The Champions League league phase is nearing its end with just two games left to play for each team in the competition.
The league phase made its debut this year with teams no longer placed into groups of four. Instead, every team in the competition plays eight games earning points depending on a result. A similar format to Europe's domestic leagues: three points for a win, one point for a draw, none for a loss. After every team plays eight games, the top 24 in the table will advance to the next round. The top eight of that 24 will earn a bye directly into the round of 16, a valuable boost given how congested a match calendar can become for clubs.
The sixth round of Champions League games wrapped up Wednesday, Dec. 11 and we know the first two teams guaranteed to advance to the next round. Two of Europe's biggest clubs are advancing to the next round, at least, with eyes of earning that coveted bye.
Champions League 2024-25 Knockout Stage: Who's Qualified?
As of writing, just Liverpool and Barcelona are moving on to the next stage. The top two teams in the standings sit on 18 and 15 points respectively through six games. Liverpool are the only perfect team in the competition winning all six of their games. Though, neither Arne Slot's perfect Reds or Hansi Flick's Catalans have secured a bye yet.
After Liverpool and Barcelona, six teams have 13 points and four have 12. There are still computations possible where neither of the two leading teams end up with a bye. Same goes for that tightly contested pack below them which includes Arsenal, Leverkusen, Borussia Dortmund, Bayern Munich and AC Milan.
And then even farther down the table, big clubs like Real Madrid and Manchester City are fighting for their spots just in the next round. The two giants have just nine and eight points respectively. That puts Pep Guardiola's team level on points with Dinamo Zagreb, the last team that would qualify if the league phase ended today. Manchester City have a way better goal differential, but neither City nor Madrid are happy with their points totals through six games.
READ THE LATEST UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE NEWS, PREVIEWS, PREDICTIONS AND MORE
This article was originally published on www.si.com as Champions League 2024-25 Knockout Stage: Who's Qualified?.
