UEFA Champions League Wednesday takeaways: Liverpool stay perfect and quietly dominate the league phase

Barcelona won big while Liverpool joined Aston Villa at the top of the league phase table

The UEFA Champions League has gone through three rounds of League Phase games now and it is Premier League pair Aston Villa and Liverpool leading the way with maximum points. The chasing pack of Manchester City, AS Monaco, Stade Brestois 29, Bayer Leverkusen, Inter, Sporting CP and Arsenal on seven points is strong but few can say that Unai Emery and Arne Slot's men would have been their choices to lead the field after three full rounds of games. The new-look UCL format was expected to deliver the unexpected and so far it has been true to that without jeopardizing any clubs' chances of potentially advancing to the knockout phase.

We go through the main takeaways from Wednesday's action.

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Liverpool silently look strong

The Reds leading the way in the Champions League and the Premier League is impressive and is perhaps a sign that Arne Slot's men could really be contenders domestically and in Europe this season. It is still early days but away wins over Milan and RB Leipzig are not known to be easy and victories over Chelsea and Manchester United have been EPL highlights. True, there is an argument that Liverpool are yet to face their toughest tests with Arsenal, Brighton and Hove Albion and Leverkusen coming up within the next week or so. However, it has been impressive so far from the Dutch tactician.

Bayern are in big trouble

Consecutive Champions League defeats will have alarm bells ringing at Allianz Arena after Villa and now Barcelona got the better of the Bavarians in the League Phase. So unused to losing games in the group stage, the Germans suddenly look vulnerable and it is very uncharacteristic of them in Europe. This was not just a loss to Barca -- it was a thrashing which is even rarer for the Bundesliga giants. With a sluggish Paris Saint-Germain also to come, maximum points from all other games is becoming imperative – even this early on.

Stade Brestois are not out of their depth

Expected to be well out of their depth and potential cannon fodder, Brest have been arguably the surprise package of this Champions League campaign so far with seven points from nine and an unbeaten run which now includes Leverkusen. This is all part of an impressive French showing in terms of coefficient points which has already seen Monaco, Lille and Brest all pick up more wins than regular flagship side PSG. Just three points away from the recognizing minimum to make it into the knockout phase, can Eric Roy's plucky minnows get the job done?

But the Red Bull teams might be

It is not a good look so far for RB Leipzig and Red Bull Salzburg who have both lost all three games and currently sit in the elimination places. The Germans and the Austrians collectively and individually have more European experience than they are showing at present so expect that to be addressed but so many losses already is a significant blow to Red Bull's hopes of seeing both sides advance to the knockout phase. Leipzig, especially, will be expected to do better yet have Inter, Villa and Sporting left to face which is not easy.

Lille love a Madrid date

Bruno Genesio's French outfit have turned into Madrid slayers having beaten Real and now Atletico in consecutive games. After a poor start away at Sporting, LOSC have morphed into a formidable European side and now have more points than PSG to sit within the Top 24. Brest might be leading the way but Les Dogues are turning it around in fine style and Canada Men's National Team star Jonathan David scoring three times over the 1-0 win at home to Real and the 3-1 success away at Atleti. If Lille, Brest and Monaco can keep this up, PSG's patchy form might not be such a worry for Ligue 1 and French soccer on the continental stage.

City crush Czechia coefficient

Things were going so well for Czechia's coefficient until Sparta Praha's thumping at the hands of Manchester City dropped their coefficient down to fourth behind a strong France which is now into the debate with England and Portugal. The gap is no huge for now but the chasm between City and Sparta was enormous with Erling Haaland unsurprisingly helping himself to two more goals as Pep Guardiola's men steamrolled their way onwards.