Champions League: Which teams can be eliminated today, 1 November?
A total of 16 teams will bow out of the Champions League as the group stage reaches its conclusion this week, eight will go into the Europa League.
The 2022/23 Champions League group stage reaches its conclusion this week with 16 teams waving goodbye to the competition - eight of them will enter the next round of UEFA’s sister club tournament, the Europa League.
The teams who have already mathematically qualified for the knockout stage include: Napoli, Liverpool, Brugge, Porto, Bayern Munich, Inter Milan, Chelsea, Real Madrid, Manchester City, PSG and Benfica. Only one team so far, Bayern, have secured top spot in their group - how all of the groups end will be clearer by tomorrow night with the group winners going into Pot 1 in next week’s Round of 16 draw.
As we head into Matchday 6, just one group remains wide open. Any of the four clubs in Group D can still advance to the next round with just two points separating leaders Tottenham and Olympique Marseille in fourth place.
The fates of three clubs were decided on Matchday 5 - Rangers, Viktoria Plzen and Celtic bow out of Europe until next season. The Europa League beckons for Barcelona, whose Champions League campaign came to an end with defeat to Bayern on Matchday 5.
Here is the situation in each group for those who could be knocked out of the competition in tonight’s matches.
Group A
Ajax are third in the group on three points and face bottom-placed Rangers who also won’t continue but mathematically, have an extremely slim chance of qualifying for the Europa League. They would need to beat the Dutch champions by six clear goals to snatch third place, an unlikely outcome.
Group B
Atlético Madrid and Bayer Leverkusen are both already eliminated. All that remains is to decide which one of them will play in the Europa League. Atleti, who are third on five points, visit Porto while the Germans entertain leaders Brugge.
Group C
Barcelona and Viktoria Plzen were eliminated earlier in the group stage. Barça go into the Europa League.
Group D
A wide range of outcomes are still possible in Group D, the most balanced group where there is nothing between all four teams going into the final game. Marseille, who are bottom of the group could even end up winning the group - they need to beat Tottenham by two goals or more at home. Sporting Clube are tied on seven points with Eintracht Frankfurt going into their meeting in Lisbon. Even in terms of goal difference, it’s equally as tight - Spurs (+1), Sporting (0), Eintracht (-2), Marseille (+1). It’s a tough call as any of the four could be eliminated.