Look away Man City fans
Which clubs are over and underperforming in the Champions League this season?
©TM/IMAGO
It was a thrilling match-day eighth in the Champions League, with all teams playing at exactly the same time to determine the final standings. There were 64 goals scored across the 18 fixtures in the league phase’s final week. Manchester City and PSG avoided elimination. While PSG strolled to a 4-1 win over Stuttgart, Man City had to work for their win, coming behind from a deficit to beat Club Brugge 3-1 to fight off elimination.
Pep Guardiola’s team finished the league phase in 22nd spot and while they have avoided elimination, Manchester City are currently the biggest underachievers in the Champions League. But they are not the only team to have disappointed as German club RB Leipzig failed to get out of the group stage winning just one of their seven games and finishing 19 places below their squad value. But which clubs have been overachieving? Using Transfermarkt’s market values, we’ve compiled an alternative table based on how clubs are performing in the league phase table in relation to the market value of their squad.
Most valuable squads
In the Champions League
Which clubs are overperforming the most in the Champions League?
Using the aforementioned criteria, Lille are the best performing club in the Champions League compared to where they rank for market value. The Ligue 1 side have the 23rd most valuable squad in the Champions League but finished seventh. That’s 16 positions higher than expected based on market value. They are not the only Ligue 1 side to stand out. Brest come in second among overperforming teams. They have the 30th most valuable squad in the competition (€120m) but they finished in 18th place, which represents a difference of +12. Another team that stands out are Celtic. The Scottish side have the 29th most valuable squad in the competition but finished 21st a difference of +8.
Atlético Madrid and Atalanta are also enjoying excellent campaigns. While Atlético finish +9 places higher in the actual Champions League table than they are when the clubs are ranked by market value, Atlanta come in at ninth, +7 based on the squad value. Another club that has significantly outperformed their squad value are Dinamo Zagreb. The Croatian club finished 25th and just about missed out on qualifying for the playoffs. Still, their final position is +8 positions higher than where they ranked based on squad value going into the competition.
Which clubs are underperforming the most in the Champions League?
Manchester City have endured a dismal Champions League campaign with the 2022/23 winners finished 22nd in the league phase table. City have the most valuable squad in the world on Transfermarkt at €1.23b, yet they are sitting 21 places lower than they should be based on that criteria. RB Leipzig picked up their first points in a 2-1 win against Sporting on matchday 7, but then lost to Sturm Graz on matchday 8 and finished in 32nd place with the 13th most valuable squad in the competition.
PSG’s 4-2 win against Man City on matchday 7 was crucial to stay alive and their 4-1 win over VfB Stuttgart saw them jump to 15th place, but they have the sixth most valuable squad in the competition and are still -9 behind their squad value. Another club that has disappointed are Real Madrid. The Champions League winners have the second most valuable squad in the competition but finished the group stage in 11th place -9 behind their squad value and only the aforementioned Man City and RB Leipzig have been worth. As has Italian side Juventus. The Serie A giants are -11 places behind their squad value, the third worst performance in this year’s Champions League group stage.