It will be all done and dusted after the final whistle is blown around all Europe come Wednesday night. As it closes, the UCL will not be around until February next year. We look at the possible outcomes as we discuss teams likely to make it out of the respective groups.
Group E will kick start the last round of games in the CL when all teams in the group will do an early kickoff. Liverpool will make the trip to Austria as they visit Marsch's red hot goal-scoring side. RB Salzburg will make history if it can make it past the group but at the expense of holders, Liverpool. Jurgen Klopp rotated his team in their victory over the weekend. That has his team sharp and prepared for this fixture. Salzburg comes into this game on the back of a win at the weekend. Haaland could add to his tally and Mane comes in after being rested.
Napoli will wait for the arrival of Genk and need a draw to make it into the round of 16. They get the easier of the two games, and it makes for an easy route to the knockout stages.
Barcelona has already made it out of Group F, but the struggle lies at the 2nd and 3rd. Inter Milan has to beat the table-toppers to make it to the knockouts. Antonio Conte can take his chances giving the not so convincing football from Ernesto Valverde. The San Siro awaits the tie and performing so well at the Nou Camp, Internazionale will take their chances to book the second spot from the group. Dortmund will also be in a tricky contest against Slavia Praha. The advantage comes when Lucien Favre plays this fixture at the Signal Iduna. He will do himself some good if he gets his selection right as Jadon Sancho proved his choices wrong when he came on as a sub against Barcelona.
Chelsea will face Lille as Ajax and Valencia will try to cancel each other with the opportunity they have on their hands. A good result for Erik Ten Haag and the knockouts is a destination for him. Chelsea chiefly has nothing to lose and with Lille not performing well in the CL Frank Lampard can make it past the groups with an easy win.
Lyon and RB Leipzig lock horns at the Red Bull Arena. Nagelsmann looks at this game and beefs up his CV with a good standing of qualifying out of the group. Timo Werner is doing well and going into the game he will be a possible outlet for the German outfit. Lyon need a win, and that will be at the detriment of Leipzig if Lyon win. Benfica can go through but must cut the variance in goals to positives against Zenit and hope for a Leipzig victory.
Group C will have the early kickoffs on Wednesday. Manchester City will be in Croatia to play the last of the group games. They will be up against Dinamo Zagreb. Atalanta will be happy with their ride and the trip to Ukraine. There may be a glimmer of hope if they beat Shakhtar Donetsk, and City get the better of Dinamo. Quid pro quo, they make it into the KOs. Bayern can make it out of Group B unscathe, and Mourinho's Tottenham have it all to close that chapter. A 5-0 victory for Mou over the weekend is enough to get into this encounter. He will also have the first leg scoreline serving as a reminder as he approaches this game.
The Bavarians have qualified but will need more impetus going forward as they are without a manager and that loss over the weekend, a definite highlight.
Atletico Madrid ought to win when they face Lokomotiv at the Wanda Metropolitano. A win puts all other efforts of Bayer Leverkusen in absolute futility. Bayer Leverkusen can qualify, and that is only secured if they get the victory against Juventus. Real Madrid secured qualification the last time out. PSG and Club Brugge will see out the remaining of the fixtures in Group A to bring the group stages to a closure.
This is where we are and let us see how the story unfolds as we roll the last dice.
