Before the final stage of the Champions League, the reigning English, Champions Spain and France are in danger of automatic elimination.
when Manchester City Paris Saint-Germain and Real Madrid visit Celta Vigo on Wednesday (both 8pm GMT) and all three of the competition's heavyweights know they can make the final more comfortable with wins.
The Champions League's new 36-team format requires teams from 9 to 24 to earn a place in the knockout stage play-offs, with automatic progression as one of the top eight teams out of the question. Three sides.
101GreatGoals.com takes a look at how close each of the established contenders is to ousting and the task ahead of them in the final two games of this stage.
Man City: Danger in Paris?
Seven points from their first three games put Manchester City on course for automatic promotion, and their subsequent form has only mirrored their astonishing domestic woes since November: the worst in almost all of Pep Guardiola's tenure.
Beating Sporting and Juventus and losing to each other. They drew 3-3 against Feyenoord at home. It was memorable for the wrong reasons with the 2022/23 champions leading 3-0 after 74 minutes.
Although they have a goal difference of at least 4 points, they are at least 4 points ahead of the bottom 8 teams.
PSG are unbeaten at home this season and in need of a positive result, so a point would be welcome for Manchester City and they will almost certainly leave their fate in their own hands when they face Club Brugge on January 29, who are currently two points clear of them. (8) at night.
Victory would put them in a stronger position to finish between 9th and 16th and be selected for the play-off draw. Only two wins will give them a chance to automatically go through.
Manchester City drew all their home games in the 2012/13 season, with Ajax Manchester City's last loss came when they lost all three of their group games against Real Madrid and Borussia Dortmund. Manager Roberto Mancini left at the end of the campaign.
Guardiola, who won the competition with Barcelona in 2009 and 2011, has always reached the knockout stages during his 17 years as a manager with Spanish clubs Bayern Munich and Manchester City.
The Spaniard, the competition's shortest-serving manager, came into his first season at the Etihad Stadium in 2016/17, losing after a 6-6 draw with Monaco in the last 16 on the now-abolished away goals rule.
PSG: In places of resignation
Paris, runners-up in 2019/20 and reaching the semi-finals in the last two seasons, are in the most dangerous position of the three titans ahead of Matchday 7.
Drawing is not enough to put them on the line. Defeat against Arsenal on Wednesday (8pm) would see them move higher than Croatian side Dinamo Zagreb, but Stuttgart, who are level with PSG, will hope to win in Slovan on Tuesday (8pm). The Bratislava side are still looking for their first point.
PSG have won eight games in a row but have yet to face opponents as dangerous as Manchester City along the way. They will be hoping to salvage a European best with a 3-0 win at Salzburg in Matchday 6, a point from four games.
PSG arrive in Stuttgart on January 29 at 8pm, looking to mount a three-game winning streak against their opponents to move up to fourth in the Bundesliga.
Lionel Messi Despite the presence of Kylian Mbappe and Neymar, they suffered defeats in the last 16 in 2021/22 and 2022/23 – but have progressed from the initial stage each time in their current spell. Participated for 12 consecutive years.
The last time they fell at the first hurdle in the competition was in 2004/05, when manager Vahid Halilhodzic was replaced by Laurent Fournier in February.
Current coach Luis Enrique won the Champions League in his first season in charge of Barcelona in 2014/15 and was never sacked in the first round.
The 54-year-old came from behind to win 2-1 at Lens on Saturday but has now moved nine points clear of Paris as part of an 18-game unbeaten start to the Ligue 1 season.
“I'm very happy with the victory,” the former Spain coach said, describing PSG as carrying “good energy” and high hopes for the Champions League.
Real Madrid: Possession under threat.
Madrid, along with City, are the only team to win all six of their group stage matches, and could improve their record by winning the Champions League for the 15th time in 2023/24.
An early exit would have been unthinkable for the dominant force in the competition, but losses to Lille and Liverpool and a home loss to Milan left Madrid two points clear of the knockout stages.
Madrid will be firm favorites to end matchday one, having lost just one of their five games at home to Salzburg on Wednesday (8pm), but need to end their two-game winning streak in all competitions. A week later (8 o'clock) the result came in Brest, who are currently in the automatic knockout stage.
Vinicius Jr. Even play-off prospects for teams featuring the likes of Kylian Mbappe and Jude Bellingham are at the very least as Madrid have reached the semi-finals in at least 14 of the last 16 seasons.
He left in 2018/19 despite being knocked out of the round of 16 in 2018/19, sacked two managers in his first season but never let go of his first chance in 70 years. Cristiano Ronaldo, the top scorer in Champions League history.
They lost 2-1 to Manchester City under Zinedine Zidane at the same stage in the last 16 knockout stage of the season.
Manager Ancelotti Twice as coach of Milan. He won the Champions League three times as Madrid coach, but was knocked out in the group stage three times as the most successful manager in the competition's history.
Ancelotti's Parma side lost just one of their six games but were still relegated in 1997/98 when the second-placed teams went out. The Italian then finished bottom of the group with Juventus in 2000/01 and finished third with Napoli in 2018/19.
When are the Champions League play-offs?
The teams finishing between the top and bottom eight teams will play in a two-legged knockout stage.
The first round of matches will be held on February 11th and 12th, with the rematch a week later. Voting will be held on January 31.
When is the Champions League Round of 16?
The top eight teams and the playoff winners will play in the first round of the round of 16 on March 4 and 5, followed by the second round a week later.
16 teams The quarter-finals and semi-finals will be voted on on February 21.