Spure excitement on the last day of the match in group D of the Champions League. All four clubs – leaders Tottenham (8 points), second Sporting Lisbon (7), third Eintracht Frankfurt (7) and current group bottom Olympique Marseille (6) – can still be group winners at the end of the group phase – or in the worst case even drop out of the premier class.
The final places one and two entitle to participate in the round of 16 of the Champions League. Third place takes the club in question into the Europa League. And fourth place means retiring from international business.
Frankfurt Eintracht would move up from third to first place in the final standings and lead the group for the first time after the final round if they won in Lisbon this Tuesday (9 p.m. in the FAZ live ticker for the Champions League and on DAZN). At the same time, Tottenham are unlikely to be successful in Marseille. Should the English prevail over the French, however, the Hessians would end up in second place even if they won in Lisbon. Either way: Eintracht would only be represented in the Champions League at the beginning of next year if they were successful in Lisbon.
Coach Oliver Glasner’s team would be third in the group if they ended the game with a draw against the Portuguese. In addition, for this constellation to come about, Marseille must not win against Tottenham. Third place would also result in a loss in Lisbon if Marseille didn’t win against Tottenham.
Eintracht threatens a novelty
Frankfurt would take the thankless fourth place if they drew against Sporting and Marseille won against Tottenham. The same applies if Frankfurt fails in Lisbon if Marseille wins against Tottenham.
The following final scenario in Group D would go down in the history books: Frankfurt, Tottenham and Marseille would all get eight points each. The prerequisite for this would be a draw by Frankfurt in Lisbon and at the same time a victory by Marseille over Tottenham. Then the French would be group winners.
In accordance with UEFA regulations, a direct comparison of the three teams with the same number of points would then decide on the placement behind Marseille. And in this case, Frankfurt would have lost the direct comparison against Lisbon (0: 3 in the first leg) and Tottenham (0: 0, 2: 3).
This would mean that Eintracht would fall back to fourth place in the group – and create a first in the history of the Champions League: a team with eight points has never finished last in its group. In their debut season in the Champions League, that would be a big blow for Frankfurt after the last day of the game.
