This was the dramatic night UEFA dreamed of with their new Champions League format

Liverpool's Mohamed Salah celebrates. Pic: Peter Byrne/PA Wire.

You could have been forgiven for thinking it was the last day of the season as the Champions League created the kind of drama and tension not normally associated with January as five Premier League teams made the last 16 and holders Paris St Germain and Real Madrid were left facing a two-legged play-off to progress.

Arsenal, Liverpool, Manchester City, Chelsea and Tottenham all confirmed places in the top eight on the final night of the league phase in football’s greatest club competition.

But PSG, held by another Premier League side – Newcastle United – after Joe Willock’s second half goal meant they drew 1-1 in Paris, were not so lucky.

Even Real Madrid were in trouble, losing out on eighth place after a shock 4-2 defeat to Benfica, despite two goals from Kylian Mbappe.

They even suffered a red card for Raul Asencio in injury time to add to the drama with Benfica's keeper heading home the fourth for Jose Mourinho's men.

The new Champions League format was criticised when it was first unveiled in 2024 - too many games over too many match days, often with little at stake. A European Super League by the back door, perhaps.

There are still many doubters, with suggestions that player fatigue has led to more injuries – and to a reduction in quality in recent Premier League fixtures.

But this year’s European campaign has nevertheless been enthralling and the fact that so many teams arrived at the end of the league stage still in with a chance of automatic qualification for the last 16 had television executives licking their lips and counting their advertising revenue.

Especially as every fixture kicked off at 8pm, providing an opportunity for the ultimate ‘multi-screen’ experiment.

With eight teams on 13 points, all the way from PSG in sixth to Atlanta in 13th, this was a sofa experience not to be missed and a major advertisement for the new format in only its second season.

One of the main focuses was Premier League domination, with the possibility that all six of the league’s qualified teams could make it through to the next stage without the need for an extra play-off tie. Something never achieved before.

On the other side of the coin, a group of European behemoths were sitting below the dotted line; including Barcelona, Manchester City, Inter Milan, Juventus and Borussia Dortmund. Those teams have been champions of Europe on 12 occasions between them and yet faced a play-off if results didn’t go their way.

The only real certainty was that league leaders Arsenal would finish in the top two and guarantee themselves a home game in the second leg of subsequent knock-out ties in this season’s competition, rendering their game against Kairat of Kazakhstan one of few ties with nothing riding on it (especially as Kairat sat bottom of the table on a single point in 36th place – and already assured of elimination).

Arsenal’s 3-2 victory meant little, then. But there was plenty of drama elsewhere.

City, up against Galatasaray, needed Erling Haaland back on form to reach the last 16 and he responded with a goal after only 10 minutes before Rayan Cherki doubled their lead at the Etihad.

Tottenham, enduring a miserable league season in which new manager Thomas Frank has endured endless boos were in Frankfurt, are a totally different beast in the Champions League, as they proved at Eintracht Frankfurt, where second half goals from Kolo Muani and Dominic Solaneke secured an outstanding 2-0 victory.

That performance lifted them into the top four, making a mockery of their form back home in domestic competition and making them one of the stories of the day.

Liverpool, who have suffered so badly in their Premier League title defence this season were feeling pressure despite facing lowly Qarabag at Anfield, fresh from a 3-2 defeat at Bournemouth. But they needn’t have worried.

A double from Alexis Mac Allister ended any concerns, with Florian Wirtz continuing his improved form with another rgoals and Mo Salah and Hugo Ekitike completing a convincing 6-0 win that put Liverpool on course for the knockout stages. Even Federico Chiesa got himself on the scoresheet.

Chelsea, also under pressure having sacked Enzo Maresca and replaced him with youthful coach Liam Rosenior had a tougher task in Napoli – the biggest club going into the final fixtures sitting below the second dotted line, below which cubs faced elimination at the first hurdle.

There was tension in Naples as the Blues found themselves 2-1 down at half-time, despite taking an early lead through Enzo Fernandez. But two goals from Joao Pedro, the second as late as the 83rd minute, saved the day just when it looked like they could miss out on automatic qualification.

Barcelona had fewer problems as Robert Lewandowski, Lamine Yamal, Raphina and Marcus Rashford eased nerves at the Camp Nou with goals in a comfortable 4-2 victory over Copenhagen - even though the Danes took a shock early lead after only four minutes.

But this was a high octane night and just what UEFA must have been hoping for when designing the new format. Has the Champions League ever felt like this before?