The Champions League will have its first team with 10 points this week, a sum that will likely secure its ticket to the knockout phase of the tournament.
Upon reaching the midpoint of the new format with 36 clubs, Xabi Alonso’s Bayer Leverkusen and Liverpool are within sight of 10 points when they meet on Tuesday at Anfield. Manchester City will also be able to do so by visiting Sporting Lisbon, who remains managed by Ruben Amorim until he joins Manchester United a week later.
The English teams occupy the first three places in the table. Man City and Liverpool escort leaders Aston Villa, winners of the 1982 European Cup, who are looking for their fourth consecutive victory on Wednesday when they visit Brugge of Belgium.
Much further down the table, the two teams with the most titles in the competition’s 70-season history, both led by Carlo Ancelotti, face off in Spain. Real Madrid, 15-time champion, hosts AC Milan, with seven titles.
The new format qualifies the top eight directly to the round of 16 in January. Teams that finish 9th through 16th will play a playoff round in February against teams ranked 17th through 24th. The winners of those two-legged meetings advance to the round of 16 in March.
UEFA calculations suggest that just eight points from eight games would be enough to enter the knockout stage.
Still, the surprise defeats suffered so far by Real Madrid, Barcelona and Bayern Munich showed how predictions can change.
Unbalanced calendars
The 36 teams were given a balanced list of opponents by drawing two teams from each of the four seeding pots based on the results of UEFA competitions over the past five years.
The order of the matches, however, can be uneven and Leipzig remains with zero points after losing against three high-ranked rivals. Leipzig will face Celtic.
Sporting Lisbon are also a Pot 3 team, giving Man City a third lower-ranked opponent in the first half of their schedule.
Liverpool have stood out despite their schedule. Leverkusen are their third highest-ranked rival and next up will be Real Madrid at Anfield on November 27.
Atlético Madrid have underperformed, sinking into 27th place, and visit Paris Saint-Germain on Wednesday, but the three-time finalist has one of the least complicated schedules ahead.
Coaches come and go
Alonso could have been on the home team’s bench on Tuesday. Liverpool offered their former midfielder, winner of the Champions League in the epic 2005 final, the chance to succeed Jürgen Klopp this season.
Alonso opted to stay at Leverkusen and lead the undefeated Bundesliga champions to the Champions League. Liverpool have turned to Feyenoord’s Arne Slot, who is making a tremendous start to the Premier League leaders.
Amorim will face City on Tuesday, weeks after he was mentioned as the club’s next manager.
Pep Guardiola’s future plans are unclear as his contract expires next year, and City have already announced that their director of football next season will be Amorim’s current boss at Sporting, Hugo Viana.
English proficiency
The four English teams had not conceded a goal since the third minute of the first day.
The Premier is taking advantage of financial power and these results would earn it an extra fifth place in next year’s competition.
City and Arsenal return to Europe after losing at the weekend. Guardiola’s team aims to avoid a third consecutive defeat against Viktor Gyökeres and Sporting. The Swedish striker spent five seasons on loan at youth teams in Germany and England before joining Sporting last year.
Arsenal returns to Italy to face Inter Milan after starting with a 0-0 draw against Atalanta.
surprising french
Monaco and Brest remain undefeated in fourth and fifth place respectively, while Lille are in the top half of the standings and PSG behind.
Brest again faces one of its lowest-ranked rivals when it visits Sparta Prague on Wednesday, with games against Real Madrid and Barcelona in the second half.
Monaco already beat Barcelona and now visits Bologna, one of the four teams that has failed to score so far.
Lille hosts Juventus on Tuesday at the Stade Pierre-Mauroy, where Madrid was surprised 1-0 a month ago.
