One hell of a diabolical game week in the Champions League

Champions League shocks: Arsenal, Real Madrid, and Man City suffer stunning losses in a bizarre game week, while Liverpool dominates Leverkusen.

Inter Milan's Yan Sommer barging into Mikel Merino of Arsenal in their Champions League game on Wednesday. (Photo credit: Sky Sports)

The just concluded round of group stage games in the Champions League must go down as the most diabolical set ever with weird results and strange occurrences.

On Wednesday night, far away in Italy, Yan Sommer's collision with Mikel Merino resulted in the referee and the VAR rejecting Mikel Arteta's Arsenal's cold-blooded penalty appeal. However, the same player's contentious handball in the Arsenal area swiftly earned the Gunners a penalty.

Arsenal's 1-0 loss raises questions about the outcome, as the Gunners missed numerous opportunities and only managed to register four shots on target, while the hosts scored with their lone shot on target. Additionally, Arsenal's possession of thirteen corners, compared to Inter's zero, is quite unusual.

Elsewhere on the night, Aston Villa went into the game against Club Brugge as the favorite side to win, considering different metrics. Unai Emery’s side has never lost to any Belgian side, and the hosts haven’t won in the competition since this new format started.

Emi Martinez thwarted all clear-cut chances Villa created in the first half. Then disaster struck in the second half; Martinez restarted the game with a goal kick, and Tyron Mings handled the ball to restart himself with the referee pointing to the spot for a penalty.

What would you sum up?

Feyenoord had been on a high until Wednesday, when they hosted RB Salzburg. As the Austrian side struggled in the tournament, the hosts lost 3-1. It was likely the same Dutch side that had defeated Benfica away on match day 3.

Looking back, Tuesday's games also defied expectations, with RB Leipzig's 3-1 loss at Celtic. The German side was the hot favorite to win the game considering Celtic’s indifferent form—a strange result to say the least.

Real Madrid lost scandalously at home to AC Milan, and you must agree that this was the highlight of what we call a diabolical game week. Milan is a top side, but their recent pedigree doesn’t come near Madrid's. With the Spanish side having more to fight for, how did they lose that badly?

Liverpool destroyed Xabi Alonso’s Bayer Leverkusen, but can we talk about Manchester City? How did they lose 4-1 at Sporting? That was an anomaly, and the Rodri excuse won’t be tenable forever. It was one hell of a game week in the Champions League, but it is what it is.