With one round of fixtures remaining before the conclusion of the group stage phase of the 2023/24 UEFA Champions League finals, 12 teams including Arsenal, Manchester City, Barcelona and Inter have qualified for the knockout round of the competition.
Arsenal sealed their qualification on Wednesday following a 6-0 win over French Ligue 1 side Lens at the Emirates Stadium courtesy of goals from Kai Havertz, Gabriel Jesus, Gabriel Martineli, Martin Odegaard and Jorginho respectively.
The Gunners were able to achieve a knockout phase qualification six years after they last reached the round of 16 during the 2016/17 campaign.
Bayern Munich, with 13 points, have already been confirmed as the runaway winners of Group A after the Bavarians were held to a goalless draw by Copenhagen at the Allianz Arena, an outcome which further put United in the brink of not qualifying to the round of 16.
Manchester United thrice threw their lead away after Andre Onana conceded two questionable goals, as the Red Devils settled for a 3-3 draw against Galatasaray on Wednesday evening, a match Erik ten Hag’s team needed to win to maintain a higher chance of qualifying for the knockout round.
To qualify for the round of 16, the Red Devils, who are on four points at the bottom of Group A, must secure the maximum three points against Bayern Munich in their last game of the group at Old Trafford and hope Galatasaray, one four points too and Copenhagen, on five points, play out a draw.
On Tuesday, Barcelona, now on 12 points, qualified for the knockout phase of the Champions League for the first time since the 2021/2022 seasons.
This was confirmed after the Spanish champions defeated Porto 2-1 courtesy of goals by Portuguese duo of Joao Cancelo and Joao Felix.
Both Manchester City and Real Madrid have been confirmed as the Group G and Group C respectively— they are the only two teams to win all of their group stage matches in the ongoing campaign so far.
City came back from two goals down to beat RB Leipzig 3-2 on Tuesday.
Despite the defeat, RB Leipzig joined the defending champions as the two teams that qualified for the round of 16 from the group.
Meanwhile, Jude Bellingham scored again as Real Madrid beat Victor Osimehn’s Napoli 4-2 at the Santiago Bernabeu on Wednesday. Napoli only need a draw in their last Group C game against Braga to secure a back-to-back Champions League knockout qualification.
From Group D, Real Socieded and Inter, both on 11 points each, have been confirmed as the two that have qualified for the knockout round.
On Wednesday, Umar Saqid’s Real Socieded played a goalless draw against RB Salzburg while 10-man Inter came back from three goals down to secure a point against Benfica.
Spanish side Atlético Madrid, Italian outfit Lazio, both from Group E and German giants Borussia Dortmund and Dutch side PSV Eindhoven have also secured their spot in the Champions League knockout round.
