Arsenal stand on the edge of qualification for the next round in the Champs League

 

 

By Bulldog Drummond

• Arsenal v Dinamo. The allegations are utterly mind-boggling
• Arsenal v Dinamo Zagreb – the team with 19 consecutive titles

Here’s the  Champions League table after last night’s results – you will recall that the aim is to be in the top eight in order to go straight through to the knockout stage without going through the playoffs.

 

	Team	P	W	D	L	F	A	GD	Ptss
1	Liverpool	7	7	0	0	15	2	+13	21
2	Barcelona	7	6	0	1	26	11	+15	18
3	Atletico M	7	5	0	2	16	11	+5	15
4	Atalanta	7	4	2	1	18	4	+14	14
5	Arsenal	6	4	1	1	11	2	+9	13
6	Bayer Lev	7	4	1	2	13	7	+6	13
7	Inter Milan	6	4	1	1	7	1	+6	13
8	Aston Villa	7	4	1	2	9	4	+5	13
9	Brest	6	4	1	1	10	6	+4	13
10	Monaco	7	4	1	2	13	10	+3	13
11	Lille	7	4	1	2	11	9	+2	13
12	Bayern Muni	6	4	0	2	17	8	+9	12

 

In fact going further down the league there are four clubs playing tonight who, if they won, and if Arsenal lost, would take them above Arsenal and so send Arsenal skittling down to ninth, and thus out of the immediate qualifications plac.  But the chances of that combination is extraordinarily unlikely.   And indeed I would suggest that a win tonight for Arsenal is the most likely outcome.  That would take Arsenal up to third, and of course make qualification secure.

But as we saw yesterday, Dinamo Zagreb are not a normal team – at least in the sense of “normality” in the Premier League style.   And indeed it is worth taking note of the lower reaches of this strange European league… for I am sure it is not what Uefa had in mind when they cooked up this crazy notion.

Clubs that finish between ninth and 24th (ie 16 clubs) play a home and away fixture against another team from that group and then join the clubs ending up in the top eight.   Currently sitting in the lower reaches we have Real Madrid in 22nd, ManC in 24th, Paris St Germain in 26th and Giron in 30th.  I mention the latter because they are our final fixture int this whacko league on the 29th.

Now of course, all of those clubs except Girona are likely to go through in a two-match play off, but having them lurking in the lower reaches of a ludicrous 36-team league is weird to say the very least.   And it does make one wonder just how it is that teams like these that used to do so well, and whom Uefa undoubtedly expected them all to sail through this stage, are struggling somewhat.

Still, the Premier League will have two or perhaps three teams automatically qualifying and then maybe ManC getting in via the playoffs, strange so that sounds.

Meanwhile, back in a slightly slightly more real world, Chelsea beat Wolverhampton 3-1 last night which leaves the Premier League slightly changed…. and is of interest since we are away to Wolverhampton on Saturday.

The table below shows the top six and then (for the purposes of amusement only) some of those entities lurking in the lower reaches.

 

But back to today’s game.  Dinamo Zagreb are one place below Manchester City in the Champions League table, and that means they are one place outside the selection of clubs that will be of the playoffs in the next round.   So they do need points if they want to get those extra two games.   Their final game is at home to Milan who are 15th and still with a chance of automatic qualification for the next round, and so have all to play for.

It is a tough couple of final games for Zagreb, and they really do need something out of these last two games in order to squeeze into the playoff places.   I think they will go for all-out defence – for only five teams out of the 36 in the Champions League have actually conceded more goals than their 15 in the Champions League so far this season.