Winners & losers of the Champions League league phase: From perfect Arsenal and Bodo/Glimt's fairy-tale qualification to more European misery for Antonio Conte and underwhelming Real Madrid and PSG campaigns

As Liverpool are painfully aware, topping the league phase does not guarantee an easy path to the final. The Reds drew Paris Saint-Germain in last season's round of 16, and the rest is history. However, Arsenal should still be feeling pretty pleased with themselves for finishing first this time around - and with a 100 percent record.

For starters, merely avoiding the play-offs means two fewer games for Mikel Arteta's quadruple-chasers. Secondly, the Gunners, unlike Liverpool, are not going to run into a potential winner in the last 16, with Borussia Dortmund, Bayer Leverkusen, Atalanta and Olympiacos their potential opponents.

Thirdly, and most importantly of all, a small but significant rule change for this season's Champions League means that the top two seeds will be at home in the second leg of every knockout tie they play - which would be an undisputed advantage in games that go to extra-time or penalties.

Arsenal obviously lost at the Emirates for the first time this season on Sunday, against Premier League rivals Manchester United, while there are ongoing concerns over their mental strength and reliance on set-pieces. However, as the league phase underlined, the north Londers have the strongest squad in world football right now and this season's knockout stage really couldn't be better set up for the No.1 seeds to reach the final - which just bodes so well for a team that's never lifted the trophy.

After last week's shock win over Paris Saint-Germain, Sporting CP coach Rui Borges admitted, "I have no words to describe this group and these lads, who deserved this victory and deserve to be in the club's history." 

If there was any doubt about that before, there isn't anymore - not after the Portuguese side followed up their stunning win over the reigning champions in Lisbon by beating Athletic Club in Bilbao to qualify directly for the last 16.

As Borges openly admitted, his original goal had been just to reach the play-offs. However, just as they did against PSG, Sporting showcased their never-say-die spirit by netting a late winner at San Mames that saw them finish in the top eight "alongside some of the best teams in the world".

"Being there," Borges added, "brings great pride to the club - but also the country."

There were four teams eliminated with one round of the league phase still to play: Kairat Almaty, Eintracht Frankfurt, Slavia Prague and Villarreal. The latter's exit was by far the most surprising - because the Yellow Submarine are actually going well in La Liga this season, with Marcelino's men currently fourth in the table, just three points behind Atletico Madrid and with a game in hand.

However, despite delivering some decent displays, Villarreal just could not reproduce their domestic form in continental competition. Consequently, the players ended up feeling as if they were trapped in their own footballing version of Groundhog Day.

"I have to say the same thing I've been saying since the Champions League started," midfielder Santi Comesana said after Villarreal's hopes of reaching the knockout stage were ended by a 2-1 defeat at home to Ajax last week. "We didn't deserve to lose, but we did again anyway. We had chances, but we couldn't convert them, and they hurt us with very little. It's really tough because I don't think we should have ended up in this position in the Champions League."

However, Marcelino rightly pointed out that his players could have no complaints about their embarrassingly early exit. "In this competition," he said, "you have to be decisive at both ends of the field." Villarreal were neither - and that's why one of the best teams in Spain is already out of Europe by the end of January.

Confession time: Before the league phase got under way, we thought Qarabag were the weakest team in the competition. It was just so hard to see how a side that had finished bottom of last year's Europa League could even hope to compete with the continent's elite. Rarely, though, have we been so happy to be proven wrong.

Qarabag's logic-defying campaign was absolutely surreal from start to finish, with Gurban Gurbanov's men stunning Benfica at the Estadio da Luz on matchday one before learning of their qualification for the play-offs at Anfield on Wednesday after a 6-0 loss to Liverpool.

Their mauling on Merseyside shouldn't in any way detract from their achievement, however. As Gurbanov said, Qarabag deserved to go through to the knockout stage. "Looking back at our eight-game journey in the league stage as a whole," he said, "we overcame a lot of hurdles." 

Their ultimately decisive victory over Eintracht Frankfurt on matchday seven was the most dramatic case in point, with the Azerbaijani outfit coming from 2-1 down with just 10 minutes to play to spark wild scenes of celebration in Baku with a last-second winner that left Gurbanov and a number of his players in tears.

Indeed, that game alone served as a most welcome reminder of the unpredictability of sport - even when the odds these days are so heavily stacked in favour of the elite.

Given Paris Saint-Germain went through the play-offs on their way to winning last season's Champions League, Vitinha wasn't too perturbed about missing out on automatic qualification for the last 16 once again. 

