Which teams can qualify directly for the Champions League round of 16 on matchday six?

The league phase of the 2024/25 UEFA Champions League is quickly hurtling towards its conclusion, although the competition’s new format means we’ll have to wait until January to know which teams will be competing in the knockout stages.

Which teams qualify for the Champions League round of 16?

The top eight teams in the league phase qualify directly for the round of 16, which will be played in the first two weeks of March.

The other eight teams will be decided by the knockout phase playoffs, which will see teams who finished between ninth and 24th in the league phase go head to head. The two-legged playoff will be held in the second and third week in February.

How Liverpool can qualify for the round of 16 this week

As things stand, Liverpool are the only team who are guaranteed at least a playoff place. The Premier League leaders are also in top spot in the Champions League after winning all five games so far, the most recent of which saw them defeat holders Real Madrid at Anfield.

Arne Slot’s side face Spanish opposition again on matchday six and know that a victory away to Girona on Tuesday could be enough to ensure a top-eight finish and allow them to avoid the playoffs. Although they would need a number of other results to go their way.

To ensure direct qualification, The Reds need to win in Catalonia, which would move them onto 18 points (with two games still to play).

They must then hope Atalanta, currently on 11 points, lose to Real Madrid, which would prevent the Italians from getting more than 17 points after they have played their eighth and final league phase game.

And they would also require eight of the 11 teams who currently have either 10 or 11 points to fail to win on matchday six, which seems unlikely.

To clarify, eight of Bayer Leverkusen, Arsenal, Monaco, Aston Villa, Sporting CP, Brest, Lille (all 10 points), Bayern Munich, Benfica, Atlético Madrid and AC Milan (all nine points) would have to slip up for Liverpool to be guaranteed a top-eight finish.

If the teams mentioned above lose or draw this week, even winning their final two fixtures wouldn’t allow them to collect more than 15-17 points from their eight games.

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