Plus, my picks for best matches to watch this weekend!

The new format for UEFA’s European club competitions could see a handful of big name clubs eliminated before the knockout rounds.

It’s likely the opposite of what the sport’s most competent continental organization was aiming to achieve when they switched from a fragmented group stage to a Swiss-style league table for their tournaments.

If you don’t know what the deal is, check out Soccer Saturday from Sept. 14, 2024 and scroll down to the UEFA Club Competitions Return section.

Heading into the final round-robin matches this coming week, there is no way that UEFA was looking for internationally recognized brands like Manchester City, Paris Saint Germain (PSG), AS Roma, Ajax, and others to be in danger of missing the knockout rounds.

Amongst the already eliminated teams are Bologna, Leipzig, and Girona in the Champions League, with Nice and Dynamo Kyiv gone from the Europa League.

The third-tier Conference League is the only one where the bigger clubs are not in danger. English side Chelsea tops the table, with Serie A’s Fiorentina in third only a few points behind. Real Betis and Heidenheim will be going through to represent La Liga and the Bundesliga respectively.

That is where we stand as the UEFA’s competitions determine who is in and who is out as the league phase finishes on Wednesday and Thursday.

Manchester City’s loss to PSG this week gave the French side a boost, but they’re still not assured of a playoff round spot. It also means that City is on the outside looking in and needing a win against Club Brugge at home, as well as some help.

Brugge sits on 11 points and need only a draw to clinch a knockout round berth. They won’t be a pushover by any means and likely will park the bus to get the result they need.

PSG travels to Germany to face Stuttgart, with both teams at 10 points. A draw would see them both advance, barring some craziness in the other matches. However, it would be a stunning feather in the cap of Stuttgart and give their home support a thrill to not only beat PSG, but perhaps eliminate them from the Champions League as well.

Other matches of note include Dynamo Zagreb hosting AC Milan, Shaktar Donetsk vs. Borussia Dortmund, Barcelona vs. Atalanta, and Juventus vs. Benfica.

In the Europa League, AS Roma’s 1-0 away loss to AZ Alkmaar on Thursday means they need a home win over Eintracht Frankfurt this week to guarantee advancement. A draw could also be enough to sneak through, but it would mean relying on other results.

Frankfurt is in second place and already through with only a miniscule chance of catching Roma’s arch-rivals Lazio for first place. They would need a very large win in Rome while also requiring Lazio to lose by a large margin at Braga (though, Braga could end up winning a close match as they are still in contention for one of the final playoff spots).

Hoffenheim’s 3-2 home loss to Tottenham on Thursday has left them on the outside looking in and needing an away victory over Anderlecht as well as a bunch of help to secure a knockout round spot.

Porto, a club that traditionally performs well in European competitions, sits one point out of the playoffs with a neutral site match against Maccabi Tel Aviv, who are also still alive and in a must-win situation. Porto could advance with a draw and help elsewhere.

Other matches of note include Midtjylland vs. Fenerbahçe, Twente vs. Beşiktaş, Real Sociedad vs. PAOK, and Tottenham vs. Elfsborg.

This week should be extremely exciting and it will be very interesting to see who survives!

Serie A: Napoli vs. Juventus, Saturday, Jan. 25 at Noon. The hosts no longer have their Georgian superstar Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, but Antonio Conte’s team is still leading the Scudetto race and are deep enough to finish the job. Juventus are in fifth and still aiming for a Champions League berth as Thiago Motta continues to rebuild La Vecchia Signora. This should be a fantastic match for neutrals. Watch on FuboTV Canada.

EPL: Man City vs. Chelsea, Saturday, Jan. 25 at 12:30 p.m. It’s 5th hosting 4th in Manchester and two huge clubs going toe-to-toe where only three points will do. Chelsea’s on a bit of a roll, while City is coming off a midweek loss to PSG in the Champions League and Pep Guardiola may end up trophy-less this season unless things can turn around quickly on the blue side of Manchester. Watch on FuboTV Canada.

La Liga: Atletico Madrid vs. Villareal, Saturday, Jan. 25 at 10:15 a.m. Atleti is only two points back of their crosstown rivals Real for first place in the league. Meanwhile, Villareal are in fifth and have work to do if they want to catch Athletic Club or Barcelona. These types of matches in La Liga can go either be extremely uninteresting draws or low-scoring/low-chance affairs, or they can be all out goal fests. Let’s hope for the latter. This will be on either TSN or TSN+.

Bundesliga: Leipzig vs. Bayer Leverkusen, Saturday, Jan. 25 at 9:30 a.m. Last year’s champions have moved to within four points of Bayern Munich at the top of the German top flight. They visit Leipzig, who are battling for a Champions League place. This one has the potential for a high scoring affair as Leverkusen scores over two goals a game and Leipzig is just under two per match. Either way, two very attack minded squads makes this an interesting match for non-partisan supporters. Watch on DAZN Canada.

That’s it for this week, next week we’ll round-up the winter transfer window!

Ciao for Now!

Click the banner to contact us about advertising and sponsorship opportunities!