"We don't have to think about it too much," the midfielder said after Wednesday's 1-1 draw with Newcastle. "We had the same problem last year and then, then out of nowhere, things changed, and the ball started to go in."

That's not an entirely accurate portrayal of the situation, though. PSG's form had picked up well before the end of the league phase last season. Indeed, they went into the play-offs on a real high after staving off the threat of an early exit with three successive wins, including one massive, morale-boosting victory over Manchester City.

This time around, there is real concern over PSG's form, as they threw away a top-eight finish by failing to win any of their final three games. They still have a sensational crop of young players led by an outstanding coach in Luis Enrique, but a massive improvement is required from a team that is rather worryingly labouring in Ligue 1 this season too.

On November 5, at the halfway point of the league phase, Benfica were second-from-bottom of the table with zero points from four games. It was put to Jose Mourinho that his team no longer had any chance of making the knockout stage. Mourinho, though, was having none of it.

"Nobody can convince me that we're out," the Portuguese said after his side's bitterly frustrating 1-0 loss at home to Bayer Leverkusen. "Even if everyone starts shouting that we're out, they won't convince me. I can't say that we're going to qualify, but I refuse to accept that it is over now. The team is improving, there's nothing that convinces me that we can't fight. There are 12 points to play for, so we have a chance."

How right he was! Benfica won three of their final four games to progress - and in the most remarkable manner possible, with goalkeeper Anatoliy Trubin netting a last-second header in the 4-2 victory over Real Madrid to move the Eagles up to 24th place in the standings on goal difference.

It was a particularly satisfying triumph for Mourinho over his former club, but also a remarkable achievement for a manager who was sacked by Fenerbahce back in August for failing to get the Turkish club into the league phase. Now he's on his way to the play-offs with Benfica. Turns out 'The Special One' still has a bit about him!

Antonio Conte was proud of the way in which his injury-ravaged Napoli side performed in the 3-2 loss to Chelsea that ended the Partenopei's hopes of making the knockout stage.

"Even with 13 players out, we were brave and aggressive," the coach told Sky Sport Italia. "This is what allowed us to win the Scudetto last season and Supercoppa [in December] - it is the way forward. I am convinced that with more players at my disposal, we can improve further."

However, there are once again legitimate doubts over the sustainability of Conte's incredibly intensive brand of football. He's clearly one of the finest coaches in the game. In fact, there's probably no better man for a club to call in a time of crisis, given he's thrice immediately turned previously struggling sides into title winners in his first year in charge (Juventus, Chelsea and Napoli). However, his teams all too often break down when burdened with European football.

Conte has now overseen six Champions League campaigns; three of them ended before the knockout stage, while only one went as far as the quarter-finals.

So, while there may have been mitigating circumstances surrounding this latest embarrassingly early elimination, the Italian champions being knocked out of Europe basically because they failed to hold onto a 1-0 lead over 10-man Copenhagen last week reflects horribly on Conte and his methodology.

Where would Arne Slot and Thomas Frank be without the Champions League? Probably looking for new jobs.

Despite winning the Premier League in his first season at Liverpool, Slot has come under immense pressure during one of the worst title defences English football has ever seen. As for Frank, he had nowhere near as much credit in the bank with his club's fans, so the Dane has been dealing with regular calls for him to be sacked, with Tottenham currently 14th in the Premier League.

However, continental football has provided both coaches with some welcome relief from their domestic struggles. Despite a defensive injury crisis, Slot's Liverpool finished third in the league phase, just one place and one point ahead of Frank's Spurs, who, as midfielder Achie Gray admitted, are "like a different team in Europe".

Consequently, there's now a decent chance that the pair will still be in their respective roles by the time the last 16 rolls around - and we wouldn't have said that even as recently as last Saturday.

Jose Mourinho expressed nothing but love for Alvaro Arbeloa on the eve of Benfica's crucial clash with Real Madrid, referring to his former player as "my boy" and "one of the best men" he'd ever coached. Nonetheless, it felt as if the Portuguese had Arbeloa in mind when he expressed his surprise at the modern phenomenon of "coaches with no history, coaches without a body of work," being given "opportunity to manage the most important clubs in the world".

Of course, Madrid's decision to turn to their reserve team coach to replace Xabi Alonso at the helm wasn't really a shock at all. It had been coming. But Arbeloa is clearly no Zinedine Zidane. That much is already clear, with Madrid having already suffered a humiliating Copa del Rey exit on his watch before throwing away their spot in the last 16 of the Champions League with a horribly ill-disciplined 4-2 loss to Mourinho's Benfica at the Estadio da Luz.

