Foot & Soccer Soccer Match Reports, Football News
January 29 – Tonight the UEFA Champions League concludes its league section with, for the primary time, all 18 video games being performed on the identical night time and with the identical kick-off time.
The brand new format has been a serious success. 27 of the 36 groups nonetheless have one thing to for, whether or not it’s entering into the highest eight groups, or securing a spot within the subsequent 16 locations for the knockout play-offs.
Solely two of the ultimate spherical of video games don’t have an effect on the qualification locations.
One of many massive promoting factors of the brand new format was that it will maintain groups enjoying till the tip of the primary spherical. Each recreation would have a bearing on remaining league place, with tonight’s fixtures being the dramatic climax of that course of and delivering the specified jeopardy the competitors and followers desperately wanted.
Solely three of the 9 top-seeded groups from the Monaco – Liverpool, Barcelona and Inter Milan – are assured a prime eight end. Three groups from Pot 4 within the draw – Aston Villa, Monaco and Brest – have secured locations within the knockout spherical however are nonetheless inside attain of a top-eight end.
These three are learners within the new format. There are additionally doubtlessly some very massive losers. Manchester Metropolis should win at dwelling to Membership Brugge to squeeze into the highest 24 and the play-off spherical.
Simply two factors separate groups in eighth and twentieth positions, with Actual Madrid, presently sixteenth, needing a big win away to Brest – one of many breakthrough groups of this Champions League – if they’re to make it into the highest eight.
UEFA highlights that within the outdated group section, the place groups performed one another twice, there have been 48 completely different match-ups. Within the new 36-club league section, every crew performs eight completely different opponents amounting to 144 distinctive matches.
There has additionally been a rise in massive clashes within the early phases of the competitors, as groups from Pots 1 and a pair of respectively have confronted every one other within the league section. There have been rematches of 4 of the previous 5 Champions League finals.
The brand new league format has seen extra targets and fewer drawn video games than in earlier group format video games. Golf equipment have realised they need to win and {that a} draw is just not more likely to be sufficient to ensure a spot within the subsequent spherical.
Which leads us to tonight’s remaining spherical of winner takes all matches.
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