The business end of the Champions League group stages is well and truly upon us with just two rounds of games left, and you can catch all the action on Paramount+. What better time, then, to predict exactly how everything will shake out. Who will be the 16 teams fighting to be in Istanbul come June and which sides will gatecrash the Europa League?
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Group A
| Pos. | Team | W | D | L | GD | Pts. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Napoli | 5 | 0 | 1 | +14 | 15 |
2 | Liverpool | 5 | 0 | 1 | +9 | 15 |
3 | Ajax | 1 | 1 | 4 | -6 | 4 |
4 | Rangers | 0 | 1 | 5 | -17 | 1 |
Results
Ajax 1, Liverpool 3
Napoli 2, Rangers 0
Liverpool 1, Napoli 0
Rangers 1, Ajax 1
The top two are all but guaranteed in this group and they might just rank among the hardest to read of the likely last 16. One could talk oneself into either Liverpool or Napoli winning the whole thing but in the case of the former it will require a level of consistency that has eluded Jurgen Klopp's side this season. At their best they could absolutely win out in Group A, albeit not by the margin to wrestle top spot off its current incumbents.
Napoli have been nothing but reliable and yet they have the feeling of last season's iteration of the Ajax side they have crushed home and away. It might all just be a bit too good to be true. No team can put up an expected goals tally like they have, can they? Luciano Spalletti's side might ease off the gas now that they are qualified, all they need to really do is beat Rangers and not suffer a shellacking at Anfield.
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Group B
| Pos. | Team | W | D | L | GD | Pts. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Porto | 4 | 0 | 2 | +2 | 12 |
2 | Club Brugge | 3 | 2 | 1 | +6 | 11 |
3 | Bayer Leverkusen | 2 | 1 | 3 | -3 | 7 |
4 | Atletico Madrid | 1 | 1 | 4 | -5 | 4 |
Results
Club Brugge 0, Porto 1
Atletico Madrid 1, Bayer Leverkusen 2
Porto 2, Atletico Madrid 1
Bayer Leverkusen 0, Club Brugge 0
This is by far the most intriguing group left standing in the Champions League, one where there are serious question marks over every team, even a Club Brugge side who are through, topping their group without a single goal conceded. They have been a little reliant on the heroics of Simon Mignolet at one end, the stunning emergence of Ferran Jutgla at the other. It is feasible that one of those keeps up over the next two games but maybe not both.
Bayer Leverkusen aren't mathematically eliminated but their exit is a near certainty. However don't rule out them scrabbling into third at Atletico Madrid's expense. If Lukas Hradecky can just recover some semblance of form over the next few weeks then Xabi Alonso's side would improve no end. As for their opponents this week, can you be at all convinced that they will score the goals they need to reach the knockout stages? It would be unwise to discount the fighting spirit of Diego Simeone's players but right now that might be all they have.
Group C
| Pos. | Team | W | D | L | GD | Pts. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Bayern Munich | 5 | 1 | 0 | +12 | 16 |
2 | Inter Milan | 2 | 3 | 1 | +1 | 9 |
3 | Barcelona | 2 | 1 | 3 | +4 | 7 |
4 | Viktoria Plzen | 0 | 1 | 5 | -17 | 1 |
Results
Inter Milan 1, Viktoria Plzen 1
Barcelona 1, Bayern Munich 2
Bayern Munich 1, Inter Milan 1
Viktoria Plzen 0, Barcelona 4
It's Barcelona and the Champions League, there always has to be one more narrative twist. Going into the final two rounds of games they seem doomed, entirely reliant on Viktoria Plzen doing them a favor. But even if they did there are no guarantees Xavi's side could take advantage of it. That's what might well happen this week. The Czech champions are a better side than their record suggests and it is easy to imagine them taking advantage of an Inter defense that has looked vulnerable even as they have gotten back to winning ways.
But then, Bayern Munich have hit something of a groove since the last international break. So, of course, have Barcelona, at least in La Liga games. They are a very good team and if Inter slip up they could take advantage. But I fear they will not.
Group D
| Pos. | Team | W | D | L | GD | Pts. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Marseille | 3 | 1 | 2 | +4 | 10 |
2 | Tottenham | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 10 |
3 | Sporting | 3 | 0 | 3 | +1 | 9 |
4 | Eintracht Frankfurt | 1 | 2 | 3 | -5 | 5 |
Results
Tottenham 2, Sporting 1
Eintracht Frankfurt 1, Marseille 1
Sporting 2, Eintracht Frankfurt 0
Marseille 2, Tottenham 0
The exuberance and occasionally chaotic energy of Marseille has been one of the highlights of the group stage of the Champions League. This cast of Premier League strays and post-prime big names have a fighting spirit that drove Sporting to distraction and could well be enough to get them the four points that should take them into the knockout rounds alongside Tottenham.
