A year ago, in the first-ever Champions League league phase last season, a number of heavyweights messed around a little bit. PSG won only one of their first five matches and rallied to finish 15th in the 36-team table; their punishment was a round-of-16 matchup with top seed Liverpool . (This became more of a punishment for Liverpool when PSG's best-in-the-world form snapped into place over the winter.) Real Madrid lost three of their first five and drew Manchester City , which went four games winless, in the playoff round just to get to the round of 16 . There were tangible consequences for inattention.

Well, consider it "lesson learned" because the heavyweights haven't messed around this season. Of the current top 12 teams in the Opta rankings , 11 are in the Champions League

See Full Page