qualified for the round of 16. The Spanish giants -- Real Madrid, Barcelona and Atletico Madrid -- have done well and no English side has provided competition.
However, this season things might change as all the English teams have crossed the group stage hurdle. There will be five teams from England- Manchester United, Manchester City, Liverpool, Chelsea and Tottenham competing along with 11 other teams for the silverware.
Among the five teams, Manchester United, Manchester City and Tottenham were terrific in the group stage matches. Spurs are still unbeaten while both the Manchester teams have suffered just one defeat out of six matches. Liverpool also finished group leaders but they registered just 3 wins and the remaining were stalemates. Chelsea finished second behind Roma on head to head results.
This year, the knockout matches promise to be more intense with the English teams having a sort of a renaissance in the UEFA Champions League.
#3 Cristiano Ronaldo continues to create records
Cristiano Ronaldo, currently aged 33, is showing no signs of stopping. Scoring goals for fun and breaking records is a part of his weekly routine. The Portuguese star might be suffering from a bad patch in the La Liga but in the Champions League, he has been in impressive goal-scoring form.
Ronaldo scored Real Madrid's second goal against Borussia Dortmund, in the final group stage fixture with a brilliantly struck shot from outside the box. With this goal, CR7 completed a stunning achievement of scoring in all six matches in the group stage of a Champions League.
#2 Tottenham Hotspur finish above Real Madrid
There is no surprise that Tottenham Hotspur have reached the round of 16. The main surprise lies in the way they achieved it. Spurs were expected to reach the round of 16 as the second best team in their group, behind defending champions Real Madrid. However, the North London side played exceptional football throughout the six group matches.
They ended the group stage unbeaten and with 16 points, finished three points above Real Madrid. Mauricio Pochettino's side forced a 1-1 draw against the Los Blancos in Santiago Bernabeu. In the reverse fixture, Dele Alli, Harry Kane and Eriksen played brilliantly and beat Madrid 3-1, in what was a chastening experience for Zinedine Zidane.
#1 The best teams from the group stage
Paris Saint-Germain
PSG scored 25 times in the group stage matches. This mammoth number is not much of a surprise if we look at the attacking options Unai Emery has. Boosted by latest signing, Neymar and Kylian Mbappe along with Angel Di Maria, Edinson Cavani and Julian Draxler, they can easily outscore any opponent that come their way.
They were defeated in the final game by Bayern Munich by a margin of two goals. In spite of that, PSG are clearly one of the few favourites to win the UEFA Champions League this year. Group stage fixtures of the UEFA Champions League 2017-18 are over. Here, we have a look at the '5 Key Talking Points of the Group Stage
Manchester City
Manchester City are another team who have a good chance of winning their first European silverware. They accumulated 15 points in the six matches and have played top-notch football against likes of SSC Napoli and Shakhtar Donetsk.
The Citizens have some of the best players in the world in positions all over the pitch. Aguero and Gabriel Jesus are one of the deadliest striking duos in European football. Kevin De Bruyne, Raheem Sterling, Leroy Sane and David Silva have shown they can breach any low-block. So, stopping City will take some effort.
Barcelona
The team which has conceded just a single goal in the six group fixtures deserves to be on the list. The departure of Neymar left the Blaugrana wounded. Ousmane's Dembele's injury and Luis Suarez's poor form held them back. Still, they managed to finish group leaders leaving behind Juventus and are unbeaten in this season's UCL campaign.
Messi can single-handedly win matches and he will be well supported by likes of Iniesta, Rakitic, Deulofeu and others. Dembele's return from injury will only make them better and a strong contender for the Champions League trophy.
