The brand new-look Champions League heads into the ultimate spherical of group-stage fixtures on Wednesday with all the things nonetheless to play for. Right here we have a look at what every of the British groups must do to achieve the following spherical…
Manchester Metropolis
Pep Guardiola at all times anticipated Manchester Metropolis’s try and keep away from Champions League “relegation” to go to the ultimate sport – they usually want a win in opposition to Membership Brugge to remain within the competitors.
, regardless of going 2-0 up by Jack Grealish and Erling Haaland, means they dropped to twenty fifth place within the desk, which might see them eradicated in the event that they completed there.
The excellent news for Guardiola’s crew is that victory in opposition to Brugge on Wednesday will take them to 11 factors and can nearly actually be sufficient to safe them a play-off spot – as they’ll leapfrog the Belgians – to achieve the knockout levels of this season’s competitors.
Information firm Opta Analysts ran a simulation of the brand new “Swiss Mannequin” format and in 99 per cent of assessments 10 factors is sufficient to safe a play-off place, which sees the groups ending between ninth and twenty fourth battling to achieve the following spherical. Different outcomes this week imply a draw in opposition to Brugge will not be sufficient for Metropolis to progress.
Liverpool
Uefa modified the format of the competitors this season with groups taking part in eight video games within the group stage and getting ranked between one and 36. The highest eight go straight by to the final 16, with Liverpool already securing their place after ot the league stage of the event.
Arsenal
Arsenal are just about assured of a top-eight place after .
Aston Villa
Villa are assured a play-off place and will seal a top-eight slot .
Celtic
The Scots assured themselves of a play-off spot after beating Younger Boys 1-0. Who would have thought they might be seven locations above Metropolis?
Present standings and possibilities of progressingWhat are the ultimate spherical of fixtures?
What occurs subsequent?
The play-off draw will likely be held on January 31 in Nyon. The groups ending ninth to sixteenth will likely be seeded, and will likely be drawn in opposition to the unseeded groups ending seventeenth to twenty fourth. As an illustration, ninth and tenth will likely be drawn to play both twenty third or twenty fourth.
Groups might be drawn in opposition to one other from the identical nation or an opponent they confronted through the league section.
