Champions League Power Rankings: Liverpool stay perfect; Barca, Arsenal, Inter look like contenders

1 Liverpool — The Reds just make everything look so easy. Even after conceding to Lille, there was never a doubt that they’d come back and secure a result. Their spot in the top eight is now clinched and next up is clinching the top seed. 2 Barcelona — Involved in one of the games of the tournament so far, Barcelona stormed back to score three consecutive goals, defeating Benfica 5-4. Raphinha also continued his tear scoring his eighth Champions League goal in only his ninth shot on target. 3 Arsenal — A Declan Rice goal in the second minute and keeping the pressure up from the start of the match to the close, Arsenal put in a professional performance and are certainly contenders for the UCL crown. 4 Inter — Lautaro Martinez is back and with that Inter are even more dangerous than they already were. This is bad news for everyone else around the UCL. 5 Atletico Madrid +4 Julian Alvarez has arrived with quite an individual performance to push 10 man Atleti to a victory away to Leverkusen. It’s an impressive victory as they look to book their place directly in the last 16. 6 Atalanta — Another game, another comprehensive victory for the Italian side as Atalanta have shown that they’re one of the best sides in this tournament as they march toward a top eight finish. 7 Bayer Leverkusen -3 It has been a strong campaign for Leverkusen so far and it was bound to have a bit of disappointment but losing to a 10-man Atletico Madrid side hurts. 8 Monaco +3 With the French sides flying high, Monaco kept up their strong campaign going behind their defense and an opportunistic goal from Wilfred Singo. Making the top eight will be tough but there’s a chance to do it. 9 Bayern Munich -1 On any given day, you never know what Bayern will show up. After being hailed as one of the hottest performing teams in Europe, Bayern went away from home and laid an absolute egg to drop down the table, setting up a fascinating final day of action. 10 Milan — It wasn’t easy to get past Girona but Milan got the result that they needed and are sitting pretty heading into the final day of action. 11 Real Madrid +1 Goal difference matters and Real Madrid played knowing that fact knocking five past RB Salzburg to shoot up the table thanks to an impressive performance from Rodrygo. 12 Paris Saint-Germain +5 Talk about a needed victory, after blowing a two-goal lead to Manchester City, the Parisians were able to storm back to win by multiple goals in a massive shift. 13 Lille -5 Lille gave their best against Liverpool but that’s a team where just your best isn’t good enough. Gotta chalk up the loss and continue to march forward. 14 Aston Villa -1 Villa likely missed their opportunity to make the top eight but that was always a pipe dream. Like others who lost heading into the final day, this is a time when a short memory is critical. 15 Juventus — Another day, another draw. Juve needs to find goals consistently somewhere because the defense is doing its part. 16 Brest — It was only a matter of time until the French side suffered a setback but with their spot in the top 24 secured, it’s all about how they bounce back to close out the league phase.   17 Feyenoord +7 What a way to clinch passage to the next stage after a poor start to the league phase of the Champions League. Santiago Gimenez scored a brace and they downed Bayern Munich. No one will want to face them in the knockout stage. 18 Borussia Dortmund -4 Following an inexcusable loss to Bologna, Nuri Sahin is out as manager of Dortmund. While there are plenty of questions to answer, we don’t know who will be responsible for fixing this. 19 PSV +6 With three wins in their last four matches, PSV has been able to take their knockout stage hopes into their own hands. 20 VfB Stuttgart +2 Slowly Stuttgart are clawing back into contention. At the moment, they’re the last team into the top 24 but that’s likely to change with a wild final day upcoming. 21 Club Brugge — A draw against Juventus was a fine result but getting a win would’ve all but assured qualification for the knockout stages. 22 Celtic +1 It wasn’t pretty but Celtic likely did enough to finish in the top 24. Job done. 23 Sporting Club Lisbon -5 The slide continues for Sporting. After dropping three straight matches, this is now a team that could miss out on the top 24 after looking like dark horse contenders for the top eight under Ruben Amorim. 24 Manchester City -5 The goal may be simple for City, win against Brugge and they’re in, but after allowing four goals to PSG, can this City side feel particularly confident about anything? 25 Benfica -5 Scoring a hat trick 30 minutes into a match should be a pretty easy route to victory but Benfica managed to throw away the match to Barcelona by allowing three unanswered goals. Now they’re at risk of missing out on the knockout stages. 26 Dinamo Zagreb — There’s still a chance at making the top 24 but after being played off the pitch by Arsenal, it’s a slim one. 27 Girona — They hung tough with Milan but that wasn’t enough. 28 Crvena zvezda — They kept things interesting when they could but doing that doesn’t go far enough to secure points. 29 Shakhtar Donetsk +2 The chance may be slight but Shakhtar can still make their way into the knockout stage with a win and a lot of help on the final day of play. 30 Bologna +2 Despite playing for pride the Italian side were able to down Borussia Dortmund for their first-ever UCL victory. 31 RB Leipzig +3 It’s a case of too little too late but picking up their first win of UCL play over Sporting CP is still good for domestic momentum.  32 Sparta Praha -3 Losses in five straight, it’s not great. 33 SK Sturm Graz -3 Another team that has seen a strong start to the league phase fade away, it was fun while it lasted. 34 RB Salzburg -1 They scored a fun goal, just avert your eyes from the five that they conceded. 35 Young Boys — The Swiss side were lucky not to concede five or more goals to Celtic. 36 Slovan Bratislava — More goals were conceded but Slovan did score at least.