Match Week 7 certainly was one hell of set of fixtures. Over two days, UEFA’s best clubs duked it out in the new qualifying round format. And it has been… awesome.
- Day 1 summary
- Day 2 summary
But now with the dust settled, fans nestled snug in their beds and only the lonely pundit left to furtively type out the last of the day’s reports with a wee dram of rum … we can share the standings and some analysis.
Smooth Sailing (aka, the Top 8)
- Automatically advance to Round of 16
- Don’t compete in Playoff Round
- Two fewer games = one big advantage
- Only Liverpool and Barcelona are locked in
- Arsenal and Inter have a mathematical chance of dropping, but that’s not likely gonna happen.
Raise the Spinnaker (aka, the Seeded Playoff Spots)
- Everyone on this list is guaranteed a playoff spot
- Higher placed clubs play lower placed ones on the Unseeded list (below)
- Example: positions 9 & 10 will play positions 23 & 24; 11 & 12 play 21 & 22, etc.
- Aston Villa, Lille and Brest all dropped from the Top 8 this week.
There’s a Storm Ahead, Cap’n (aka, the Unseeded Playoff Spots)
- Juventus and Celtic are the only safe clubs on this section. No elimination for them.
- PSV and Brugge can be safe with a draw or win.
- All others really, really, really need to win to get in.
We’ve Hit the Reef (aka, Elimination. Failure. Go Home)
- Yes, that’s defending champions Manchester City you see. They need a win next week to be safe.
- Everyone from RB Leipzig to Young Boys are done.
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