
After the 7th round of the Champions League group stage, some say that among the six English Premier League teams, five are in the top eight (automatic qualification zone), with only Manchester City lagging behind at 11th, bottom among the English clubs, truly shameful! But the real embarrassment in the big five leagues comes from Eintracht Frankfurt in Ligue 1 and Villarreal in La Liga.
As everyone knows, this season's Champions League has expanded to 36 teams in the league phase, playing 8 rounds. The top eight teams qualify directly, teams ranked 9th to 24th enter a two-legged playoff, while those ranked 25th to 36th are eliminated outright, with no relegation to the Europa League anymore.
After 7 rounds of the Champions League, four teams have already been eliminated one round early, losing any chance to be in the top 24. Besides newcomers Almaty Kairat and the weak Prague Slavia, two teams from the big five leagues are also out: Eintracht Frankfurt, ranked 7th in Bundesliga this season, and Villarreal, 3rd in La Liga, among whichEintracht Frankfurt has 4 points after 7 rounds, ranking 33rd (fourth from bottom), and Villarreal only 1 point after 7 rounds, ranking 35th (second from bottom).Having underperforming teams like Eintracht Frankfurt from Bundesliga and Villarreal from La Liga in the Champions League truly drags down their leagues' European coefficients, which is quite embarrassing! It feels similar to how Chinese Super League teams have struggled in recent AFC Champions League campaigns, showing a lack of experience internationally.