We're one-quarter of the way through the "league phase" of the 2024-25 Champions League, and we're still getting our footing. We've had more than our fair share of blowouts -- on Tuesday alone, we had more matches decided by four or more goals (five) than matches decided by zero or one (three) -- and when we've gotten an upset like, say, Lille's 1-0 defeat of Real Madrid on Wednesday, we don't immediately know what it means or how significant it may be.
We're learning, though. Granted, the table is a mess and will remain one into 2025. The top four teams in the competition thus far are Borussia Dortmund, Brest, Benfica and Bayer Leverkusen, while Manchester City are eighth, Arsenal are 13th, Bayern Munich are 15th and Real Madrid are 17th. None of that really means anything. But we know who's on their way toward qualifying for the knockout rounds, we know who's most likely to secure a top-eight finish (and a bye to the round of 16), and we know that Manchester City and Real Madrid are still the title favorites.
We also know that neither City nor Real Madrid are quite as likely to win the title as they were two weeks ago after matchday one.
With all that in mind, let's look at who's moving up and down and which players shined the brightest in a pretty dull set of Tuesday matches and an absolutely delightful set of Wednesday matches.
