Our UCL 5️⃣ points as Barça crash out, Spurs fume and Napoli win hearts | OneFootball

What a night of Champions League action it was. Late drama, penalty misses, VAR calls and giants crashing out.

Here’s what we made of it.

All out of levers

For a second year in a row, Barcelona will be playing Europa League football after Christmas.

The club’s extraordinary fiscal gamble over the summer to pull several ‘economic levers’  – as they were euphemistically called by the board – has not paid off.

Mortgaging the club and spending millions of yet unearned cash on Robert Lewandowski, Franck Kessié, Andreas Christensen, and many more, hasn’t made them any better in Europe.

Inter’s win over Viktoria Plzen earlier on Wednesday left Barça cemented in third place with Xavi’s side knowing they will be playing in Europe’s second-tier club competition in 2023.

What does that mean for the long-term health of Barcelona and its future?

Well, that’s anyone’s guess.

VARce

And breathe.

The Tottenham Hotspur Stadium has only been open for a few years but we doubt it’ll ever see drama like that again in a long time.

Tottenham, needing to win to progress to the Champions League last 16, thought they had scored in the 95th minute as Harry Kane tapped in from close range.

But after a VAR check that took at least three minutes, the referee decided that there was an offside in the build-up to the goal and the place erupted in disgust.

Antonio Conte was sent off for protesting whilst a melee ensued in the middle of the pitch between the Spurs and Sporting players.

Tottenham really did deserve the win though for their second-half performance as they pushed and pushed for a winner and showed the sort of heart and desire that was sorely missing from the first 45 minutes.

It’s now all to play for in Marseille next week.

Game of two halves

Liverpool are officially through to the last 16 after they beat Ajax in Amsterdam.

The Premier League side downed their Dutch rivals 3-0 but the scoreline doesn’t tell the true story of this game.

Jürgen Klopp’s men were almost totally outplayed in the first half with Ajax hitting the post inside 90 seconds and then had Alisson to thank for keeping the game goalless.

The Brazilian goalkeeper made several smart saves including one world class palm away from Dušan Tadić’s close range effort.

It really was remarkable how all at sea Liverpool’s defence and midfield were in the opening 40 minutes.

And then Mohamed Salah netted just before half time and the floodgates opened.

It’s a funny old game.

Napoli continue to claim hearts

Following Real Madrid’s loss on Tuesday, only two clubs remain unbeaten in Europe’s top five leagues.

If you tipped Napoli to be one of those two earlier this season, you clearly know your football. But it’s surely quite a shock still.

It’s been an incredible rise for the Serie A club in 2022-23 as they sit top of the league in Italy and stay perfect in the Champions League after a 3-0 win over Rangers on Wednesday.

Giovanni Simeone’s brace was the difference this time around but Napoli have once again proved they have an incredibly deep talent pool featuring explosive and dynamic players.

If your club has already been relegated (we’re looking at you Juventus and Barcelona fans) maybe it’s worth jumping on the Napoli hype train in the knockouts.

46 goals in 16 games across all competitions. How can you not help but love the football this side is displaying? They are Champions League dark horses for sure.

Bayern’s redemption run continues

Things have not gone quite to plan for Bayern Munich so far this season.

They have struggled immensely in the Bundesliga and sit second in the table as a result. Four draws and one loss within the first three months is simply not normal for the German giants.

Yet on the biggest stage of them all, Bayern are playing some of their best football with Sadio Mané, Serge Gnabry and the like firing on all cylinders.

Drawn in the Group of Death with Barcelona, Inter and Viktoria Plzen the challenge ahead to reach the knockouts was a mountain to climb right from the start given their early season struggles.

Julian Nagelsmann’s side, however, remain perfect in this competition (a feat only also accomplished by Napoli) and put European giants to the sword in the process. A 3-0 win at Camp Nou is impressive stuff.

And they made a mockery of former star striker Robert Lewandowski too who left this summer for the Spanish side and is now playing Europa League football.

Bayern have a staggering amount of Bundesliga titles so maybe it’s time for someone else to win in Germany.

But in terms of the Champions League, they surely look fit enough to fight for the title once again.