Champions League league table: How it stands - with Man City in danger
2024-12-12
Category: sports

Manchester City are in danger of Champions League elimination, while Liverpool, Arsenal and Aston Villa are flying.Celtic's play-off hopes, meanwhile, remain alive.Two games remain in the revamped Champions League's new 36-team league phase.The top eight automatically progress to the last 16 and, crucially, skip the two-legged knockout play-off round.And 2023 winners City are far from the only heavyweights sitting uncomfortably.
Who qualifies for the knockout phase?
First, here's a reminder of what the 36 league-phase teams are aiming for.Those finishing in the top eight automatically progress to the last 16, where they will be seeded.They will await the winners of eight two-legged knockout play-off ties featuring the clubs ranked from ninth to 24th.Those finishing between ninth and 16th will be seeded and face a team placed 17th to 24th, with the advantage of playing the second leg at home.The clubs 25th or lower are eliminated and do not gain entry in to the Europa League.
How many points are needed to qualify?
Given this is the first edition of the new format, it remains to be seen exactly how many points will be required to achieve a top-eight finish, or avoid elimination from the competition.Before this season's competition, Opta calculated each team's projected points tallies and likelihood of progressing based on 50,000 simulations of the league phase.They found that 16 points - potentially five wins and one draw from eight matches - would give a 98% chance of finishing in the top eight.After gameweek five, Opta recalculated and said 16 points would now give teams an 87% chance of a top-eight finish.Meanwhile, achieving 10 points - three wins and one draw, for example - would give teams a 94% chance of securing a place in the top 24.However, any team collecting fewer than eight points can expect their involvement in European competition this season to come to an end.
Probably the biggest talking point, certainly in English football, is Manchester City's situation.They sit 22nd after a 2-0 defeat at Juventus - only one point above the places that mean elimination.The team in that spot are Paris St-Germain, who City visit next on Wednesday. PSG beat Red Bull Salzburg 3-0 to stay in the hunt.The loser of that game will be on the brink.Defending champions Real Madrid, even with their 3-2 win at Atalanta, are only one point above City and two above PSG.Liverpool, who play Lille on Tuesday, are the only team to win all their games after a 1-0 win over Girona.Barcelona are next after a 3-2 victory at Borussia Dortmund, who sit ninth.The Reds and Barca are guaranteed a place in at least the play-off round.Arsenal and Aston Villa are both in the top eight after victories over Monaco and RB Leipzig respectively, along with Bayer Leverkusen, Inter Milan, Brest and Lille.Brest, who beat PSV 1-0, are the biggest surprise of the tournament in their first season in any European competition. They have to play their home games in Guingamp because their stadium is not up to Uefa standards.Dortmund, Bayern Munich, Atletico Madrid and AC Milan are the teams just below the top eight.Celtic, who sit in between Real Madrid and City, drew 0-0 at Dinamo Zagreb and play point-less Young Boys next as they look to seal a play-off spot.Leipzig, Slovan Bratislava and Young Boys have lost all six games and are the first three teams eliminated.A thrilling finale is sure on 29 January, when all 18 games will be played simultaneously at 20:00 GMT.
Watch highlights of every Champions League game from 22:00 on Wednesday on BBC iPlayer and the BBC Sport website and app.There will also be a Champions League Match of the Day on BBC One on Wednesday, from 22:40 to 00:00.