Champions League - PSG

[Meanwood Villa]

One more win and Real Madrid can't catch us. Which is nice.

[Bent Neilsens Screamer]

Looking at tomorrow’s fixtures you’d think Lille and Arsenal would win that would put them onto 13 points, the same as us but Arsenal will go ahead on GD.
Atletico, Benfica and Milan will move up to 12 points with a win which is likely.

[Somniloquism]

Barca/Dortmund draw will also put them both above us, and whoever wins in the Arse match will do, but whoever loses will need two wins going forward.

[TonyD]

The last games are all played together at 8pm
 It going to be a rollacoaster. 

[brontebilly]

Celtic could be out by time we play them?

[LeeB]

We'll batter Celtic, if we need to or not.

[itbrvilla]

I think 8th will need 17 points. 2 more than the model predicted.

[Somniloquism]

I think 8th will need 17 points. 2 more than the model predicted.

I don’t. Next two rounds have lots of teams in the top 12 playing each other. Not everyone can get maximum points.

[DB]

After tonight, we’ll have a minimum of 4 games in this competition.

[Dave]

A hypothetical "how the last sixteen would look based on current standings"



Obviously lots will change, but *if* it happens, it's going to be very enjoyable watching PSG, Real Madrid and Man City slugging it out for the right to qualify for the round we're already in.

A last sixteen European tie against Man City would feel like a bit of a let down though.

[Somniloquism]

Any idea why the spots are interchangeable. Is there some rule in play for the Quarters (Not play a team from your league, not play a team you have played once already)?

[langleylions]

Also if we qualify for the round of 16 do we automatically get home 2nd leg ? 

[Dave]

Also if we qualify for the round of 16 do we automatically get home 2nd leg ? 

Yes

[Dave]

Any idea why the spots are interchangeable. Is there some rule in play for the Quarters (Not play a team from your league, not play a team you have played once already)?

Country protection is in place for the first knock-out, but from the round of sixteen it's gone.

ESPN has this:

How do the knockout rounds and the bracket work?

UEFA used to hold draws throughout the knockout rounds, but the new method of using the league ranking to build the bracket means just two are required: one for the knockout phase playoffs (Jan. 31), and another for the round of 16 (Feb. 21) to complete the bracket.

There is no country protection, so for instance, Liverpool could play Aston Villa in the round of 16. In past seasons, country protection remained in place until the quarterfinals.

The strength of teams in the expanded tournament means some heavyweight teams are likely to miss out on the top eight, and that could create some blockbuster ties early in the knockout stage.



The first draw on Jan. 31 creates the knockout phase playoff fixtures, with each team having two possible opponents, and places the game into the bracket.

Clubs ranked 9-16 play the second leg at home. From this point, the position in the bracket is set for these teams.

At the end of the league phase the top eight clubs will each have four possible round-of-16 opponents, based upon the build of the knockout bracket. They will play the second leg at home in the round of 16.

The round of 16 draw on Feb. 21 will see the teams ranked 1-8 drawn into one of their two possible positions, which will automatically create a fixture against the relevant winners of the knockout phase playoffs, which will already have been completed. Clubs ranked 1-8 play the second leg at home.

And that's that, the Champions League knockout bracket is complete and on Feb. 21 all clubs will know who is in their half of the draw, and who they won't have to get past. A draw is conducted to determine which team plays the first leg match at home for the quarterfinals and semifinals.

[cdbearsfan]

So if we finish 9th, we would play either the 23rd or 24th ranked team in last 24? If we finish 8th, we would play first or second highest ranked winner from last 24 in the last 16? Are they trying to make the draw less interesting?