Now that five UEFA Champions League games have elapsed, the picture is becoming clearer in the league stage as we approach the sixth round of play. Liverpool are the only team to have won all five of their games for a total of 15 points, which puts them two ahead of unbeaten Inter. Although 10 points are expected to be enough for a top 24 finish and therefore a spot in the UCL playoffs, there is no guarantee as this is a completely new format being played for the first time at this time. Arne Slot’s men have booked at least that much and should join the Nerazzurri, Barcelona, Borussia Dortmund and unbeaten Atalanta BC. Bayer Leverkusen, Arsenal, AS Monaco, Aston Villa, Sporting CP, Stade Brestois 29 and Lille OSC are also well positioned to advance beyond the league stage. However, some big names are at the wrong end of the table: Paris Saint-Germain are currently in a knockout position, while Real Madrid are barely in the top 24 and have both suffered three defeats. Red Bull pair Leipzig and Salzburg are also surprisingly low, while VfB Stuttgart, Bologna and Shakhtar Donetsk could surprise some.
We take a closer look as the three remaining games approach.
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Surprise artists
Liverpool leading the way isn’t really a big surprise, but their combined Premier League and Champions League form deserves mention given Slot’s seemingly seamless transition to life at Anfield. Of the top eight, few would have bet on Ligue 1 side Monaco being up there, while Atalanta being part of an unbeaten Serie A duo with Inter also deserves praise. From ninth place down, Aston Villa are still within striking distance of the top eight along with Sporting CP, Brest and Lille, which is arguably where the biggest surprise lies in terms of teams punching above their weight. Bayern Munich, Atlético de Madrid and Milan also have upward mobility and correct an unexpected slowness after recent rebounds in continental results.
Surprise fighters
There’s no ignoring the fact that PSG are the biggest name here, with Luis Enrique’s men beaten by Arsenal, Atleti and now Bayern, as well as being drawn at home by PSV Eindhoven. With games against Salzburg, an unexpectedly vulnerable Manchester City and Stuttgart, there is a strong chance that the French giants will not even advance to the last 16. Ligue 1 is currently being boosted by Monaco, Brest and Lille, and such a premature departure from Paris would be a blow to France’s UEFA coefficient performance, which had been respectable until very recently. Real Madrid were not expected to make the final of the top 24 places, but are two points better than PSG, while City and Juventus are two points behind the defending UCL champions. The first evidence is that UEFA’s format change is actually making things interesting and the last three games will be high stakes for teams like Les Parisiens.
Coefficient stories so far.
The impact of the league stage on UEFA’s coefficient system has become something of a three-horse race of late, with England sweeping the top spot in terms of a potential additional Champions League spot, followed by Portugal and Italy. The seven EPL teams have an advantage over their five Portuguese rivals, but the eight Italian representatives could well change that, although Bologna looks likely to reduce that number to seven. Germany’s Bundesliga, Spain’s La Liga and France’s Ligue 1 are fighting in fairly even positions with Belgium and Czechia in the chasing group, but it will be difficult to catch the top three even at this early stage, especially the English. Even the Germans are quite far from second or even third place, in fourth place.
Key games of the sixth round
All at 3 pm Eastern Time
- Tuesday, December 10: Atalanta against Real Madrid, Bayer Leverkusen against Inter and RB Salzburg against PSG.
- Wednesday, December 11: Arsenal against Monaco, Borussia Dortmund against Barcelona and Juventus against Manchester City.
The sixth round of games promises some absolute wonders with unbeaten Atalanta a real tall order for struggling Real on Tuesday, while Leverkusen take on Inter could have top-eight ramifications and PSG play for their UCL lives in the modest Salzburg in Austria. On Wednesday, some of the most in-form teams face each other: Arsenal host Monaco and Barça’s visit to Dortmund is of importance for the top eight, while Juve vs. City are surprisingly a mid-table matchup coming into this one.
Classification
Key: Positions 1 to 8 qualify for the round of 16, while positions 9 to 24 qualify for the Play-Offs of the knockout phase and positions 25 to 36 are eliminated.
| Pos. | Equipment | family doctor | W. | d | l | bride | Georgia | God | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Liverpool | 5 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 12 | 1 | +11 | 15 |
| 2 | Bury | 5 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 0 | +7 | 13 |
| 3 | Barcelona | 5 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 18 | 5 | +13 | 12 |
| 4 | Borussia Dortmund | 5 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 16 | 6 | +10 | 12 |
| 5 | Atalanta | 5 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 11 | 1 | +10 | 11 |
| 6 | Bayer Leverkusen | 5 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 11 | 5 | +6 | 10 |
| 7 | Arsenal | 5 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 8 | 2 | +6 | 10 |
| 8 | Monaco | 5 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 12 | 7 | +5 | 10 |
| 9 | Villa Aston | 5 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 1 | +5 | 10 |
| 10 | sports CP | 5 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 10 | 7 | +3 | 10 |
| 11 | Brest | 5 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 9 | 6 | +3 | 10 |
| 12 | Lille | 5 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 7 | 5 | +2 | 10 |
| 13 | Bayern Munich | 5 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 12 | 7 | +5 | 9 |
| 14 | Benfica | 5 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 10 | 7 | +3 | 9 |
| 15 | Atlético de Madrid | 5 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 11 | 9 | +2 | 9 |
| 16 | AC Milan | 5 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 10 | 8 | +2 | 9 |
| 17 | city of manchester | 5 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 13 | 7 | +6 | 8 |
| 18 | PSV | 5 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 10 | 7 | +3 | 8 |
| 19 | Juventus | 5 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 7 | 5 | +2 | 8 |
| 20 | Celtic | 5 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 10 | 10 | 0 | 8 |
| 21 | Feyenoord | 5 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 10 | 13 | -3 | 7 |
| 22 | Club Bruges | 5 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 7 | -3 | 7 |
| 23 | Dinamo Zagreb | 5 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 10 | 15 | -5 | 7 |
| 24 | real Madrid | 5 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 9 | 9 | 0 | 6 |
| 25 | PSG | 5 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 6 | -3 | 4 |
| 26 | Shakhtar Donetsk | 5 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 8 | -4 | 4 |
| 27 | Stuttgart | 5 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 11 | -7 | 4 |
| 28 | Sparta Prague | 5 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 5 | 14 | -9 | 4 |
| 29 | SK Sturm Graz | 5 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 2 | 6 | -4 | 3 |
| 30 | Girona | 5 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 9 | -5 | 3 |
| 31 | Red Star of Belgrade | 5 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 9 | 17 | -8 | 3 |
| 32 | RB Salzburg | 5 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 3 | 15 | -12 | 3 |
| 33 | Bologna | 5 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 7 | -6 | 1 |
| 34 | RB Leipzig | 5 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 4 | 10 | -6 | 0 |
| 35 | Bratislava Slovakia | 5 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 4 | 18 | -14 | 0 |
| 36 | young boys | 5 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 2 | 17 | -15 | 0 |
