Champions League set for a thrilling final round | OneFootball

For the second consecutive year, since the introduction of the new competition format last season, the European Champions League will experience an exciting “Wednesday” on the occasion of the decisive eighth and final matchday.

With 18 matches being played simultaneously, European football will discover the identity of the teams finishing in the Top 8 (direct qualification to the round of 16). In addition, we will find out who will go to the play-off (from ninth to twenty-fourth place) and who will be directly eliminated.

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Arsenal and Bayern, top of the class

Two teams arrive on the last day with their homework done, already mathematically qualified for the round of 16: Arsenal (1st, 21 points) and Bayern Munich (2nd, 18 points), who both lost over the weekend in their respective leagues.

For Arsenal, the goal now is to win at home against Kairat Almaty, in a clash between the leader and the bottom-placed team, to seal a perfect run of eight victories and show the continent that they are the team of the moment.

Bayern needs just one point in Eindhoven against PSV to secure second place. With that, they would guarantee a theoretically better position in the knockout bracket, which will be played in the style of a tennis tournament and will be defined at the end of this matchday.

At the bottom, four teams are mathematically eliminated, with no chance of reaching the play-off: Eintracht Frankfurt, Slavia Prague, Villarreal, and Kairat Almaty.

Napoli in danger

Last season, two of European football’s new rich, Paris Saint-Germain and Manchester City, reached the eighth matchday with the threat of elimination hanging over them. They survived, securing a spot in the play-off, and the French team ended up winning the tournament.

This time, there are no such big giants on the ropes, and the main club at risk seems to be Napoli. The current Italian champions arrive as 25th place, in a position of virtual elimination, before hosting Chelsea (8th) at the Diego Maradona stadium.

Antonio Conte, Napoli’s coach, faces off against the London club he managed between 2016 and 2018, winning the English title in 2017.

Mourinho against Real Madrid

The other big reunion of the night will be at Estádio da Luz, where José Mourinho, current coach of Benfica, will host a Real Madrid side he managed from 2010 to 2013.

Real Madrid (3rd, 15 points) is in a good position to qualify, but cannot afford overconfidence against a Benfica that sits 29th. The Portuguese club must win to keep alive their dream of reaching the play-off.

“Real Madrid is always the favorite in the Champions League. There are great teams, but this is our competition,” declared the new Merengue coach, Álvaro Arbeloa.

Like Real, Barcelona (9th, 13) also depends on itself to finish in the Top 8, playing at home against Copenhagen (26th).

Atlético de Madrid (12th, 13), who host Bodo/Glimt (28th), want to win to try to reach the Top 8. Meanwhile, Athletic Bilbao (23rd), playing at home against Sporting Lisbon (10th), have the chance in their hands to enter the play-off.

Uncomfortable rival for PSG

The current tournament champions, Paris Saint-Germain, lost last week to Sporting Lisbon in the seventh matchday. Despite the result, they still depend on themselves to finish among the top eight in this group stage.

“We are in a complicated moment, with inaccuracies. The players are not machines,” admitted Spanish coach Luis Enrique.

His team starts the last round in sixth place, tied on 13 points with their Wednesday rival, Newcastle (7th). PSG failed to beat the English club when they met in the group stage two seasons ago (a 4–1 defeat and a 1–1 draw).

Liverpool, very inconsistent in the Premier League, were the winners of the regular phase of the Champions last season. This time they reach the last day in fourth (15 points) and are in a favorable position before hosting Qarabag of Azerbaijan (18th) at Anfield.

*With content from AFP.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇧🇷 here.