Champion's League: Knockout Stage
Omar Eldosouky
Embedded Files
Welcome Back Guys!
Unfortunately, we haven’t had the chance to discuss the UCL up until this point in the year, but I will do my best to fill you guys in, because, believe it or not, there’s a completely new format for the Champions League this season.
Basically, instead of the eight groups with 4 teams in each group in Double Round Robin style, there’s now a Swiss League Style tournament, with 36 teams total. Swiss League means that all the 36 teams were placed in a huge league table and their results count to that overall table. A draw was done to determine 8 different opponents for each team. (This was still based on pots). Each team played 4 teams at their stadium, and 4 different teams away. The points won were given in the overall table.
The top 8 teams in the league got an automatic buy to the Round of 16. The bottom 8 teams are eliminated, with no dropping down to the UEL. The middle 16 teams (Ranks 9-24) were drawn against each other into the knockout playoffs. These are new, and the winning 8 finalize the Round of 16.
This year, the top 8 (in order) were :
Liverpool
Barcelona
Arsenal
Inter Milan
Atletico
Leverkusen
Lille
Aston Villa
The next 16 were drawn into the following matchups, and the winner is bolded.
Brest vs PSG
Manchester City vs Real Madrid
Sporting vs Dortmund
Juventus vs PSV
Milan vs Feyenoord
Benfica vs Monaco
Atalanta vs Club Brugge
Celtic vs Bayern Munich
The Round of 16 draw was:
Liverpool vs PSG
Barcelona vs Benfica
Arsenal vs PSV
Real Madrid vs Atletico Madrid
Bayern Munich vs Bayer Leverkusen
Aston Villa vs Club Brugge
Feyenoord vs Inter Milan
Lille vs Dortmund
As you can see, although this format added more games and many people were unhappy, it turned out amazing. Many big teams did not finish in the top 8 and have to play in the playoffs, and a lot of weaker teams finished instead. This really changed up the dynamic. Now we can see a Quarter Final with no Man City, Bayern Munich, Real Madrid or PSG.
My Predictions :
Liverpool and Barcelona finished in the Top Two, and by far were the strongest teams so far this year. The first and only place they can face each other is the final. This is what people are predicting so far. Personally, (without any bias), I will predict Liverpool to win the Champions League.
The top scorer so far is Guirassy from Dortmund, with 10 goals. Lewandowski, Haaland and Raphinha are following closely. I personally predict that Lewandowski will win it, given his good form and how Barcelona will likely go far.
So there you have it. Next month, the Round of 16 will be done, and we will discuss in detail the Quarter Finals and the Road to Munich 2025.
Make sure to check out my previous articles.
Page layout by Omar Eldosouky
Page updated
Report abuse