Not living up to expectations: 5 teams that have disappointed in the Champions League

The Champions League has long been the pinnacle of European football, both since its rebrand into its current title and before, when it was the European Cup. This season, the Champions League took on a new format, replacing the traditional group stages with a league table and different way of playing games.

There is a general consensus that the new format, while still a cause for mixed opinions, gives lesser teams a better chance of reaching the knockout stages. The flip side of this, seemingly, is that not every team expected to be soaring through into the next phase have been playing as well as many thought they would.

There is more than one example of a team that are nowhere near achieving what was expected of them by this point. So, which five teams so far have disappointed in the Champions League?

5. Girona

Girona nearly pulled off one of the biggest shocks in modern football last season, spending much of their La Liga campaign battling for the title against the traditional “big three,” as it were, of Barcelona, Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid. Though they ultimately faltered towards the season’s end, it was still a remarkable effort from Girona, who qualified for the Champions League.

In spite of their success, or perhaps as a product of it, Girona were forced to go through the process of losing Artem Dovbyk, their top scorer last season, and midfielder Aleix Garcia, a key part of their team, as they joined Roma and Bayer Leverkusen respectively. Understandably, the loss of such important players have had an impact on the club’s form.

Girona’s only win of their opening six games came against Slovakian side Slovan Bratislava. They have been unable to pick up points in any other match, losing their five other clashes against PSG, Feyenoord, PSV, Sturm Graz and Liverpool. Though qualification for the next round is still possible, Girona are relying on teams above them dropping points for that to be the case, hardly an ideal scenario.

4. RB Leipzig

RB Leipzig have enjoyed a strong start to their domestic season, being placed fourth in the Bundesliga after 13 games, three points ahead of both Wolfsburg and Borussia Dortmund. Continentally, though, Leipzig have endured their struggles and after six games, can not even qualify for the playoffs.

It has been a damning effort in Europe for coach Marco Rose, who has overseen six successive losses for Leipzig in the Champions League. The German side have lost straight games against Atletico Madrid, Juventus, Liverpool, Dortmund, Celtic and Aston Villa, making progression to the next stage impossible given how other results have gone.

Though still in its infancy as a club, Leipzig have grown accustomed to competing on the continent in recent years. Moving forward, however, many questions will be asked of their manager and how he wasn’t able to get more from a squad littered with quality players.

3. Paris Saint-Germain

It was always going to be intriguing seeing how Paris Saint-Germain played without Kylian Mbappe. The French superstar had been a mainstay in Paris for years prior to his move to Real Madrid but as speculation built around a potential departure, many started to wonder what the Parisians would look like without their number seven.

Little has changed in Ligue 1. At the time of writing, Luis Enrique’s side have a five-point lead on second-placed Marseille which is to be expected of PSG in the modern era. Their European campaign, however, has been far less plain-sailing. In fact, it has been anything but, with PSG having won just two of their opening six games.

Three of those league matches in Europe have been losses, coming against Arsenal, Atletico Madrid and Bayern Munich. In January, PSG will play Madrid who are in a similar position, with it being more than likely that the winner puts themselves in a position to qualify, over the other. It will surely make for a fascinating watch.

2. Real Madrid

Defending champions Real Madrid were no doubt ambitious heading into this year’s newly-formatted Champions League, given they are fresh off a double-winning season that saw them succeed in Europe and win La Liga. Bolstered by the signing of Kylian Mbappe, many expected Real Madrid to walk their way to the knockout stages.

Despite what many thought, it has not been an easy opening for Real in Europe this year. Of the six games that they’ve played at the time of writing, Madrid have won just three games. Their other three matches have ended in defeat, including a shocking 1-0 loss to Lille, a 3-1 defeat at home against AC Milan and going down 2-0 to Liverpool when they visited Anfield.

Madrid can, in theory, still finish within the top eight of the league table. In reality, however, it appears as though they will be forced to settle for a play-off place. While the Spanish side should progress to the knockout stages if they’re able to reach the play-offs, it is still a surprise that automatic progression is now nothing but a hope, rather than a guarantee.

1. Manchester City

Coming into this season, Manchester City had just won their fourth consecutive Premier League title and just two campaigns ago completed a European treble, just the second English side in history to achieve such a feat. All was going as planned for Pep Guardiola’s side until recent Ballon d’Or winner Rodri went down with an ACL injury.

Since then, City have been going through a run of form that is entirely unprecedented for Guardiola. Be it in Manchester or during his time with Bayern Munich or Barcelona, Guardiola had never lost more than three games in a row until the run he currently endures, which has seen City win just one game in 10, which would have been unthinkable just weeks ago.

Of their six games thus far, City have won two, drawn two and lost two. They were dismantled 4-1 when they travelled to Lisbon to face Sporting in what was Ruben Amorim’s final European game in charge of the club before his move to Manchester United and Feyenoord battled back from a three-goal deficit at the Etihad to secure a point in that game. 

Whether Guardiola can recover his side’s form remains to be seen, but these are worrying times for a team that have grown accustomed to dominance in recent years.