Dominance defined: The standouts and favourites of the UCL 2024/25 group stage

Discover how Inter Milan, Liverpool, and Barcelona dominated the 2024/25 UEFA Champions League group stage with tactical brilliance, defensive resilience, and attacking flair. Explore their paths to the Round of 16 in the new Swiss format.

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Liverpool's almost faultless campaign defined what "dominance" means amidst the smoke of the Champions League group stage. With an outstanding record of 7 wins and 1 defeat in 8 games, this team displayed an ultimate balance between offence and defence: 17 goals scored with a consistent output of 2.1 goals per game and a defence that surrendered just 5 goals, generating a goal difference of +12.

Their calm under duress—during Bayer Leverkusen's 4-0 run where Luis Díaz scored a hat trick in an act of utter demolition and the 2-0 triumph over Real Madrid, where the precise midfield telepathy between Mac Allister and Ryan Gravenberch drove their tactical performance to its best.

Their defensive resilience is even more remarkable, as with five clean sheets and only five goals scored by the opponent, four of which occurred in the final two games when their qualification was already decided, the centre-back pair of Van Dijk and Konaté has been like a moving fortress.

Liverpool's success in “escaping” the group stage almost spotless depends on its capacity to lock down key events.

The progress of reigning Europa League champions Bayer Leverkusen is exactly the "art of offence and defence." With a record of five victories, one draw, and two losses, the Bundesliga team qualified with an unprecedented sixteen points.

One of the teams with the fewest goals conceded in the group stage, their defensive statistics were nothing short of outstanding as in 8 games, they only allowed 7 goals.

In key games, including the home 1-0 win against AC Milan, when Lukas Hradecky preserved the goal with five saves, Xabi Alonso showed his adaptability as a tactical maestro.

Attacking-wise, Florian Wirtz and Álex Grimaldo together have been the team's main offensive power. In the 5-0 thrashing of Salzburg, Wirtz scored twice and supplied an assist while Grimaldo, who netted a sublime free kick, tore across the opponent's defence with the most chances created.

Third in the group stage for average pass success rate (90.4%), Bayer Leverkusen's tactical approach stresses possession and pressing. Their emphatic 7-1 triumph against Celtic, which totally proved their supremacy in the midfield and forward positions, was made possible by this "attack as defence" approach.

If Liverpool are a precisely operating machine, then Barcelona are a raging flame. Leading the scoring pack with 28 goals, their terrific efficiency of 3.5 goals per game is attributable to the immense synergy of Raphinha, Lewandowski, and young star Lamine Yamal.

Enjoying a masterful season, Raphinha scored a lightning-quick opener just one minute into the 4-1 demolition of Bayern, struck two more goals before halftime to complete his hat trick, then assisted Lewandowski to complete the rout in the 56th minute.

With Lewandowski's deadly instinct in the box (9 goals, including 3 penalties), Raphinha's world-class strikes from cutting in off the wing (8 non-penalty goals, 4 assists), and even centre-back Inigo Martinez scoring from set pieces, Barcelona are exorcising every ghost of seasons past, including the "Bayern phobia."

Although they surrendered 13 goals on the defensive end, the offensive dominance covers all the shortcomings as their multifaceted attack renders opponent defence useless.

Inter Milan are also penning their mythology differently on the Apennine Peninsula. Although eleven goals would appear average, the "unsolved mystery" of their European campaign is a defence that has given up only one goal in eight games.

Behind the statistics of five straight clean sheets are the amazing saves of the goalie Sommer, the anticipations of Bastoni, and the midfield mastery of Çalhanoğlu.

The Italians showed their doggedness in their 1-0 win over Arsenal, where they needed only 32% possession and a Çalhanoğlu penalty to secure all three points. However, Mehdi Taremi's elusive runs and Arnautovič's pivot in the 4-0 sweep of Red Star Belgrade show they are not a "defensive-only" team.

Like Inter Milan, Arsenal's road to progress is marked by a "defence first" approach. With six victories, one draw, and one loss, the Gunners earned 19 points to rank third in the group stage. Almost matching their personal best for the fewest goals conceded in the Champions League's group stage, they surrendered only 3 goals in 8 games.

The central defensive combo of Gabriel Magalhães and William Saliba's tacit teamwork has practically been an impenetrable wall for all opponents' attacking attempts.

The duo contrived to restrict the trident of Barcola, Lee, and Doue to one shot on target all game in their 2-0 home triumph over Paris Saint-Germain.

From the offensive perspective, Saka and Havertz's relationship has morphed into a dangerous weapon. The German scored twice against Monaco, deflecting criticisms and proving his all-around skills, while his English counterpart Saka scored four goals and provided two assists in the group stage.

Arsenal's tactical philosophy prioritises aggressive pressing and ball control, achieving an excellent average pass success rate of 87.8% all campaign. In the away match against Sporting Lisbon, they secured a tremendous 5-1 victory against an opponent who shredded local rivals Manchester City, fully breaking down the Portuguese team's middle defence.

Atletico Madrid's automatic advancement to the round of 16 is a victory of "iron will." The team finished third in this giant-killing group stage with a record of 6 victories and 2 losses, amassing 18 points and scoring 20 goals, demonstrating a broad range of scoring strategies.

Former Manchester City boy Julian Alvarez and club legend Antoine Griezmann have become the core of the team, with the former tallying 6 goals and an assist in the group stage—including a last-minute winner against Bayer Leverkusen—while the latter astonished with twin two-goal hauls against RB Salzburg and Slovan Bratislava. 

Despite their new lease of life in the attacking department, Atlético Madrid maintained Simeone's aggressive approach on the defensive end, averaging 5.9 possessions won in the final third per match, the 8th highest, and showed their tenacity in "overcoming the strong with the weak" by discarding PSG 2-1 in a pivotal encounter. 

Conclusion

The path these six clubs follow to progress highlights the variety and complexity of contemporary football strategies. Liverpool's invincibility, Bayer Leverkusen's possession pressure, Barcelona's lightning-fast wing play, Inter Milan's defensive wall, Arsenal's matured showings, and Atlético Madrid's ironclad determination all mirror the coaching team's exacting attention to detail.

More significantly, the team cohesiveness and mental fortitude these teams demonstrated in pivotal games show that football is a struggle of will as much as a test of ability.

Their triumph has given the UEFA Champions League knockout stage greater drama and expectation as well as shown to supporters the prospect of "non-traditional powerhouses" attaining their peak.