This week brings us the final round of CL matches for 2024, with the next round scheduled for the third week of January, as most of Europe’s top divisions will take a mid-season winter break. The jury is still out on the new format, it will take a few seasons to determine whether or not the new CL is an improvement over what we have been used to in recent years.
The fact that there are more teams than ever means more matches, which is why the first phase of the championship will continue next year, a change from the way things used to be done when the old group stages ended before Christmas. .
With five matches played out of eight, this next round is round six and it’s a good time to review the progress made so far. The top eight teams automatically qualify for the next round and, as things stand, it is Liverpool who lead the way with up to fifteen points, an excellent start to their European campaign to go along with their league form. Inter and Barcelona are next, with Dortmund a close fourth. Serie A leaders Atalanta are in fifth place and last year’s Bundesliga winners in sixth. Arsenal and Monaco complete the top eight places.
Aston Villa currently top the second group with three wins from five matches, including a memorable home win over Bayern Munich. The likes of Bayern themselves as well as AC Milan, Manchester City, defending champions Real Madrid and Atlético Madrid are also in this second group of teams and will be hoping they can do enough in the next three matches to access “level 1”.
There are a few surprises in the bottom group, which will now be completely eliminated from Europe without any descent to the Europa League. French giants PSG are the big surprise here, with just one win and four points to their name so far. Real Madrid are fresh out of the bottom group with six points and two wins from their five matches played and the likes of RB Leipzig and Girona will be among those hoping to move up to the middle tier.
This week’s fixtures are intriguing with a number of high quality matches on both days. Starting on Tuesday, leaders Liverpool travel to Spain to face Girona in what could be a tricky match from kick-off. The best matches of the day come later in the day, as Serie A leaders Atalanta host defending champions Real Madrid, with the visitors desperate for a win to move them up the table. Inter Milan travel to Leverkusen in a battle between two champions, with both teams currently sitting well inside the top eight in the table. RB Leipzig’s clash at home to Aston Villa is another intriguing match with significant consequences for both teams and PSG simply need to pick up three points from their clash against Salzburg if they are to avoid the risk of being eliminated from the first obstacle in this new format. . Bayern Munich are another European giant who will be chasing three points and aiming to enter the top tier of teams when they travel to face Shakhtar Donetsk.
On Wednesday there will be an equal number of big-name clashes, starting with the teams currently occupying third and fourth places in the table as Barcelona travel to Dortmund in what is sure to be an exciting match. The other highlight of Wednesday night is Juventus versus Manchester City. Both teams have had rather disappointing seasons in Europe so far and find themselves in 19th and 17th place respectively. The English champions, in particular, are having a season to forget with their domestic form seeing them far from challenging for another league title. Atlético Madrid and AC Milan both have nine points so far and will both expect wins against Slovan Bratislava and Red Star respectively. Arsenal and Monaco have an almost identical record so far, with the London side one point ahead of their French opponents thanks to a one-goal better goal difference. They will face the Emirates on Wednesday evening in another interesting match.
After this run of matches there will only be two sets of matches left and we will have a good idea of who looks good and which teams are likely to face an early exit from Europe. On paper, the chosen matches are Atalanta v Real Madrid, Dortmund v Barcelona and the Juventus clash against Manchester City, but, if these are not quite up to par, the big matches will certainly not be missed in the in what promises to be another great week. of CL action.
PS: The odds may have changed since this article was written and published.
Last update: 09.12.24
