The Champions League league phase is over and after a pulsating final night. Five of the top eight sides are Premier League teams. But what else did we learn from the league phase? Ayo Akinwolere is joined by The Athletic’s Seb Stafford-Bloor and Jack Lang. We’re asking you to fill out a quick survey about you and your podcast habits by going to theathletic.com/survey26. Three lucky entries will win $/£100 worth of Amazon vouchers too. So whether you’re a long-time listener or a new one, we want your feedback. Go to: theathletic.com/survey26 00:00 Intro 00:21 Benfica’s historic win against Real Madrid 02:13 The joy of goalkeepers scoring 03:44 Real Madrid dropping into the play-off round 07:53 How far can Mourinho's Benfica go? 09:45 Conte's European struggles continue 14:52 Premier League clubs in the UCL 21:49 Liverpool looking strong in Europe 23:21 Newcastle not making the ‘top 8’ 26:12 Are Arsenal the team to beat? 28:27 Will Bayern Munich be contenders? 32:33 Bodo/Glimt's rise to Champions League play-offs 34:36 Outro Video Producer: Liam Warburton Executive Producer: Adey Moorhead Producers: Guy Clarke & Paul Iliffe The Athletic FC Podcast is your essential guide to football's biggest stories, five times a week this season... Listen on Apple and Spotify: https://podfollow.com/athletic-fc-pod Subscribe to The Athletic FC Podcast channel 👉 http://bit.ly/athleticuk | 🔔Make sure to enable all push notifications!🔔 Follow The Athletic FC Podcast: Instagram: @theathleticfc TikTok: athleticfcpod Thumbnail: PATRICIA DE MELO MOREIRA / Contributor / AFP via Getty Images / FILIPE AMORIM / Contributor / AFP via Getty Images #championsleague #realmadrid #arsenal