This week UEFA Champions League will end the group stage of the 2019-20 season. On Tuesday evening, the last eight matches of groups E-H will be played.
This day will not lack intriguing battles, as only two teams from four groups are guaranteed a place in the quarter-finals. These are "Leipzig" and "Barcelona".
Intriguing matches are expected in at least three stadiums - Milan, Salzburg, and Amsterdam. "EuroFootball.com" reviews the teams' tournament situation and the biggest intrigues of this evening.
"Inter" chance. Last season, the Milan team, which dropped out of the Europa League in the last group matches, will try to avoid last year's scenario. Antonio Conte's team will host the Barcelona players at home, who secured their place in the quarter-finals after a victory against Dortmund's "Borussia". Such a result greatly eased the situation for "Inter" - "Barcelona" allowed themselves to come to Milan without several leaders, including Lionel Messi.
"Inter" holds the key to its own fate - in case of a victory, they have a guaranteed place in the next stage. The "Borussia" and "Inter" clubs have accumulated the same number of points, but the Milan team has the advantage in head-to-head matches. BVB awaits a clash with Prague's "Slavia", so the only hope is that "Barcelona" will give a fight to the home team this evening.
Champions' check. Like last year, this time the "Liverpool" club is again not guaranteed to continue participating in the tournament. Last season, in which "Liverpool" became European champions for the sixth time, they advanced from the group stage only in the last matches. This time the situation for the "Reds" is not that complicated - they are in first place with 10 points, while "Napoli" with 9 points is behind them.
The "Liverpool" team will face a duel with this season's sensation - "Salzburg". They will play at home and will have one of the brightest stars of this season, Erling Braut Haaland. "Liverpool" won the first leg 4:3 at their stadium, although they were trailing by three goals after the first 36 minutes.
"Salzburg" situation is quite simple - they need a victory in this match to equalize the points with "Liverpool". Austrians would be satisfied with a victory with a score of 1:0, 2:1, 3:2 or a lead of more than one goal. "Liverpool" can advance to the next stage even if they lose to "Salzburg", but then they will have to hope for a gift from the "Genk" team, which plays away against "Napoli". If the Italians play a draw and also collect 10 points, "Liverpool" will be behind them.
Glance at Amsterdam. The attention of the teams from Group H will be drawn to the Dutch capital, where the local "Ajax" will clash with "Valencia". London's "Chelsea" currently holds third place, but the situation is not as bad as it may seem - Frank Lampard's team will host the "Lille" team, which has only one point in their last five matches. If no major surprises happen, "Chelsea" should win their match and automatically secure a place in the quarter-finals.
"Valencia" is in a more difficult position, which, despite being second in the group, has the least chance to advance from the group. "Valencia", depending on the result of "Chelsea", will most likely need only a victory in Amsterdam, but this task is not one of the easiest - "Ajax" won the first leg in Valencia with a convincing 3-0 lead. "Ajax" will be left out of the next stage only if "Valencia" defeats them and "Chelsea" wins against "Lille".
Last ticket hunt. Intrigue should not be lacking in Group G, where only "Leipzig" is calm among the four teams for participation in the quarter-finals. Only Lisbon's "Benfica" can no longer take the second position, but still has chances to rise from the last place and fight for the right to compete in the Europa League. The biggest intrigue of this group is which team - "Lyon" or St. Petersburg's "Zenit" - will take the last ticket to the quarter-finals.
Both teams have 7 points each, but at the moment "Zenit" is higher in the standings, having surpassed "Lyon" in the head-to-head matches. "Lyon" club must wait for a stumble by the Russian team and win the game or play a draw - the latter result will satisfy only if "Zenit" loses in Lisbon. In turn, the goal for "Zenit" is simple - to win regardless of the result of "Lyon" and prepare for further competition in February.
