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Just one round of fixtures remains in the group stages of the UEFA Champions League, with eleven teams competing for the final five places in the last 16. Here, we look at who needs what in a fixture list that includes three direct deciders.
Teams qualified for last 16: Atletico Madrid, Real Madrid (GW), Bayer Leverkusen, Borussia Dortmund, Arsenal, Bayern Munich (GW), Paris Saint-Germain, Barcelona, Chelsea (GW), Porto (GW), Shakhtar Donetsk.
Teams that can still qualify: Olympiacos, Juventus, Basel, Liverpool, AS Monaco, Zenit St Petersburg, AS Roma, Manchester City, CSKA Moscow, Schalke 04, Sporting Lisbon.
Teams confirmed in the UEFA Europa League: Anderlecht.
Teams that can still qualify for UEFA Europa League only: Malmo FF, Ludogorets Razgrad, Ajax, APOEL, NK Maribor, Athletic Bilbao, BATE Borisov.
Teams that are out of Europe: Benfica, Galatasaray.
Matches from groups A, B, C and D will be played on Tuesday, 9th December 2014.
Matches from groups E, F, G and H will be played on Wednesday, 10th December 2014.
GROUP A
Olympiacos (6pts) v Malmo FF (3); Juventus (9) v Atletico Madrid (12).
Atletico Madrid are through and need only a point to win the group. They could also afford a defeat as long as they do not lose by a margin of two goals or more.
Juventus will be through with a draw or if Olympiacos do not win. They could also top the group if they beat Atletico Madrid by a margin of two goals or more.
Olympiacos will be through only if they win at home to Malmo and Juventus lose due to their head-to-head record. A draw would ensure third place, ie a place in the Europa League.
Malmo will finish third and qualify for the Europa League if they win in Greece.
GROUP B
Liverpool (4) v Basel (6); Real Madrid (15) v Ludogorets Razgrad (4).
Real Madrid are through to knockout stages as group winners and are the only team remaining with a 100% record.
Basel need a point and will be through if they draw at Anfield, even if Ludogorets win at the Santiago Bernabeu, due to their superior head-to-head record.
Liverpool will be through only if they win at home against Basel. If they do not win they will finish third as long as Ludogorets do not pick up more points in their final group game.
Ludogorets are out of the Champions League but could still make it into the Europa League. If they beat Real Madrid, they are guaranteed to finish third. If they draw, they will drop into the Europa League only if Liverpool lose to Basel.
GROUP C
AS Monaco (8) v Zenit St Petersburg (7); Benfica (4) v Bayer Leverkusen (9).
Bayer Leverkusen are through to the next round as Monaco and Zenit face each other, and will clinch the top spot with a win, or if they draw and Monaco don’t win.
Monaco will be through with a draw, and they could also finish top if they better Leverkusen’s result.
Zenit will be through with a win, and that could also secure top spot if Leverkusen lose.
Benfica are out of Europe and are guaranteed to finish at the bottom of the group so purely have pride to play for.
GROUP D
Galatasaray (1) v Arsenal (10); Borussia Dortmund (12) v Anderlecht (5).
Dortmund are through to the knockout stages and will clinch the group with a draw unless Arsenal beat Galatasaray by six-goal margin to overtake the German giants on goal difference. However, a victory for Jugen Klopp’s mean would definitely mean they win the group.
Arsenal secured passage to the knockout stages on Matchday 5 and will win the group with any victory if Dortmund lose, or if the Gunners win by enough to overtake BVB on goal difference (a minimum margin of six goals) should the other game be a draw.
Anderlecht will finish third no matter what result and move into the last 32 of the Europa League.
Galatasaray are out of Europe and are guaranteed to finish fourth.
GROUP E
AS Roma (5) v Manchester City (5); Bayern Munich (12) v CSKA Moscow (5).
Bayern Munich have definitely won the group and go through to the next round as one of the favourites to win the competition.
Roma will progress with a win over Manchester City, or a draw if CSKA draw with Bayern Munich. However, if the Russians lose, goals scored come into play and a goalless draw would send the Serie A giants through but a score draw would not.
CSKA Moscow, to finish second, must win in Germany and hope Roma do not beat City.
Manchester City, like other teams in this group, are also relying on the other game. A win would see them through to the next stages only if CSKA do not win, while a score draw would also be enough if the Russians lose. If the reigning Premier League champions lose then they are definitely out.
GROUP F
Barcelona (12) v Paris Saint-Germain (13); Ajax (2) v APOEL (1).
PSG are through to the round of 16 and will win the group with a draw.
Barcelona are also through to the knockout stages and will win the group with a victory.
Ajax will finish third and drop into the Europa League with a draw.
APOEL must win to move over Ajax and finish third in the group.
GROUP G
Chelsea (11) v Sporting Lisbon (7); Maribor (3) v Schalke 04 (5).
Chelsea can relax and rotate their squad when they host Sporting as their 5-0 win at Schalke on matchday 5 sealed their progress to the knockout stages as group winners.
Sporting Lisbon will be through with a draw at Stamford Bridge or if Schalke fail to win.
Schalke must win their final group game and hope Sporting lose.
Maribor are surely out of the Champions League but could finish third and make it into the Europa League with a win.
GROUP H
Porto (13) v Shakhtar Donetsk (8); Athletic Bilbao (4) v BATE Borisov (3).
Porto are through to the next round and have clinched the first place in the group.
Shakhtar Donetsk are also through and will finish second no matter what happens in their game against Porto.
Athletic Bilbao will finish third and drop down to the Europa League if they avoid defeat.
BATE must win in Spain to finish third and pip Athletic Bilbao to the Europa League.
This article was originally published here.
