The most important continental tournament in the world is back. Return the Champions League with a key day in the fight for qualification to the round of 16. The highlight match of the date will be the cross between Inter Milan y Arsenala duel between those who lead their respective leagues and two of the best teams of the moment, who will face each other in search of a place in the next phase of the competition, which will be an unmissable match.
The Italian team comes to this match with a solid presence in Serie A: it is the leader of the championship and has a streak of more than five games without defeat, backed by a collective performance and a Lautaro Martínez on. In San Sirothe team Cristian Chivu He will try to impose his hierarchy and his style to take a key step in his European objective.
On the other hand, Arsenal Mikel Arteta is going through a stage of consolidation in the Premier Leagueimposing itself with authority in one of the most demanding leagues in the world. With a young but highly competitive squad, the London team is undefeated in eleven games. Los Gunnersthe only ones to win all their matches in the regular phase of the Champions League, will seek to become stronger away from home and seal their qualification for the round of 16.
A small detail that is not insignificant: the last visit of the London team to the Lombard temple was a victory for the Nerazzurri by 1 to 0, with a goal Hakan Çalhanoğlucriminal.
They could also achieve a direct pass to the round of 16, or at least be very close, Bayern Munich (15 points), Paris Saint-Germain, Manchester City y Atalanta (the three tied with 13 units).
Except for the French champion, who will play in Lisbon against Sporting (14th), the rest face teams that are eliminated for now: Bayern against Union Saint-Gilloise of Belgium, City against the They will/Glimt Norwegian and Atalanta against Athletic Club from Bilbao.
The top five teams are the only teams that are guaranteed to continue in the competition by having, as a lesser evil, their pass to the play-off for access to the round of 16 (eliminatory that will be played by the teams classified from ninth to 24th place).
The only reference we have is from last season, when the current Champions League format was released: 16 points were needed to get directly into the round of 16.
From the sixth place (Inter) everything gets complicated and nothing has been decided. Real Madrid, Atlético de Madrid y Liverpool (the three tied with the Italians at 12 points) need a positive result to forget their sorrows in their leagues.
And all three have complicated commitments: the tool Diego Simeone and Liverpool visit two very hot fields (Galatasaray y Olympique de Marseille) and the Merengue receives Monaco in a Bernabéu that on Saturday received the players with whistles and boos and shouts against the president after having lost two titles last week (Super Cup and Copa del Rey) and the replacement of Xabi Alonso on the bench by Álvaro Arbeloa, who will make his debut in matches for Orejona.
Barcelona (15th with 10 points) travels to Prague with the obligation to beat Slavia to continue aspiring to the Top 8, like other leading clubs such as Chelsea, Juventus, Napoli y Borussia Dortmund.
