December 11, 2025

Champions League Takeaway: Pep Piles Pressure on Xabi, Back-and-Forth Battles, Juve's System Switch, Arsenal Cruise in Bruges & Everything Else

58 minutes

Hello Rank Squad!

It's the second Champions League Takeaway of the week, looking back at Wednesday's action from the sixth Matchday of the League stage. We start at the Bernabeu, where Real Madrid and Xabi Alonso's woes deepened with a 2-1 defeat by Manchester City - could that be the end of the line for the beleaguered boss? We also check in on his former side, Bayer Leverkusen, who drew 2-2 with Newcastle United in an incredibly topsy-turvy encounter.

In Part Two we head to Belgium to look at Arsenal's 3-0 win over Club Brugge which featured a sensational solo strike from Noni Madueke - just the tonic that Mikel Arteta's men needed after suffering their first defeat in ages to Aston Villa at the weekend; as well as looking at Juventus' 2-0 win over Pafos which looks routine on paper, but saw the shift in the system that we've been hoping for from Luciano Spalletti since he took over in Turin.

And in the final part, we round up all the rest of the action - Ajax finally getting their first win on the board in the competition with a spirited 4-2 fightback win over Qarabag in Azerbaijan; Villarreal falling 2-3 to Copenhagen at El Madrigal as the bizarre difference between their domestic and continental form continued; a 2-2 draw in the all-yellow affair between Borussia Dortmund and Bodø/Glimt - with a celebratory milestone for Julian Brandt; Benfica's very impressive 2-0 win over Napoli in Lisbon; and a 0-0 draw between Athletic Club and reigning champions PSG that left much to be desired from both sides.

It's Ranks!

And remember, if you’d like more from the Rank Squad, including extra podcasts every Monday and Friday (including our weekly Postbox taking a look at the whole weekend of football) and access to our brilliant Discord community, then why not join us here on Patreon?

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