A Champions League match in January – something football has never seen before. The new structure of 36 teams in the Champions League has increased the number of matches. The teams are now playing eight matches against eight different teams in the first round instead of the traditional 6-match home and away group stage. The Champions League entered January by organizing those two additional matches. The teams will play the last two matches of the first phase of the league system in January. 36 teams will enter the field to play the seventh match today and tomorrow. The eighth match is next week.
Be prepared to witness something incredible in these last two weeks of January. The ‘hot’ football field in Konkan winter in January in Europe has arranged all the materials to spread the warmth.
The fate of some of the biggest clubs in European football is still hanging in the balance. Out of 36 teams, 24 teams will go to the knockout stage. Superpowers like Manchester City, PSG and Real Madrid will play in the January phase with the fear of not getting a place in the 24.
Tomorrow in Paris, PSG and Manchester City, which are running on the jingle of oil money in the Middle East, will face each other. Pep Guardiola’s City are currently 22nd in the points table. PSG is at number 25. 2023 champions City and 2020 runners-up PSG, both teams are in danger of being out of the 24 points table after this match.
Real Madrid, the most successful team in the Champions League, are also struggling, as is CTPSG. The 15-time champions have lost three of their first six matches, currently sitting in 20th place.
While this is the case for a team like Real Madrid, a team like Brest has shown a surprise. The team at the bottom of the UEFA rankings has made a surprise appearance in the Champions League for the first time. There are seven teams that have won four matches.
In addition to Lille, there are Liverpool, Barcelona, Arsenal, Leverkusen, Aston Villa, Inter Milan and Lille in the top eight.
Seeing ‘unknown’ clubs like Brest with all the teams, UEFA Deputy General Secretary Giorgio Marchetti sang the victory song of the new structure. In an interview given to AP a few days ago, Marchetti said, ‘It was impossible to name these eight teams as the top eight teams before the start of the tournament. I think structure has a big contribution to it. The work has become more difficult.’ The 9th to 24th placed teams will advance to the knockout playoffs. The bottom 12 teams will be eliminated. So far only two teams have been confirmed to play in the knockout phase. Liverpool have won one of these two teams in their first six matches. Arne Slott’s team will secure the last sixteen if they get 1 point against Lille today. The other team to secure the knockout stage from the top 24A is Barcelona.