The final group games of the UEFA Champions League is upon us, and some of the big boys have qualified but the likes of Barcelona, Atletico Madrid and Dortmund might be heading to the Europa League play offs
The group A of the champions league has Manchester City, Paris Saint German, RB Leipzig and Club Brugge. Guardiola boys have qualified and top of the log with 12 points even after they lost their first game to the boys from Paris, they went on to win their last four games including a 2-1 victory over PSG in the return leg, PSG on the other hand have also secured their spot in the round of 16 with 8 point while RB Leipzig must beat Man City and hope Club Brugge doesn’t defeat PSG to have a shot at the Europa League play offs.
In group B, Liverpool have qualified and top of the table, winning all their five matches against AC Milan, Porto and Atletico to gather 15 points and if they defeat Milan in their last game, that’s a 100% record in the group stage for the Merseyside reds.
To advance to the next round, Milan need a win and for either Porto versus Atletico to end in a draw or an Atletico win that’s less or equal than their win versus Liverpool while Atletico need a win and hope Milan doesn’t defeat Liverpool, Porto also need to win but a draw will be enough if Milan doesn’t win.
Elsewhere in group C, this might be Ajax season according what’s on paper, after all Erik Ten Hag’s team are clear up the top and through to the next round with five wins from five. Meanwhile, Dortmund will have to secure a win over Besiktas and hope Sporting doesn’t beat Ajax in the other group game, Sporting CP need a win over Ajax to advance irrespective of what happens between Dortmund and Besiktas.
One of the biggest upset in Europe happened in this group when Sheriff defeated Real Madrid to make it two wins from two after they had already beaten Shakhtar in their first group game, the two wins means Sheriff will play in the Europa League play off. Real Madrid and Inter Milan are both through to the next round, and the winner of the game will top the group to have a good draw in the round of 16.
The champions league round of 16 might not include Barcelona for first time in the last 17 seasons. The Catalans have struggled in the champions league this season suffering two heavy defeat to Bayern and Benfica, they have since then managed to gather seven points and now Xavi have a big task of defeating Bayern Munich who are top of the log with maximum points, and considering their last three meetings and the current form of the Bundesliga giant, if Benfica manage to defeat Dynamo Kyiv and Xavi boys doesn’t get a win against Bayern, then we might just see Barcelona in the Europa League play off draw for the round of 32.
Meanwhile in group F, Manchester United changed their own fortune after a surprise defeat to Young boys in their first group game. They have gone on to secure 10 points from Villareal and Atalanta. Ralf Rangnick’s new look side will be looking to make a statement in their game against Young boys to secure top spot, while Atalanta and Villareal battle it out for a second place in the next round.
The group is still wide open and any two out of the four teams can still qualify for the next round. Lille only need to avoid defeat against Wolfsburg for a guaranteed place in the next round, while RB Salzburg and Sevilla will both fight for second place in the round of 16. In the last group, Chelsea and Juventus have both secured their place in the next round, but the fight for who’s going to finish top of the log is still on with Chelsea having the better advantage on goal difference.
The fact that we might not see some big clubs with big players in the next round of the Uefa Champions League makes it the best competition to watch in the game.