As Arbeloa admitted himself, his team was "outplayed" on the night. "I'd like to say it was only in one thing, but it was in so many aspects," the former full-back admitted. "We've been far from the version we should be and we have a lot to improve."

Madrid are, of course, masters of suddenly finding form when it really matters in the knockout stages of the Champions League. As it stands, though, we wouldn't even back Arbeloa to lead Los Blancos through the play-offs - and especially if he has to go up against Mourinho again.

Madrid have plenty of problems right now - but Kylian Mbappe is not one of them. On the contrary, the on-fire French forward is the one reason why Los Blancos might actually re-establish themselves as legitimate Champions League challengers.

Despite playing in a deeply dysfunctional team, Mbappe is operating at the peak of his powers. Never before has been quite so consistent or clinical. As Mourinho said after Benfica's win over Madrid, "Two chances for Mbappe, two goals!"

With his double in Lisbon, the World Cup winner took his tournament tally to 13 - which is absolutely insane for a couple of reasons. Firstly, Mbappe only played in seven games in the league phase, because he wasn't fit enough to feature in Madrid's loss at home to Manchester City. Secondly, the 27-year-old is now only four goals away from equalling the record for most goals scored across an entire campaign.

So, while we have serious doubts over Madrid even making the last 16, Mbappe might have made more history before then.

Had it not been for a 98th-minute winner from Benfica's goalkeeper, Marseille would have qualified for the play-offs. In such a crazy context, one would be tempted to consider the French side unfortunate. However, coach Roberto De Zerbi didn't even attempt to argue that his side deserved to go through after an abysmal 3-0 loss to Club Brugge. 

"We didn't play well today and the defeat is fair," the Italian said. "We are disappointed, but we have to face reality." And the reality is that Marseille made a mess of their campaign.

De Zerbi felt poor officiating played a major part in his team losing three of their first four games (and they were undoubtedly on the wrong side of some questionable calls, at least at the Bernabeu), but he's since come to accept that he's in possession of a schizophrenic side that can beat Newcastle on one matchday but go missing against Liverpool on another.

"I'd like to understand why, here in Marseille, we systematically experience these rollercoaster rides, these ups and downs," De Zerbi said after a particularly frustrating loss at home to Nantes earlier this month. "This is my 12th season as a coach, but today you have to be more of a psychologist than a coach."

Given the former is a profession to which he's not particularly suited, one cannot help but wonder if he's really the right man to bring law and order to one of the most chaotic clubs in world football.

England entered an unprecedented six teams into this season's Champions League. Five of them finished in the top eight: Arsenal (first), Liverpool (third), Tottenham (fourth), Chelsea (sixth) and Manchester City (eighth). The other, Newcastle (12th) will be seeded in the play-offs, meaning there's every chance that six of the last 16 will be Premier League clubs.

Of course, there is no guarantee that one of them will go on to lift the trophy, but this is the kind of dominance by one nation we've never seen before in the Champions League.

"I think we all said for a few years the Premier League is the best league in the world," Spurs manager Thomas Frank said on Wednesday, "and I think this is another sign of it."

Indeed, there is no longer any doubt about it: the Premier League is the Super League. And given its financial might, there's not really anything anybody else can do about it. 

Again, we have to be honest here: We'd pretty much given up on Bodo/Glimt making the knockout stage after the spirit-crushing concession of a 90th-minute winner in their matchday-five loss at home to Juventus.

However, Kjetil Knutsen's wonderfully entertaining side then went to Signal Iduna Park and gave themselves a glimmer of hope by holding Borussia Dortmund to a 2-2 draw. It really was only a glimmer, though, as they still only had three points on the board and their final two fixtures were against Manchester City and Atletico Madrid.

What followed, though, was true fantasy football, as Bodo humbled a state-sponsored club at Aspmyra Stadion before doing something even more unthinkable by silencing Diego Simeone and the Metropolitano.

"We had a plan, everyone believed in it and I've never screamed so loudly in a football game," Knutsen said. "That team is completely incredible and I am so incredibly proud. What an experience, the feeling is enormous. I'm not going to compare it to anything, but we do what we do. We should be extremely proud of that. Achievements stand on their own."

This unquestionably ranks as one of the most magnificent in European Cup history, with a team hailing from a remote Norwegian town of just over 40,000 people through to the Champions League play-offs. Make no mistake about it: Bodo/Glimt are a bona fide footballing fairy tale.