The seventh round of the revamped UEFA Champions League format will take place between this Tuesday and Wednesday, with several teams that could secure qualification for the knockout stage. So far, the only one that already has a guaranteed place among the top 16 is Liverpool's Alexis Mac Allister, who has an ideal score thanks to his six victories.
The team that is leading the way to secure their qualification is Barcelona, which has 15 points and with a victory will not need to wait for results to move on to the next stage. All of them would be qualifying for the knockout stage directly, although for this to happen in round 7, they must win and hope that the teams below them do not accumulate three points.
Further down, and waiting for the leaders to suffer an adverse result, are Borussia Dortmund, Bayern Munich, Atlético Madrid, and Milan with 12 points, Atalanta and Juventus with 11, and Benfica, Monaco, Sporting Lisbon, Feyenoord, and Bruges with 10. The major disappointments of this Champions League have been Real Madrid and Manchester City, champions of the last two editions, which have 9 and 8 points respectively and need a miracle to advance directly to the knockout stage.
Nevertheless, from ninth to twenty-fourth place in the table, they will compete in a playoff phase, with the goal of moving into the knockout stage. The problem here is that participating in this stage will represent a great toll for the teams, in a football environment so loaded with matches like Europe.
Regarding the schedule for round 7 of the UEFA Champions League, the match between Real Madrid and Salzburg stands out. The team led by German Hansi Flick has been on a worrying streak in recent months, losing significant ground in LaLiga in Spain, so they will need to improve their level to beat Benfica in Portugal. Behind them, with 13 points, are Arsenal, Bayer Leverkusen, the surprising Aston Villa of Emiliano 'Dibu' Martínez, Inter with Lautaro Martínez, Brest, and Lille.
