News.Kyiv.Me.

Champions League 2015/16 group stage permutations: how each team can qualify

A draw at home to PSV Eindhoven left Manchester United in a precarious position with five games played. Only a win at Wolfsburg in two weeks’ time – a team who have lost none of their last 29 home Bundesliga matches – will guarantee United’s place in the last 16.

It has been a frustrating campaign for United

If United draw, they can only finish second, but they will also be relying on PSV failing to win at home to the already eliminated CSKA Moscow. However, if CSKA win they can jump into third place and the Europa League, so United will be hopeful that the Russians still take that game seriously.

If PSV beat CSKA they will qualify, and can nick top spot if Wolfsburg-United is a draw and PSV win by three goals.

Group B

Group C

Atletico Madrid and Benfica have qualified for the knockout stages, level on 10 points with one game remaining. Intriguingly, they play each other in Portugal in their final match to determine who finishes top of Group C.

Benfica won the reverse fixture 2-1 so a draw would be enough to see them through as group winners. Three points for either team would seal top spot.

Group C

Group D

Juventus moved into first place at Manchester City’s expense with a 1-0 win on Wednesday night and can secure first place with a draw at Sevilla in their final group game.

City could be resigned to second place once again

City can still finish top but they will have to beat Gladbach at the Etihad and hope that Sevilla take all three points off Juve as they chase a Europa League place.

Group D

Group E

With 13 points from five games Barcelona are already through to the knockout stages as group winners. Behind them, there is a three-way fight for second place between Roma, Bayer Leverkusen and BATE Borisov.

Group E

Just one point separates those teams, though Roma are favourites to progress with the advantage of a superior head-to-head record against Leverkusen and a home game against the Belarussian champions in their final game. A win would therefore see them through, while a draw would be enough if the Germans fail to win at the Nou Camp.

Leverkusen have to win at Barcelona to stand any chance of qualifying, but even three points may not be enough. BATE can leapfrog both teams only with a win at Roma coupled with Leverkusen’s failure to win at Barcelona.

Group F

Bayern Munich have already won Group F, with Olympiakos unable to overtake them due to a 7-0 aggregate scoreline between the teams. The Greek side are in pole position to sneak through after Bayern and at Arsenal’s expense.

Group F

However, those two meet on match day six in a game that is essentially a winner-takes-all playoff (assuming that both team would see the ignominy of dropping into the Europa League as a failure).

A draw would be enough for Olympiakos, while Arsenal need to win by a margin big enough to overturn the 3-2 deficit suffered against the Greeks at the Emirates back in September. That is, Arsene Wenger’s men need to win by two clear goals or by one goal in a higher-scoring match than the reverse fixture (i.e. 4-3, 5-4 or greater).

Sanchez was in fine form in midweek

Any other result and Arsenal go into Europe’s second competition, with fourth-placed Dinamo Zagreb unable to catch them.

Group G

Chelsea took a step towards the next round of the Champions League with a win over Maccabi Tel Aviv on Tuesday but they still need a draw in their final game – at home to Porto – to guarantee progression. Equally, a Porto win would see them safely through. If they draw, things start to get really complicated.

Group G

Porto will remain ahead of Chelsea having won the reverse fixture but the Portuguese side will then be left hoping that Dynamo Kyiv do not pick up three points at home to Maccabi. If Kyiv win three teams will end up tied on 11 points, meaning things will boil down to a three-way mini league between Chelsea, Porto and Kyiv.

All three would have five points from games against one another, so goal difference would be taken into account. Remarkably, Kyiv would therefore jump to the top of the group with goal difference of ‘plus one’, Chelsea would finish second with ‘zero’ goal difference and Porto would go into the Europa League with a ‘minus one’ differential.

Willian’s goal have been crucial in Chelsea’s qualifying campaign

A Dynamo win would guarantee their progression and would knock Porto out if they draw or lose, or see Chelsea into third place if they lose their final match. Tricky stuff, indeed, but all three teams can at least be safe in the knowledge that their fate is in their own hands.

Group H

Zenit St Petersburg are the only team with a 100 per cent record in this season’s competition and are safely through as group winners. Gent could become the first Belgian side to make it out of the Champions League group stages if they win their final match at home to Zenit.

Group H

Valencia are a point behind Gent and lose out in their head-to-head, so the Spaniards require a win against Lyon and need Gent to slip up in their game if they are to usurp them. Lyon are already out.