With one game to go in the UEFA Champions League league phase, there are still spots in the knockout rounds at stake. Manchester City and Paris Saint-Germain are among the teams still fighting for playoff qualification on 29 January.
Manchester City will face Belgium’s Club Brugge (14.00) in their final UEFA Champions League league phase game on 29 January. Brugge are 20th out of 24 teams with 11 points, while City are 25th with eight points, two behind 24th-placed VfB Stuttgart. Essentially, the equation is clear: City has a better goal difference than Brugge and will progress if they beat Brugge, while a draw gets Brugge through. City will have to regroup after an important Premier League clash with Chelsea on Saturday for this fixture.
After PSG’s 4-2 win over Manchester City, they are 22nd, level on points with Stuttgart, who they will face in another fixture with a knockout spot essentially on the line. This is another mouthwatering clash for soccer betting enthusiasts.
Who Else Is Chasing A Place In The UEFA Champions League Playoffs?
Besides PSG, Brugge, Stuttgart and Manchester City (1.18), other teams currently fighting to secure playoff positions are: PSV Eindhoven, Benfica, Sporting CP, Dinamo Zagreb and Shakhtar Donetsk.
Dinamo will face AC Milan, Sporting will play Bologna, Benfica will play Juventus, and PSV will face Liverpool. All matches are on the same day.
The teams ranked 9th-24th will play each other in a knockout phase playoff round to qualify for the round of 16. The teams in the 9th-16th will be seeded for the knockout phase playoffs and will face unseeded teams in the 17th-24th. Meanwhile, the top eight will have a bye for the playoff round and qualify automatically for the round of 16.
Arsenal, Inter, Atlético Madrid, AC Milan, Atalanta, Bayer Leverkusen, Aston Villa, AS Monaco, Feyenoord, Lille, Brest, Borussia Dortmund, Bayern Munich, Real Madrid, Juventus and Celtic have all secured their places in the knockout rounds. However, these teams have not qualified for the round of 16 just yet.
Who Has Already Qualified for Round of 16?
Only two teams have already secured places in the last 16, with six more bye slots available. Liverpool were the first team to automatically qualify. The Reds are the only team standing with a perfect record in this season’s UEFA Champions League – seven wins from seven games. Barcelona, with six wins from seven, secured their place with a dramatic comeback win over Benfica.
They are the only two teams who can rest easy ahead of the final round of group fixtures. For most of the participating teams, everything is on the line.
Bologna, Sparta Prague, RB Leipzig, Girona, Red Star Belgrade, Sturm Graz, Red Bull Salzburg, Slovan Bratislava and Young Boys have been eliminated. However, they will complete their league phase fixtures. Some of these teams could still play a key role in deciding the fate of some of the teams still standing.
