The final Champions League matchweek of 2025 has wrapped up and it ended with a major headline-grabbing fixture as Manchester City won 2-1 against Real Madrid at the Santiago Bernabeu stadium. For Pep Guardiola, it’s a great victory that sends his side to fourth in the League Phase table while for Xabi Alonso, the loss marks a second straight in all competitions, with just two victories from the last eight matches.
The game, which is nowadays considered somewhat of an intercontinental clásico, started with fireworks and an aggressive intent from Los Blancos as they wanted to make a statement.
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Alonso is currently going through somewhat of a mini-turmoil in his first season as club manager with reports of discontent within the dressing room. Things have not gone well on the pitch either after a 2-0 loss to Celta Vigo this past weekend that now has Real Madrid four points behind league leader Barcelona in La Liga.
So, the game against Man City was very important.
Kylian Mbappé, dealing with a muscular problem, missed the match and though Rodrygo ended a 32-match goal drought to give them the early lead, Man City quickly turned things around with goals from Nico O’Reilly and an Erling Haaland penalty, holding on despite Thibaut Courtois’ heroics to win in the Spanish capital.
In other matches Wednesday, Noni Madueke scored a wonderful brace while Gabriel Martinelli scored a beautiful third goal as Arsenal won 3-0 against Club Brugge thus ending the year at the top of the table and making history in the competition by winning its first six games. PSG drew with Athletic de Bilbao and it was a World Cup host theme for Juventus as USMNT’s Weston McKennie and Canada’s Jonathan David scored for Juventus in the team’s 2-0 win over Pafos.
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Meanwhile on Tuesday, Liverpool earned an important, morale-boosting 1-0 victory against Internazionale, Chelsea’s winless run continues with a 2-1 loss to Atalanta whilst Bayern Munich’s young prodigious talent Lennart Karl made Champions League history in the Bavarians’ 3-1 win over Sporting.
The League Phase won’t return until Jan. 20 and it will come back with two remaining matchweeks, but let me stress: the race for the automatic top eight spots remains extremely competitive.
Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City proved to be too much for Xabi Alonso’s Real Madrid.
(NurPhoto via Getty Images)
Winners
Pep Guardiola
The Catalan manager entered enemy territory in Madrid and led his team to an impressive, resilient victory over Real Madrid. He gambled on a few substitutions in the second half but in the end, thanks to his management, City won and ended the year in fourth of the League Phase table.
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Arsenal’s Noni Madueke
After losing to Aston Villa last weekend, Arsenal returned to winning ways with a 3-0 victory over Club Brugge and alongside Gabriel Martinelli’s fantastic third goal, it was Noni Madueke who stole the show with a great double over the Belgian side. His opener was a magnificent left-footed thunderbolt from outside the box that sent the Gunners into a rhythm, prompting them to three points and the top of the League Phase table.
This is why Madueke came to Arsenal from Chelsea last summer, so he could become an alternative on the right hand side and allow Bukayo Saka to rest in matches that allow him to do so. Depth is key in title-winning campaigns and Mikel Arteta knows that if there is silverware to be won, players like Madueke will be key.
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Bayern Munich’s Lennart Karl
The 17-year-old attacker became the youngest player in Champions League history to score for the third straight game as Bayern Munich came from behind to win 3-1 against Sporting and conclude 2025 in second place and three points behind Arsenal. There’s no denying his talents and not since Thomas Müller have the Bavarians enjoyed the star-driven inception of an academy product in the starting XI.
At 5-foot-6 with a very strong center of gravity, it’s very difficult to not see that his game is similar to a certain Argentine World Cup star. Whether his career comes even close to Lionel Messi’s is another question but one thing is for sure, Lenny Karl is a magnificent talent and Bayern Munich is very lucky to have him.
With just two wins in eight matches, Xabi Alonso’s Real Madrid project is on shaky ground.
(Europa Press Sports via Getty Images)
Losers
Xabi Alonso
After losing to Man City, the Real Madrid manager is now in an extremely fragile situation at a club, a club by the way that demands so much, where perfection is almost a necessity. So now, Madrid has won only twice in the last eight matches and finds itself in seventh place in the League Phase table and four points from Barcelona in La Liga. If the club loses against Alaves on Sunday, or even draw — Florentino Perez’s patience will be close to the finish line.
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Chelsea
Despite taking the lead, Enzo Maresca’s side lost 2-1 to Atalanta and with two matches remaining in the League Phase, it most likely seems that the Blues will need two wins from two in order to hopefully secure a top-eight automatic spot.
After the game, Maresca said that his team “lost control” of the situation once they conceded the equalizer and to be honest, “losing control” is pretty much within Chelsea’s DNA. At its best, it embraces the chaos but is still able to hold the defensive line. And in fact, even after 1-1, Chelsea should have scored a few more times.
But when things are not going its way, cracks begin to open and that’s what happened on Tuesday in Bergamo, especially once Enzo Fernandez and Trevoh Chalobah were replaced at the break. Outside of the box became much more inviting and Atalanta’s Charles De Ketelaere, who was very impressive, took full advantage setting up for the opener and scoring the winner.
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As far as Chelsea is concerned, it is now going through two straight loses and four without a win in all competitions. Maresca knows that things need to be tightened up.
This news was originally published on this post .
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