UCL Review: Arsenal's perfect record, Liverpool's big win and other stories

Arsenal perfect 6/6, Martinelli scores in 5 straight; Liverpool, Liverpool, Man City & Spurs win big in UCL; Chelsea & Newcastle drop points.

Gabriel Martinelli and Noni Madueke celebrate after helping Arsenal to a 3-0 win over Club Brugge in the Champions League on Wednesday to maintain a 100% record in the competition. (Photo credit: ESPN)

Arsenal, Liverpool, Manchester City and Tottenham all enjoyed wins in the Champions League this week, while Chelsea and Newcastle dropped points, with the latter losing away at Atalanta.

Each of the four teams got significant boosts with their win, as the result represents something special for all of them. Starting with the Gunners, they have now won all six of their Champions League games, conceding only one goal, which was to Bayern Munich. What a feat!

The 3-0 success over Club Brugge also had Gabriel Martinelli becoming the first player to score in five straight games for the Gunners in the competition. The win away at Brugge has now guaranteed Arsenal an automatic qualification for the round of 16.

For the reigning Premier League champions, the win away at Inter Milan means so much, much more than the three points they got. It was a show of unity, which, for now, confines the Mohammed Salah issues into the gutters; they terribly needed the win.

The win also put Liverpool in a good place to advance to the round of 16 automatically. They play away to Marseille and at home to Qarabag in their final two games; automatic qualification is still in their hands, as they currently sit in 9th, just one place off the top 8.

For Manchester City, beating Real Madrid away from home will always be a huge confidence booster. The title race in England is heating up; such a win over the Los Blancos is telling. It will reverberate around the squad, and they will need the confidence as they return to the league with fast and furious fixtures.

Also, the win takes them up to 13 points, which helped them to climb up to fourth on the group phase log; an away trip to Norway awaits them next as they face Bodo/Glimt, and then a final day home fixture against Galatasaray. Their top 8 finish should be assured.

For Tottenham, it was a pivotal win. Their home form has been suspect; winning against Slavia put them in a good place ahead of their final two fixtures. Their final two games are against German oppositions, with a home game against BVB next and then a final-day fixture against Frankfurt.

Winning those two could send them into the top 8; depending on surrounding results, however, the confidence from Tuesday’s win could help them in the domestic league, where they hope to legitimately compete for the title.

Chelsea have lots of work to do if they want to advance automatically, but playoffs would be their most likely outlet alongside Newcastle, who settled for a draw on Wednesday at Bayern Leverkusen.