Antonio Conte's side seem intent on making a favorable group as much of a challenge as possible, briefly threatening to throw away a two goal and one man advantage over Eintracht Frankfurt. This is a team that is doing just about enough so it would make sense if they aim to get the job done against Sporting this week before coasting their way through the final group game with a much-weakened side.
Group E
| Pos. | Team | W | D | L | GD | Pts. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Chelsea | 3 | 2 | 1 | +6 | 11 |
2 | AC Milan | 2 | 2 | 2 | -2 | 8 |
3 | Salzburg | 1 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 7 |
4 | Dinamo Zagreb | 1 | 2 | 3 | -4 | 5 |
Results
Salzburg 0, Chelsea 0
Dinamo Zagreb 1, AC Milan 1
Chelsea 2, Dinamo Zagreb 0
AC Milan 2, Salzburg 1
Can Chelsea go to Austria and score the goals they'd need to reach the last 16 with a game to spare? On the evidence of Saturday's underwhelming draw with Manchester United it's hard to be sure, with Raheem Sterling in particular having gone well off the boil. The other big name in this group will have a tough task at the Stadion Maksimir, where no team has won yet in this group. Given the difficulties AC Milan had at home to Dinamo Zagreb earlier this season it's hard to be confident that will change just yet.
That would take things down to the wire in Group E but home advantage would surely favor Milan and in particular Chelsea. Noah Okafor and company could offer all sorts of challenges for the hosts at the San Siro but at the time of writing Stefano Pioli's side have won all bar one of their home games this season. They should have enough.
Group F
| Pos. | Team | W | D | L | GD | Pts. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Real Madrid | 5 | 1 | 0 | +10 | 16 |
2 | Shakhtar Donetsk | 2 | 3 | 1 | +4 | 9 |
3 | RB Leipzig | 2 | 0 | 4 | -5 | 6 |
4 | Celtic | 0 | 2 | 4 | -9 | 2 |
Results
Celtic 1, Shakhtar Donetsk 1
RB Leipzig 0, Real Madrid 2
Real Madrid 3, Celtic 1
Shakhtar Donetsk 2, RB Leipzig 0
As Madrid streak away into the distance this comes down to a battle between Shakhtar Donetsk and RB Leipzig, one that will be decided in Warsaw on November 2. The latter side have improved quite a bit since their 4-1 home defeat to the Ukrainian champions earlier in the group stages but are still a work in progress, one that came extremely close to seeing to their unbeaten run ending against Augsburg this weekend.
Shakhtar's circumstances are unprecedented and it seems they are not suffering the adverse effects of playing away from their homeland, perhaps no surprise when they have been playing away from their home city since 2014. Igor Jovicevic's side is one of almighty talent — most notably Mykhaylo Mudryk, Oleksandr Zubkov and Marian Shved — that seem to be propelled forward by the sheer emotional weight of the moment their homeland finds itself in. That could well be an irresistible force.
Group G
| Pos. | Team | W | D | L | GD | Pts. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Manchester City | 5 | 1 | 0 | +14 | 16 |
2 | Borussia Dortmund | 2 | 2 | 2 | +3 | 8 |
3 | Copenhagen | 1 | 3 | 2 | -7 | 6 |
4 | Sevilla | 0 | 2 | 4 | -10 | 2 |
Sevilla 0, Copenhagen 1
Borussia Dortmund 1, Manchester City 3
Manchester City 2, Sevilla 0
Copenhagen 0, Borussia Dortmund 0
One thing is absolutely certain. This group will have happened.
Group H
| Pos. | Team | W | D | L | GD | Pts. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Paris Saint-Germain | 4 | 2 | 0 | +8 | 14 |
2 | Benfica | 3 | 3 | 0 | +4 | 12 |
3 | Juventus | 1 | 1 | 4 | -4 | 4 |
4 | Maccabi Haifa | 1 | 0 | 5 | -9 | 3 |
Results
Paris Saint-Germain 3, Maccabi Haifa 0
Benfica 1, Juventus 1
Juventus 0, Paris Saint-Germain 2
Maccabi Haifa 0, Benfica 1
When the group stage draw was made there were plenty suggesting that Benfica might edge Juventus to one of the top two spots in this group, but few thought it would be almost done and dusted with a third of the fixtures left to play. All Benfica need to do is avoid defeat to an opponent that have been proven to really rather ordinary by Champions League standards. Even if Massimiliano Allegri's side were to win in Lisbon it would merely be postponing the inevitable. Expect them to lose at home to PSG, a result that will hand top spot to the Parisians.
