football / Champions League. Barça, Manchester United and Chelsea for the eighth

Barça in a strong position

Bayern Munich (12 pts), already qualified after winning their four games, is close to securing first place. A new success, or a draw, on the ground of Dynamo Kiev (1 pt), will guarantee him to finish in the head. Even in the event of a bad surprise in Ukraine, the Bavarians will get pole position if FC Barcelona (6 pts) does not beat Benfica Lisbon (4 pts).

On the edge of the precipice after two defeats in the first two days, Barça raised its head to the point of approaching the end of the group stage in a strong position.

Memphis Depay’s teammates will see the eighth if they win for the third time in a row, an outcome dreamed of by the new coach Xavi, who started on Saturday with a victory against Espanyol (1-0).

Manchester United want to get out of the crisis

Like FC Barcelona, ​​Manchester United (7 pts) has had a difficult start to the season, which led to the dismissal of coach Ole Gunnar Solskjaer on Sunday, the day after a humiliation at Watford (4-1).

The former midfielder of the “Red Devils” Michael Carrick, hitherto assistant to the Norwegian, provides the interim, with the crucial mission of qualifying the ambitious English club for the knockout stages of the Champions League.

The team of Cristiano Ronaldo, author of five goals in the competition this season, will have his ticket in his pocket if it wins on the field of Villarreal (7 pts).

As for the Spaniards, it would be a feat to go further: the « yellow submarine », winner last season of the Europa League, has not played in the final phase of C1 since 2009. A success against  » Red Devils ”could make the men of Unai Emery happy.

But at the same time, Atalanta (5 pts) will not have to win in Bern (3 pts) for qualification to be acquired.

Chelsea aim for the double hit

Title-holder and leader of the English Championship, Chelsea (9 pts) made a successful start to the season, but he has not yet validated his ticket for the eighth, the fault of his defeat on the ground of Juventus (1 -0) end of September.

Against the Turinese, it is a question of making a double blow for the “Blues”: to win to qualify and to take the first place, currently occupied by Italians with a clear course (12 pts).

A draw would allow Thomas Tuchel’s men to see what happened, but would also do the business of those of Massimiliano Allegri, who would then be sure to finish in the lead.