After a three-week break, the group stage of the 2023/24 Champions League season resumes, with six teams currently in contention for a place in the Round of 16 following the matches on the morning of November 29th (Vietnam time).
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| The 2023/24 Champions League season has determined the six clubs that have advanced to the Round of 16. (Source: Getty Images) |
In Group E , the race is fiercely contested between Atletico Madrid , Lazio , and Feyenoord, with the gap between the teams being very small.
Atletico Madrid currently holds the biggest advantage with 8 points, but the gap between them and Lazio and Feyenoord is only 1 and 2 points respectively.
However, given the current situation, Group E could be decided after the penultimate round of group stage matches concludes.
In this match, Diego Simeone's team will travel to face their direct rivals, Feyenoord.
Meanwhile, Lazio will play at home against the weakest opponent in the group, Celtic (1 point).
Given the current situation, Atletico Madrid and Lazio will officially secure their qualification after the fifth matchday if they both win.
Specifically, if this happens, Atletico Madrid will have 11 points while Lazio will have 10 points after 5 matches played, creating a large gap ahead of Feyenoord (6 points) with only one matchday remaining in the group stage.
However, this will certainly not be easy at all, because in this desperate situation, Feyenoord and Celtic will play their hearts out in the hope of creating an upset.
Along with Group E, the situation in Group F is even more tense, befitting the nature of a "group of death," as Borussia Dortmund , Paris Saint-Germain , AC Milan, and Newcastle United all still have a chance to advance.
Borussia Dortmund currently leads the table, but the gap between the teams is only one point, and the situation could completely change after just one match.
Specifically, the Bundesliga representative has 7 points, followed by Paris Saint-Germain (6 points), AC Milan (5 points) and Newcastle United (4 points).
In this crucial round of matches, Dortmund will travel to San Siro to play against Milan, while Paris Saint-Germain will face Newcastle United at home at the Parc des Princes.
The group standings will soon be decided if both Borussia Dortmund and Paris Saint-Germain celebrate victories after the matches on the morning of November 29th conclude.
However, things would become incredibly tense and very difficult to predict which team would advance if the winners of the fifth matchday of Group F were AC Milan and Newcastle United.
Group H also promises to be very exciting and dramatic. Barcelona and Porto both have 9 points (3 points more than Shakhtar Donetsk), and have a great chance to qualify for the knockout round.
In this match, Barcelona will play at home against direct rivals Porto. If they win, Xavi Hernandez's team will have 12 points and secure their place in the knockout round one match early.
This is entirely possible because Barcelona are in impressive form when playing at home. In their last 10 home games, they have won 9 and suffered only one defeat, against rivals Real Madrid in the El Clasico in round 11 of La Liga.
In preparation for the match against Porto, coach Xavi was cautious, resting key players such as Joao Felix, Ilkay Gundogan, Ronald Araujo, and Jules Kounde on the bench in the match against Vallecano last weekend.
However, Porto is certainly not an easy opponent to "bully". The Portuguese team is in impressive form, having won 8 of their last 9 matches.
Coach Sergio Conceicao's team is also very determined to win against Barcelona in this encounter to secure their place in the next round.
In the event of a draw, Barcelona and Porto will advance to the knockout round together if Shakhtar Donetsk unexpectedly loses to Antwerp in the early match of Group H.
Previously, the knockout round of this season's Champions League had already determined the six teams participating, including Bayern Munich (Group A), Real Madrid (C), Real Sociedad, Inter (D), Man City, and RB Leipzig (G).
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