{"id":48563,"date":"2026-01-28T01:52:15","date_gmt":"2026-01-28T01:52:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/?p=48563"},"modified":"2026-01-28T01:52:15","modified_gmt":"2026-01-28T01:52:15","slug":"c3ve1gnk26eoat_mediumrssat_campaignrss","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/2026\/01\/28\/c3ve1gnk26eoat_mediumrssat_campaignrss\/","title":{"rendered":"Champions League: Which clubs can make top eight and qualify for knockouts in league stage final round?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <script data-jetpack-boost=\"ignore\" async src=\"https:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-1669381584671856\"\r\n     crossorigin=\"anonymous\"><\/script>\r\n<!-- Africa tv video display -->\r\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\"\r\n     style=\"display:block\"\r\n     data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-1669381584671856\"\r\n     data-ad-slot=\"3579572842\"\r\n     data-ad-format=\"auto\"\r\n     data-full-width-responsive=\"true\"><\/ins>\r\n<script data-jetpack-boost=\"ignore\">\r\n     (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\r\n<\/script><br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">The battle to pin down places in the top eight could be enthralling, given how tightly packed the standings are.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">Let&#8217;s start with the easy bit. For Real Madrid and Liverpool, both on 15 points, and Tottenham, on 14, a victory on matchday eight would secure direct entry into the last 16.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">Spurs face eliminated Eintracht Frankfurt in Germany, where the north London outfit won last year on the way to a Europa League triumph that secured them Champions League football this season.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">Arne Slot&#8217;s Liverpool side are at home to Qarabag, who have a slim chance of still making the top eight.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">&#8220;It&#8217;s all down to us again. Let&#8217;s make sure we&#8217;re in the top eight,&#8221; said Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk after last week&#8217;s win in Marseille.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">&#8220;It&#8217;s very important as you miss the play-offs, and it helps with the intense programme that we&#8217;re having. We&#8217;ve put ourselves in a good position.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">Real Madrid are away to their former manager Jose Mourinho&#8217;s Benfica.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">Mourinho reached three Champions League semi-finals in a row with Real before leaving in 2013, but Benfica &#8211; with only two wins in their first seven games &#8211; will need to beat Real to have a chance of sneaking into the play-offs.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">Behind Spurs come the group of eight teams, starting with holders Paris St-Germain in sixth down to Atalanta in 13th, on 13 points.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">Newcastle, Chelsea and Manchester City are all in that group and looking for a priceless win &#8211; and even then knowing their fate could come down to goal difference.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">Chelsea are also up against a familiar face in their former head coach Antonio Conte, who won Serie A with Napoli last season.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">Conte welcomes the Blues to Naples with his side sitting outside the play-off spots on goal difference and needing a positive result.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><script data-jetpack-boost=\"ignore\" async src=\"https:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-1669381584671856\"\r\n     crossorigin=\"anonymous\"><\/script>\r\n<!-- Africa tv video display -->\r\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\"\r\n     style=\"display:block\"\r\n     data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-1669381584671856\"\r\n     data-ad-slot=\"3579572842\"\r\n     data-ad-format=\"auto\"\r\n     data-full-width-responsive=\"true\"><\/ins>\r\n<script data-jetpack-boost=\"ignore\">\r\n     (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\r\n<\/script><br \/>\n#Champions #League #clubs #top #qualify #knockouts #league #stage #final<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The battle to pin down places in the top eight could be enthralling, given how tightly packed the standings are.&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":48564,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-48563","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-mzansi"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48563","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=48563"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48563\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":48565,"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48563\/revisions\/48565"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/48564"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=48563"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=48563"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=48563"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}