Big teams in danger of CL elimination
The CL returns to our screens after the mid season winter break over Christmas. There are two rounds of fixtures to go, meaning that the first phase of the competition will be over and done with by the end of the month. Since it has been a few weeks, and a lot has happened over those weeks, let’s take a look at the current situation.
Of the 36 teams taking part in this stage, only a handful already know their fate with the likes of Young Boys, Slovan Bratislava, RB Leipzig and Bologna already out of the competition. At the other end of the table, Liverpool, Barcelona and Arsenal lead the way with Aston Villa and Brest also both occupying a spot in the top eight. There are some teams that still have work to do, especially Manchester City who are languishing down in 22nd place and Real Madrid, the holders, who are down in 20th place.
The penultimate round of fixtures throws up some interesting match-ups divided over the two game days. Aston Villa can guarantee a place in the top eight if they win in Monaco in one of the early kick-offs and there is an intriguing tie between Atlético Madrid and Leverkusen taking place on Tuesday evening too. Barcelona, Dortmund and Juventus all face away trips but all will be confident of picking up three points whereas leaders Liverpool will be confident of a home win over Lille.
The highlight on Wednesday is, without a doubt, the clash in Paris between PSG and Manchester City. Both teams find themselves at the wrong end of the table with the home team down in 25th place, a position that would end their European campaign. Defeat for either in this match would be a huge blow to their hopes of continuing on in Europe’s top competition. Another struggling giant, Real Madrid, will be optimistic of a home win against Salzburg, who only have three points to their name so far. Italian giants Inter face a trip to Prague and Bayern Munich are also on the road as they head to Feyenoord. Arsenal and AC Milan both have winnable home fixtures against Dinamo Zagreb and Girona respectively.
By the time this round is over we will have an even better idea of who will be continuing on in this competition and it looks like a couple of big teams will be in for a nervous final match day next week.
Atlético Madrid vs Leverkusen
Metropolitano Stadium, Tuesday @ 21:00
Both these teams are on course for the knockout phase of the tournament, but both will know that three points in this match will pretty much guarantee them a place in the top eight. The home side are only one point behind their guests and they will be fired up, looking to bounce back from a surprise 1-0 loss to Leganes at the weekend. That loss was their first since October and they will be desperate to make up for that. The fact that they have only lost one of their last thirteen home matches in Europe will give them confidence going into this, as will the fact they have beaten two German teams recently at home. Atlético have never lost at home to Leverkusen but this has all the markings of a tough, close match.
Leverkusen will be looking to do what they can to keep hold of their place in the last eight and go into this match on the back of a comfortable 3-1 win over Gladbach in the Bundesliga, their 11th consecutive win. They are also unbeaten in their last five meetings against Spanish teams, with three of those matches being wins. On the flip side, they don’t have a good record in the Spanish capital and they have only won one of their last six CL away fixtures so they will probably be content with a draw from this match.
There isn’t much to choose between these two, but the home team are slight favourites. Atlético have won three of the last ten meetings with Leverkusen also winning three.
Benfica vs Barcelona
Estadio da Luz, Tuesday @ 21:00
Benfica switch their attention to Europe again having made easy work of Famalicao at the weekend to keep up pace with Sporting in the league. A win for the Portuguese giants will lift them into the top eight and they are looking to build on their four game winning streak. Their European campaign got off to an excellent start with two wins but then faltered somewhat and lost two of the next four. Surprisingly, it is their home form that is of biggest concern as they have only won one of their last seven home matches in the CL and they could hardly have asked for a tougher opponent than Barcelona, a team who they have failed to score against in five of their last six meetings.
Barcelona will be disappointed to have not managed all three points against Getafe at the weekend, a result which ended their four game winning run. They are on a five game winning streak in this competition, meaning they are up in second place and another win here will mean they can relax next week. They are top scorers in the competition by some distance, with 21 goals already and Hansi Flick will hope that he can build on his impressive win record in this competition.
These two sides have only met eight times before with Barcelona having three wins to Benfica’s solitary win. Four of the eight matches have ended goalless.
Liverpool vs Lille
Anfield, Tuesday @ 21:00
Liverpool’s excellent season continues and they are top of both the PL and the CL heading into this home tie against French team Lille. They have a perfect record so far in Europe with six wins from six matches as well as having the best defensive record with just a solitary goal conceded. If they manage to beat Lille without conceding a goal, they will become only the second team to win six matches in a row in Europe without conceding, Leeds United being the only other team to do so. They needed two late goals to get the better of Brentford at the weekend and they are now looking for their eleventh straight home win in the CL group stage, something they will be confident of achieving as they have an excellent record against French opposition.
Lille, by contrast, have a poor record against English teams, having only won one of their last ten CL games against them, including losing their last six in a row. That being said, this is a very different Lille side under manager Bruno Genesio and they are on an impressive 21 game unbeaten run stretching all the way back to September. That run includes going undefeated in their last five European matches, meaning they are well in contention for a place in the top eight.
Liverpool are understandably very strong favourites to win what will be only the third encounter between these two teams, with both having won one of the previous two meetings.
PSG vs Manchester City
Gewiss Stadium, Wednesday @ 21:00
It is safe to say that this is the tie of the round with these two giants clashing in the penultimate round of fixtures with much at stake. Neither have had a good European season so far and both find themselves at risk of being eliminated at the group stage of this inaugural CL format. PSG are in the bottom third of the table, down in 25th place having only won two of their six games so far. Anything other than a win here and they will be at serious risk of being eliminated. So far they have lost to Arsenal, Bayern and Atlético Madrid, so they can point to the fact that they have had a tough run of fixtures. They managed a narrow 2-1 away win at Lens in the league at the weekend and will hope that they can get the better of a Manchester City side that have not had the best of seasons so far either.
The visitors warmed up for this game by thrashing Ipswich 6-0 in the league on Sunday as they show that they are over their mid season blip. They also have some work to do in this competition however as they are only one point ahead of PSG with eight on the board after six matches. City have failed to win in their last three European fixtures and will know that they cannot afford another loss here as they will be leapfrogged by PSG and possibly other teams, leaving their future participation hanging by a thread. A number of their players are finding some form again now though, with the likes of Foden, de Bruyne and Doku looking more lively.
These two have met seven times with City winning four and PSG only winning once. There is very little to choose between the two this time around with the market unsure who to mark as favourites to win this match.
Last Updated: 20.01.2025
