Who Will Advance to the Round of 16 in the UEFA Champions League?
The UEFA Champions League group stage has come to an end, with the eight best teams from each of the eight groups moving on to the round of 16 that kicks off in early December. After the dust settled and the final whistle blew on Matchday 5, we now know exactly which teams will advance from Group H through Group D, but which teams will be left out of this prestigious tournament?
Group A - PSG tops, Liverpool 2nd
Group A features PSG, Liverpool, Napoli and Red Star Belgrade. We expect PSG to come out on top with Liverpool 2nd. The Reds have not been as good this season, but they should still be able to get out of a group that is relatively easy. Napoli are good enough to finish in second place, while Red Star Belgrade may just be happy with a point or two and will likely finish last. With the way things have been going for them lately, it would not be a surprise if Carlo Ancelotti's time at PSG comes to an end soon.
Group B - Bayern Munich tops again, Tottenham advances
The first game on Tuesday night was a thriller between PSV and Barcelona, which ended 3-2 for Barca. Luis Suarez managed to score his 100th goal for the Catalans, and Lionel Messi finally found the net. The second game of Group B was Bayern Munich against Anderlecht and the Germans were far too good for their opponents, winning 3-0 with goals from Thomas Muller (two) and Arjen Robben (one).
Atletico Madrid are still undefeated with five points after two games as they hammered Qarabag 7-1 away from home. Diego Costa scored four while Antoine Griezmann bagged a brace.
Group C - Man City tops, Napoli 2nd
Group C is tough. There are four teams that can advance with Napoli and Manchester City battling for second place. Napoli has been knocked out by Manchester City before, but they have a tricky group with Shakhtar Donetsk and Feyenoord which could cause them problems. The other two teams are Villarreal and Borussia Dortmund, who finished fourth in their respective leagues last year. I think Manchester City will top Group C, but it's not clear who will finish second between Napoli or Napoli.
Group D - Real Madrid & Juventus both top their groups
Group D is a tough one, with Real Madrid and Juventus topping their respective groups. It will be interesting to see how these two giants fare against each other. Juventus have struggled at times this season, but they are still a very formidable team. They are well coached, experienced and know what it takes to get results. Real Madrid on the other hand have looked unstoppable this season. Even though they lost 3-2 against PSG last night, they had battled back from being 2-0 down and were unlucky not to win that match given how many chances they created after that point in time. Plus, their performance at home against Atletico Madrid earlier in the competition proved just how much they want this title this year.
Group E - Barcelona tops, Bayer Leverkusen 2nd
Group E winners Barcelona topped the group with nine points, ahead of Leverkusen and Galatasaray. The German side collected a point against Barcelona and six points from two matches against Galatasaray, while Barca had two wins against Galatasaray and Leverkusen.
Bayer Leverkusen secured second place with seven points, one point behind Barcelona. They had three draws and four losses including their home loss against Galatasaray.
Galatasaray finished third in Group E with five points as they had only one win from two matches against Bayer Leverkusen.
Group F - Besiktas advances with Man United 2nd
In Group F, Manchester United will win this group. With a 6-2 loss on aggregate over Benfica, it's clear that they're not going down without a fight. In fact, they've won two back-to-back games by margins of 2 goals each time. Besiktas will advance as second place after beating Olympiakos 3-0 and drawing 1-1 with CSKA Moscow.
Group G - Real Madrid & Tottenham top group G
Group G is a tough one to pick. The top two spots are up for grabs and both Real Madrid and Tottenham have an excellent chance. Both teams have three points, with Spurs having scored more goals. However, Real Madrid has not yet played their toughest opponent, Borussia Dortmund. If they beat them on November 27th they should be able to advance on goal differential.
Group H - FC Porto tops group H with AS Monaco advancing second
FC Porto came out on top of Group H with a total of 12 points, followed by AS Monaco (11) and Dynamo Kiev (5). The Portuguese team had six wins, two draws and one loss. They finished ahead of AS Monaco due to their head-to-head record (2-1). FC Porto will now face Juventus who finished first in Group H.
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