Champions League Last Day: Qualified, Eliminated & Playoff Teams

By Federico Leiva, CNN in Spanish

If the new format sought to give excitement to the UEFA Champions League, well, congratulations, they have achieved it. There are barely 90 minutes of play remaining in the first stage of competition and only 6 teams of the 36 participants have confirmed their future in the tournament. This Wednesday comes the last day of the so-called League Phase, where all the clubs will play at the same time, with an extremely reserved forecast.

For the second consecutive season, UEFA decided to implement a League Phase that replaced the now defunct Group Phase. Under this format, the 36 teams are in the same standings, and after eight games (decided by draw and based on the four pots into which the participating clubs were distributed), the eight best placed access the round of 16 of the tournament.

Likewise, the eight worst in the competition are automatically eliminated, with no possibility of playing another European competition until next year (unlike what happened until 2024, when the third in each group went down to the Europa League).

The eight vacant places in the round of 16 will be competed for by the teams that finish between ninth and twenty-fourth place in the table, playing a playoff phase with round-trip matches. The eight winners will complete the round of 16, where the usual modality will be repeated, with round-trip series until the grand final, a single match.

There are only two teams that are already guaranteed their participation in the top 16 of the tournament. One of them is England’s Arsenal, the only one that maintains a perfect pace, with seven wins in seven appearances. The Gunners reached the semi-finals last season and it seems like they are going for it this year, as they are also leaders of the Premier League.

The other qualified club is Bayern Munich of Germany, which won six of the seven games it played. The remainder was a defeat, precisely against Arsenal. The Bavarians also dominate the Bundesliga, so they are rounding off a great season.

Only four teams already know that this Wednesday they will say goodbye to the competition.

Kairat Almaty (36th) had its debut in Europe’s top club competition this year, but its dream ended in the worst way, with just one point out of a possible 21. Their last rival will be Arsenal in London, in a match where there is nothing to be defined.

Surprisingly, Villarreal’s progress (35th) was short-lived in this edition of the Champions League. Although they are fourth in LaLiga, in a qualifying position for the next Champions League, in Europe they have only one draw and six defeats, adding the same points as the debutant Kairat Almaty.

The other two eliminated are Slavia Prague (34th) from the Czech Republic and Eintracht Frankfurt (33rd) from Germany, a team from which a little more was expected in the competition. With three and four units, respectively, their fate is already sealed.

There are exactly 30 teams with an uncertain future, which will take the field this Wednesday, either fighting for direct qualification to the round of 16 or at least a place in the previous playoffs.

Real Madrid (3rd) and Liverpool (4th) have 15 points and great chances of getting into the top 16, but to be sure they will have to win, since a draw puts them within reach of almost a dozen teams that could surpass them or equal them in number of units. Merengue has a risky visit against José Mourinho’s Benfica (29th), which must win and by a good margin to get into the playoff round. The Reds, for their part, will host the surprise Qarabag FK (18th) from Azerbaijan, which against all odds is escaping elimination, but is definitely not safe.

Despite the football crisis that is making them look askance at the relegation spots in the Premier League, Tottenham (5th) is among the eight best in the Champions League and will visit the eliminated Eintracht Frankfurt to confirm it. A tie will put that status at risk, because there are eight teams that today have only one point less.

In that line of 13 points are the defending champion, Paris Saint-Germain (6th), along with Newcastle (7th) and Chelsea (8th), completing those who until now would qualify directly for the round of 16. However, it’s just goal difference that puts them in that position, so there are no guarantees. FC Barcelona (9th), Sporting Lisbon (10th), Manchester City (11th), Atlético de Madrid (12th) and Atalanta (13th) have the same units.

Whoever loses the direct duel between PSG and Newcastle will have the worst part, since they will surely fall into the playoff zone.

Further behind come Inter (14th), who will have a key duel against Borussia Dortmund (16th), and Juventus (15th), who still have a chance of entering the top eight teams.

Galatasaray (17th) and Qarabag FK (18th) have almost no chance of exceeding the threshold of ninth place, but they must win to stay in the playoff zone, as do Olympique Marseille (19th), Bayer Leverkusen (20th), Monaco (21st), PSV Eindhoven (22nd), Athletic Club de Bilbao (23rd) and Olympiacos (24th).

Napoli (25th), FC Copenhagen (26th), Brugge (27th), Bodo/Glimt (28th), Benfica (29th), Pafos FC (30th), Union St. Gilloise (31st) and Ajax (32nd) are in the elimination zone, but a win will put them in the fight to at least enter the playoff phase before the round of 16.