Before the final round of qualifying matches, the Champions League has determined a number of teams that are certain to advance to the round of 16. At the end of the qualifying round, the higher the ranking of the team, the easier the path to the final will be. Therefore, after 7 absolute victories since the beginning of the tournament, Liverpool is the team with the most advantages.
The team that finishes first in the qualifying round will face the winner of the tie between the 17th and 18th placed teams. In theory, this should be a huge advantage for the top teams. However, in the first year of the new Champions League format, many of the big teams are not in the top eight. Liverpool, despite being top, could face Real Madrid, their team that has beaten them for years, in their next few games.
The life-and-death competition between the teams finishing in 9th to 24th place is expected to be very tense. Each match will take place in two rounds to choose the 8 teams to continue. In the final round, 12 teams will be eliminated (ranked 25th to 36th). This year, the teams eliminated from the Champions League will no longer have the opportunity to play in the Europa League, so the tension is much more intense.
Under the new format, only the teams finishing in 1st and 2nd place are considered the safest. They will have to face the winners of the matches from 15th to 18th place in the round of 16. Before the final round, there were 3 big teams in this group: Bayern Munich (15th), Real Madrid (16th) and Juventus (17th). However, all 3 are predicted to be promoted after the final round, so Liverpool and Barcelona are likely to have an easier time.
This rule also means that if Liverpool maintain their top spot after the final round of matches, they will not have to face teams ranked 9th to 14th. The further they go, the more difficult it will be, but in the Champions League, teams cannot think ahead and choose one match or another in advance.
The draw for the round of 16 will take place at 5pm on January 31 (Vietnam time). In the play-off group, the teams finishing in positions 9-16 will play the second leg at home. The teams ranked 1-8 will find out their opponents in the round of 16 after February 21, when the play-offs are completed.
Teams from the same country can meet in the play-offs. Teams that have met in the qualifying round can meet again in the play-offs, a new feature of this season's Champions League. The tournament will become more unpredictable and surprising.
In the final round of the qualifying round, everything is possible, so the teams are trying their best. However, there are still matches that can take place in a formal mood. Currently, there are 9 teams that are definitely eliminated, regardless of the result of the final round. Among these 9 teams, there will be 2 matches: Red Star Belgrade - Young Boys and Sturm Graz - RB Leipzig.
