The moral of this week's Champions League story is that football never stands still, and the tides of change at the top are becoming impossible to ignore. So much so that Arsenal proved on Wednesday night that they are the best team in Europe as of November 26th 2025.
Outclassing their bogey team and old foes Bayern Munich was one thing, but to beat a side unbeaten in all competitions heading to the Emirates was a statement of intent. Arsenal are here now, and their genuine chances of winning the Champions League for the first time can not be ignored.
Star player: Declan Rice
Kylian Mbappe scoring four goals as Real Madrid beat Olympiacos 4-3 was hard to ignore. However, Mbappe scoring goals for fun in an otherwise unimpressive Real side is hardly new. The Frenchman is having an electric campaign so far and will get his plaudits many more times before the season is out.
Declan Rice, though, rarely takes the headlines in an Arsenal side with so much quality across the board. Holding midfielders, in general, don't get the hype that forwards do. However, Rice produced an almost faultless display as he captained Arsenal to one of the great wins of the Mikel Arteta era on Wednesday night. A performance more than worthy of this award.
In the first half, Bayern Munich caused the home side problems and deserved their equaliser when it came through teenage sensation Lennart Karl. The response from Arsenal and especially Rice was that of a side and a player at the top of their game, with great mental strength.
Rice led Arsenal to a famous victory with a world-class second-half display. If the England international was a 7/10 at half-time, his second-half display was so good that he merits a 9/10 overall. He carried the ball like a player oozing confidence and self-belief, and won it back like a player on a mission. This was not to be Bayern's day, not if Rice could help it.
There are few players better than Rice in world football at ball-dozing their way through teams, and there is arguably nobody better at winning the ball back across all areas of the pitch. He can use his strength to outmuscle an attacker bearing down on goal as easily as he makes a sliding tackle to break up play in the middle of the park.
Rice is the real deal, and there are few better sixes in football. His performance against Bayern was exceptional, but the Englishman is just getting started this season.
With countless trophy opportunities on the horizon, 2026 promises to be a great chance for him to achieve glory for club and country.
Suprise package: Bayer Leverkusen
Yes, Pep Guardiola rested players, and Bayer Leverkusen are no European minnows. However, there was a sense that after Xabi Alonso and key players left in the summer, Bayer Leverkusen would struggle to be competitive domestically and in Europe. Yet their current form under new coach Kasper Hjulmand is making those critics stand up and take notice.
To win 2-0 away against Manchester City (whatever the context) is the kind of result that few sides have managed in the league/group phase for some time.
With Leverkusen 1-0 up at the break, Guardiola clearly realised his side were on course for a banana skin when he rang the changes early in the second half, bringing on the trio of Phil Foden, Jeremy Doku and Nico O'Reilly. Yet the visitors weren't fazed by City's star names entering the fray. Leverkusen kept their composure, stayed compact defensively and continued to cause City problems on the counter.
In the 54th minute, one such counter-attack resulted in a second goal. Alex Grimaldo (the scorer of the first goal) found space on the left wing before laying it off to Ibrahim Maza, who whipped in a fizzing cross that was begging someone to attack, and that is exactly what Patrik Schick did, glancing a header into the top corner.
City soon responded by bringing on goal machine Erling Haaland, but not even the Norwegian could rescue the home side on this occasion. Leverkusen produced a clinical display to outclass Man City and remind the footballing world they still mean business.
A special mention to former winners of this award PSV, who stunned Liverpool 4-1 at Anfield, but at this point, is anyone really that surprised? Arne Slot's second campaign is spiralling out of control, and each 'shock' defeat becomes more believable.
PSV deserve huge credit, but they are just the latest in an ever-increasing list of clubs getting the better of Liverpool this season.
Team of the week: Chelsea
This is rarely an easy decision, but this week was one of the less challenging decisions in a while. Chelsea's performance in front of a rocking Stamford Bridge on Tuesday night against old foes Barcelona was simply faultless.
Enzo Maresca's side set the tone from minute one with an intensity and urgency of a team needing a late goal to save their blushes. Chelsea attacked Barcelona with relentless energy, not letting up for one minute.
It was a genius move from Marseca, as he knew that getting the crowd into the game from the start and looking to exploit Barcelona's insanely high line was their best chance of success.
If you allow Hansi Flick's Barcelona to boss proceedings with their attacking quality, it is unlikely to end well. Lamine Yamal can make something happen out of nothing and is as much of a creative force as he is a goal threat. Robert Lewandowski is just about the best goalscorer and poacher in the business; he likely only needs one half-chance inside the six-yard box and it is game over.
Quite plainly, Chelsea couldn't sit back and play the underdog role. They had to take on the role of the favourites and fake it until they believed it. Even if, somewhere deep down, they knew Barcelona were better than them. For Tuesday night at least, Chelsea sat on the throne, and Barcelona had to play the role of the pretender.
And it worked brilliantly. After taking a deserved early lead, Chelsea were handed a gift in the way of a Ronald Araujo second yellow at the end of the first half. Incredibly, Flick refused to change his approach in the second half as 10-man Barcelona set up with the same barely believable high line. Chelsea knew they had a golden opportunity to inflict a knockout blow but they still had to execute it.
Time and again, Chelsea forwards found themselves in glorious space in behind Barcelona's defence. First, it was the brilliant Estevao who found the roof of the net after a mazy run to double Chelsea's lead before Liam Delap put the cherry on the cake of a convincing win.
A humbling night for Barcelona, who were shot in the foot by their stubborn manager. As for Chelsea, it was very much their night as they went from faking to believing. Maybe they are the real deal?
Moment of the week: Kolo Muani scores superb brace against parent club
As PSG beat Spurs in an eight-goal thriller in Paris on Wednesday evening, it would be easy to miss the fact that Ranadal Kolo Muani was involved in all three of Spurs' goals against his parent club. In theory, he could be playing for PSG again next season but last night he was tasked with helping his temporary side cause an upset against his parent club. A bizarre situation indeed.
Kolo Muani, though, seemed to thrive on proving PSG wrong for letting him leave on loan (again). First, the French striker brilliantly teed up his strike partner Richarlison with a cushioned header across goal that left Richarlison to head into an empty net.
A stunning hit from Vitinha would level things up before Kolo Muani pounced on a loose ball inside the box to put Spurs ahead for the second time.
Vitinha continued to run the show as PSG turned the game on its head, leading 4-2 and seemingly out of sight. That was when Kolo Muani scored an even better goal to complete his brace, wriggling past his man before firing a strike with venom past the helpless Lucas Chevalier.
Two goals and an assist is some way to remind your parent club what you are capable of. However, it will be Spurs fans who will be most encouraged by Muani's display.
Before last night, his loan hadn't really got going due to a spell on the sidelines and a lack of minutes when fit. However, after last night, he has surely done enough to convince Thomas Frank to give him a run of games and turn an underwhelming loan spell into a successful one.
