Champions League MW6 Review – Perfect Arsenal, Relieved Liverpool, and Lennart Karl
Champions League Matchday 6 had everything: comeback chaos, teenage stardom, a brewing crisis (that to me seems overblown) in Madrid, and one very loud audition for a World Cup ticket from Marseille. Here is how it all fits together.
Our Champions League Team Of The Week is in with some surprising names excelling this matchweek and making the team 🔥 pic.twitter.com/WbmFypWAvv
— 365Scores (@365Scores) December 11, 2025
Champions League latest
Is Xabi Alonso actually in trouble?
On paper, the case for panic at Real Madrid looks straightforward. Back to back defeats have cranked up the volume around Xabi Alonso’s position, and tension has sharpened further after a 2–1 home loss to Manchester City on Matchday 6. It was the kind of result that invites crisis headlines, especially when it happens at the Bernabéu.
Reflect, though, and the idea that he is genuinely in trouble feels absurd.
In La Liga, Madrid are second, four points off Barcelona, with one defeat all season. They have the division’s top scorer in Kylian Mbappé, they have already won a high stakes clásico, and they are firmly in the automatic Champions League qualification places. This is not a crisis. This is the normal turbulence of a first season spent reshaping a superclub with superstar additions and tactical renovation.
In Europe, Madrid finish Matchday 6 with four wins from six in the league phase, right in the mix near the top of the standings. The Champions League’s new format rewards accumulation rather than spotless perfection, and they are accumulating well.
Of course, there are issues. The defence still feels like a work in progress. The attack can look overly reliant on individual brilliance. But the idea that you tear up a project with the team second in Spain and thriving in Europe because of a rocky week feels like pure Bernabéu theatre. Alonso was hired to build an era, not a fortnight. Managers at this level need time. He deserves it.
Real Madrid had only one shot on target vs Man City, their lowest in a Champions League game at the Bernabeu since 2004! pic.twitter.com/ScoBA3jPgl
— 365Scores (@365Scores) December 11, 2025
Arsenal march on
While Madrid wrestle with expectation, Arsenal are gliding through the Champions League like they have been waiting years for this version of themselves. Six games, six wins, and a swagger that suggests they belong at the top of Europe’s new league phase.
Their 3–0 win at Club Brugge was a demonstration of depth as much as dominance. Noni Madueke struck twice, Gabriel Martinelli added another, and Mikel Arteta calmly rotated his squad without losing fluency. Key players were missing, others were rested, and Arsenal still controlled every meaningful minute.
The victory also came in the shadow of a domestically bruising loss to Aston Villa. Lesser sides might have wobbled. Instead Arsenal used Europe as a reset button. Under the new Champions League format, league position matters, and Arsenal have planted themselves right near the summit.
There is a maturity to their European performances that has not always been present in Arteta’s tenure. They manage tempo better, they defend with clarity, and they now have multiple match winners. They’ve only conceded one goal in the whole campaign. It is too early for trophy talk, but this Arsenal looks built for long spring nights.
Lennart Karl is a special player
Every Champions League season produces a breakout teenager. This year’s surprise leading man might be Lennart Karl. Did you see his performance against Sporting Lisbon? Ridiculous. Two goals and he ran the show.
The 17 year old Bayern midfielder is playing like someone who has skipped several rungs on the development ladder. He scored again on Matchday 6, continuing a run of goals and sparkling cameos that make it hard not to revisit the highlight reels just to make sure you really saw what you thought you saw.
Karl is more than a goalscoring hot streak. His game is built on glide and vision. He drifts into pockets that do not exist for other players, carries the ball like it is weightless, and plays with a boldness that feels immune to the pressure of the badge on his chest. Bayern have had their share of young talents, but few look this unfazed in Europe this early.
Lennart Karl vs Sporting CP 💫#UCL pic.twitter.com/c5yMRzUeba
— UEFA Champions League (@ChampionsLeague) December 11, 2025
Liverpool get a much needed win
Liverpool do not do quiet weeks. They arrived in Milan under scrutiny, with Mohamed Salah sidelined and the noise around Arne Slot growing louder. The performance was wobbly, the chances were scarce, but the 1–0 victory was pure relief.
The late penalty that won it came like a pressure valve being released. Liverpool defended deeper than usual, leaned on their centre backs, and showed a resilience that had been missing. It was gritty rather than expressive, but sometimes seasons hinge on nights like this.
Most importantly, the win stabilises their Champions League campaign. Four victories from six games puts them solidly in the advancing pack, and it buys time for Slot to settle a side still adjusting stylistically. It was not pretty. It did not need to be.
Mason Greenwood to the World Cup?
No performance this round carried as much tension and intrigue as Mason Greenwood’s brace for Marseille away to Union Saint Gilloise. He has been in exceptional form all season, now with double figures in goals in Ligue 1, with a healthy stack of assists, and his Champions League output continues to rise. The explosiveness, the finishing angles, the ability to decide matches as a soloist or within structure, all of it is back.
On pure footballing merit, talk of a World Cup call up is completely rational.
The bigger question is who he would represent. Greenwood has one England cap, but a controversial and highly publicised legal episode in 2022 complicated his international trajectory. While charges were dropped, the situation shifted how the FA approached him, and a return to England appears unlikely for the foreseeable future.
This is where Jamaica enter the scene. Greenwood qualifies through family heritage, holds a Jamaican passport, and has been engaged in discussions to switch his international allegiance. Jamaica are ambitious, talent hungry and eyeing a statement summer. Greenwood, in this form, would immediately become their most dangerous attacking player.
Nothing is confirmed, nor have Jamaica qualified yet, but the pathway is clear. If he goes to the World Cup, the odds lean strongly towards Jamaica. And based on nights like Wednesday, he would not be going there as a passenger.
FAQs
Who has the best Champions League record after Matchday 6?
Arsenal are the only side with six wins from six, sitting top of the league phase.
Is Xabi Alonso close to being sacked by Real Madrid?
Despite noisy speculation, the evidence suggests the opposite. Madrid are second in La Liga and well placed in the Champions League. He needs time, not panic.
What makes Lennart Karl so exciting?
He is 17, already scoring and creating in the Champions League, and plays with the technical bravery of someone much older.
Could Mason Greenwood really play at the next World Cup?
On form, yes. Whether it is with England or Jamaica is the real question, and right now Jamaica appears the more realistic path, provided they qualify.
By Nicky Helfgott / @NickyHelfgott1 on Twitter (X)
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