THE UEFA CHAMPIONS League group stages are completed for American players and while a record nine American players participated in the group stages, the results and performances were mixed.

When considering the nine players who participated in the group stages, five advanced to the knockout stages. Gio Reyna is an established first-team player with Borussia Dortmund but has been injured since early September when he pulled his hamstring while playing for the United States national team against Canada. He did not make an appearance in the Champions League and Borussia Dortmund did not advance to the knockouts. Including Reyna, five Americans advanced and five did not.

Here is a list

Advanced to Champions League knockouts

•         Zack Steffen and Manchester City: won Group A
•         Tim Weah and Lille: won Group G
•         Brenden Aaronson and Red Bull Salzburg: 2nd in Group G
•         Weston McKennie and Juventus: won Group H
•         Christian Pulisic and Chelsea: 2nd in Group H

Placed into Europa League Knockouts

•         Tyler Adams and RB Leipzig: 3rd in Group A
•         Gio Reyna and Borussia Dortmund: 3rd in Group C
•         Sergino Dest and Barcelona: 3rd in Group E

Eliminated from European competitions

•         Jordan Pefok and Young Boys: 4th in Group F
•         John Brooks and Wolfsburg: 4th in Group G

Notes: This does not include Owen Otasowie who made the bench but has yet to make any first team appearance for Club Brugge (which finished fourth in Group A and was eliminated), Romain Gall who is still under contract at Malmo (which finished fourth in Group H and was eliminated) but is no longer used by the club, or Malik Tillman who made two Champions League appearances for Bayern Munich (which won Group E) and is an American citizen but has appeared recently with Germany’s U-21 team.

Final Round breakdown

This past week saw the teams play their final games of the group stages and only Christian Pulisic and Brenden Aaronson stood out. Weston McKennie, Tim Weah, and Gio Reyna were all out with injuries. John Brooks, meanwhile, was an unused substitute for Wolfsburg which underwent a coaching change during the course of the campaign and had a very disappointing group stage.

Tyler Adams and RB Leipzig defeated Zack Steffen and Manchester City 2-1 on Tuesday. With Manchester City having already secured first in Group A, Steffen was given the start. Leipzig was already eliminated from advancing but needed a result to be assured of third place and a spot in the Europa.

Adams played the final 27 minutes and had just 11 touches and a yellow card. Steffen, meanwhile, made three saves and was very strong, despite the loss. 

Sergino Dest was pulled at halftime by Xavi after the U.S. national team right back struggled in a 3-0 loss to Bayern Munich. If Dest was looking to make a positive impression upon his new manager, it didn’t work out. Unsurprisingly, there were media reports that Dest could be among a number of Barcelona starters on the transfer block in January.

????????????[ @gerardromero????] | Marc Andre Ter-Stegen, Frenkie De Jong and Sergiño Dest will all be placed on the transfer market in the upcoming window. #FCBlive pic.twitter.com/UhWzeBGFPr

— BarçaTimes (@BarcaTimes) December 9, 2021

Barcelona these days is not like Barcelona of the past. The team is cash poor, the fans are angry, and there is no Messi to bail the team out. The team needs a ton of work and Dest is not a player that every elite club is going to have use for. He’s excellent offensively, but prone to poor performances defensively.

Dest will certainly go to a very good team in a top five European league, but will he remain with an elite team? Possibly since Barcelona will ask for a lot. But who is both going to spend a lot on Dest and have plans to use him as a starter?

Jordan Pefok played 63 minutes on Wednesday for BSC Young Boys in a 1-1 draw against Manchester United. The Washington, DC-born No. 9 forward had 19 touches, and three shots (one blocked and two off target). Now the team managed by former U.S. national team forward David Wagner will get to concentrate on the Swiss Super Liga. The four-time reigning champs have fallen to fourth place – nine points behind leaders, FC Zurich.

Christian Pulisic came off the bench for Chelsea in the 65^th minute against Zenit in Russia and assisted on Timo Werner’s 85^th minute goal which gave Chelsea a 3-2 lead. Pulisic showed a lot of class on the play and it was an impressive moment.

But Chelsea squandered the opportunity and conceded a stoppage time equalizer in a 3-3 draw.

The result meant that Chelsea finished second in the group behind Juventus. Chelsea still advanced to the knockouts but will have a tougher path as a result of failing to hold on for the win on Wednesday.

Finally, it was a monumental win for Brenden Aaronson and Red Bull Salzburg which advanced to the knockout stages of the Champions League in a year when the Red Bull empire’s top club, RB Leipzig, did not. This was clinched on Wednesday when Salzburg defeated Sevilla 1-0 to finish second in their group ahead of Sevilla and Wolfsburg but behind Lille

“There are so many emotions that go into it,” Aaronson said afterward. “The celebrations have already started. It's well deserved. I think this group deserves it. This club deserves it. It's an amazing, amazing feeling. We worked very hard. Sevilla is a world class team. It was a hard game for us but to come through and get the win - it's amazing. I am proud of the boys.”

“I think we finished our chance when we got it. I don't think we had many clean looks on goal. We got it, we scored, we won.”

The New Jersey native played a full 90 in the win and had a hand in the build-up to the team’s only goal. His numbers reflected his very hard-fought effort to get his team into the knockouts.

Brenden Aaronson: raw # for Salzburg in 1-0 win vs. Sevilla
90 mins
46 touches
2 shots
0 key passes
1 "hockey assist"
23/27 passing
1 cross
1/1 long balls
6/11 duels won
2 clearances
1/1 dribbles
1/2 tackles
3/6 aerials
- Salzburg advance to the knockouts#USMNT

— Brian Sciaretta (@BrianSciaretta) December 8, 2021

Aaronson is likely to get interest in the transfer market in the upcoming window, but with the knockouts approaching there is a good reason for him to remain with the club another six months – although it is hard to see him coming back for a third season in Austria.