Champions League Week 7

After a month long break, the Champions League is back for the first time in a January!

Despite on 2 games left, very little is decided. Bar some extremely large set of results going against them, Liverpool will get top 8 - a point is enough but I am sure they fancy 8 out of 8. Barca are very close, a win will do it. 3 teams at the bottom, including RB Leipzig, are already out. Everyone in between still has work to do.

The action kicks off at 17:45 on Tuesday, and Monaco vs Aston Villa is a big game. Monaco slipped down to 16th, but are just 3 points behind 5th placed Villa. An away win puts Villa in a strong position for top 8. The other early kick-off is Atalanta vs Sturm Graz. The Italians are 13th on 11 points while the Austrians are all but out with 3.
At 8pm, Liverpool will look to maintain their 100% record against 8th place Lille. If the French side can get a shock win at Anfield they will be looking good for a surprise top 8 finish.
Also on Tuesday, 2nd placed Barcelona go to Benfica (15th on 10pts). Dortmund are in 9th and go to Italy to face almost out Bologna. One of the big ties of the week sees Atletico Madrid host Leverkusen. The Germans are 4th with 13 points, and Madrid 11th on 12 points. If we get a winner they will be in a very good position.
Club Brugge vs Juventus, Crvena Zvezda vs PSV and Slovan Bratislava vs Stuttgart complete Tuesdays action.

PSG vs Manchester City is Wednesdays big game. Two of the fancied teams, both are struggling in the lower reaches of the league. City are 22nd but PSG are 25th and outside the qualification place! With an away game to Stuttgart in the last week - the Germans are also outside the top 24 in 26th - you feel defeat for the Parisians will put them in massive danger of being knocked out. City have a nicer last match, home to Brugge, but won't want to go into that outside the top 24.

Earlier on Wednesday, RB Leipzig vs Sporting and Shakhtar vs Brest with, perhaps surprisingly, the French side highest up in 7th. Sporting are 17th, RB Leipzig are out in 34th and for Shakhtar failure to win will almost certainly mean elimination.

3rd placed Arsenal could seal top 8 if results go their way and they beat Dinamo Zagreb in an 8pm Wednesday game. The Croatians are in the last qualifying place so are desperate for a win.
Celtic face pointless, eliminated and bottom of the table Young Boys at Celtic Park. A win will ensure the Scottish sides participation in the knockouts and put them in contention for a seeded place.
20th placed Real Madrid have a tough task to finish top 8, but a home tie with Salzburg should be easy enough. The Austrian side have just 3 points and could be eliminated before they kick off.
Another big club outside the top 8, Bayern Munich, go to the Netherlands to face 18th placed Feyenoord, AC Milan host struggling Girona, and Sparta Prague vs Inter Milan finds the Italians close to securing top 8 if they win.



There are a lot of big games, with a lot on them. Teams can take a lot of stress out of week 8s final games, but defeats could leave teams on the edge. Should be fun!