MANCHESTER, England (AP) — paris saint germainReal Madrid, Barcelona and Manchester City are among the giants of European football and are preparing for a nerve-wracking final round of matches. Champions League opening game on wednesday.
All could qualify for the play-offs on a spectacular night of 18 games in Europe’s elite club competition.
Only eight teams will advance directly to the Round of 16. The next 16 teams will compete in a two-legged playoff to complete their lineups for the knockout phase.
After seven rounds, the only teams that are certain to advance are first-place Arsenal and second-place Bayern Munich.
This leaves third-placed Madrid and 15th-placed Juventus just three points apart, potentially setting up a thrilling night of matches.
I can’t call because it’s too close
Eight teams, from 6th place PSG to 13th place Atalanta, are tied with 13 points. Therefore, unstable movements are expected depending on the results.
PSG will host Newcastle at home. The French giants have outscored the English club and a loss or draw could see the defending champions drop out of the top eight.
Barcelona and City, with 13 points, are hoping to move into the automatic qualification spots.
Barcelona will host Copenhagen, while 2023 Champions League winners City will host Galatasaray.
City manager Josep Guardiola said: “We would like to get more (points), but we deserve them.” “We need to concentrate and try to win the game and then see where we finish.
“We’ll know the result in the last 10 minutes and then we’ll know (what we have to do). We have to focus on our game. That’s the key.”
PSG and City reached the play-offs last season with vastly different results. City finished as runners-up and missed out on a place in the round of 16. Lost to Madridmeanwhile PSG continued to win the competition first time.
PSG manager Luis Enrique said: “If we sign with a loss or a draw (against Newcastle), we will be in the top 15 like we were last season.” “If you ask me, we will finish in the top 15 and then win the Champions League outright.”
brink
Chelsea are eighth, but their opponents Napoli are far more dangerous.
The Serie A champions sit 25th in the table, one place below the play-offs and face the humiliating prospect of elimination. This will be one of the most mouth-watering fixtures of the night, with Napoli facing former Premier League winner Chelsea manager Antonio Conte’s old club.
“I know[Chelsea]well, I know their ambitions, they are club world champions, we have to give our all,” Conte said. “You can’t underestimate them. We know what it means to play on home ground. It’s great to see the Blue Wave supporting us.”
Two-time Champions League winner Jose Mourinho could be another high-profile manager to leave the competition in the first stage, with Benfica needing to beat former club Madrid and rely on other results to make it to the play-offs.
Madrid are in third place with 15 points, but a place in the top eight is still not guaranteed.
Premier League advantage
Five Premier League teams are in the top eight, with Arsenal in first place with 15 points and Liverpool in fourth place.
Liverpool will be expected to qualify directly as they host Azerbaijan side Qarabag on Wednesday. However, Qarabag are one of the surprise packages this season and are in the playoffs.
Tottenham sit fifth in the table with 14 points and their performance in Europe is a rare boost for manager Thomas Frank, who has come under increasing scrutiny over his team’s form domestically.
Spurs will head to Eintracht Frankfurt, who have already been eliminated.
perfection
Arsenal will host bottom-of-the-table Kairat and should become the first team to complete a perfect start to the league. This will be the second season with a new format replacing the previous group stage.
In the previous format, 13 teams advanced with perfect records, but only six games needed to be played before the knockout phase.
If Arsenal defeat Kairat as expected, they will have eight wins.
Are new formats available?
Many top teams face the prospect of making the play-offs, but if Barcelona and City can force their way through, the automatic spots could still be dominated by Europe’s elite teams.
The previous format was considered obsolete because it didn’t pose enough danger to the game.
Perhaps the only major shock would be if Napoli failed to make the play-offs, but that could lead to accusations that the new format still produces predictable results.
However, the fact that there is so much uncertainty heading into the final round suggests that this format creates great danger all the way to the end.
When is the playoff draw?
The playoff draw will take place on Friday at 12:00 CET.
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James Robson is https://x.com/James Saran Robson
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