Champions League state of play: Key clashes ahead for Barcelona and Chelsea

The Champions League group stage has now reached its business end, with just one round of fixtures remaining for Europe’s big guns to seal a place in the knockouts.

All four Premier League teams have already safely secured their spots in the last-16, with Liverpool, Manchester City and Manchester United confirmed as group winners, but there’s still work to do yet for Chelsea.

Thomas Tuchel’s side, who narrowly overcame City to lift the Champions League trophy last season, qualified last time out with an emphatic 4-0 win over Juventus, but face a tricky trip to Zenit St Petersburg as they look to win the group.

Meanwhile, Ralf Rangnick will get a taste of European action for the first time as Manchester United boss as they play Young Boys on Wednesday night.

While the Premier League quartet have navigated their way through the group stage, the likes of Barcelona and Sevilla still have it all to do.

On Tuesday night, Atletico Madrid secured their place in the knockouts in stunning style, with Porto dropping into the Europa League. Real Madrid also wrapped up their group with victory over Inter Milan.

With just the one set of fixtures remaining in this year’s Champions League group stage, Sportsmail takes you through the state of play.

The Champions League group stage is at its business end with the knockouts now in sight

Group A

Group A came to a close on Tuesday night, with Manchester City topping the quartet and Paris Saint-Germain in second.

The top-two was already decided prior to kick-off, but RB Leipzig and Club Brugge were level on four points and in a battle for a Europa League spot.

It was Leipzig who took third place after claiming an impressive 2-1 win against an admittedly rotated City side.

Club Brugge were unable to topple a PSG side perhaps lacking in confidence as they fell to a 4-1 defeat in Paris.

Manchester City finished top of an exciting Group A, with Paris Saint-Germain in second

Manchester City confirmed their progression to the knockouts before the final set of fixtures, as they saw off runners-up Paris Saint-Germain 2-1

Group B

Group B promised an enthralling finale, with Porto, AC Milan and Atletico Madrid all fighting for the runner-up spot. It’s fair to say, it delivered.

Porto were in the ascendancy going into the final fixture, sat second with a point more than Milan and Atletico.

They fell to a 3-1 home defeat to Atletico, however, with the Spaniards then taking second spot.

Milan were also in with a chance but lost 2-1 at home to Liverpool, who finished the group as winners with six wins from as many games.

A perfect Liverpool and Atletico Madrid progressed to the knockouts from an enticing Group B

Liverpool finished off the group with a 2-1 win against AC Milan to remain perfect throughout

Group C

Group C had already been decided ahead of Tuesday’s final set of fixtures, with Ajax topping the group and Sporting coming in second.

Borussia Dortmund endured a bitterly disappointing campaign and will have to settle for Europa League football as they finished third.

Meanwhile, Besiktas lost all of their six games and finished last.

The final round of fixtures saw Ajax defeat Sporting 4-2 to remain perfect, while Dortmund thumped Besiktas 5-0.

Ajax finished top of Group C, with Sporting in second and Borussia Dortmund in third

Group D

Group D was all set for an enticing finale, with Real Madrid and Inter Milan going head-to-head for top spot on Tuesday night.

It was Los Blancos who ran out comfortable 2-0 winners in the end, sealing their spot as Group D champions.

Inter still went through in second, while Sheriff dropped into the Europa League.

Real Madrid topped Group D, with Inter Milan finishing second and Sheriff in third

Real Madrid sealed top spot in Group D after beating runners-up Inter Milan 2-0 at home

Group E

Bayern Munich have comfortably made the knockouts once more, scoring a whopping 19 goals in their five victories to date.

All eyes are on Barcelona, however, who are at genuine risk of missing out on a Champions League knockout place.

New manager Xavi took charge of their crunch clash at home to Benfica last time out, but the Catalan outfit could only muster a 0-0 draw.

Bayern Munich have already secured qualification, but there’s still work to do for Barcelona

All eyes are on new boss Xavi’s Barcelona as they look to qualify for the knockout stages

The Catalan side face a trip to Bayern on Wednesday, knowing a win will take them through to the knockouts. It would put them on 10 points and out of reach for Benfica, currently on five.

However, Benfica, currently in third, have a significantly easier tie at home to Dynamo Kiev, who have amassed just one point and are already out.

Importantly, the Portuguese outfit have a better head-to-head record than Barcelona, having beaten the Spaniards 3-0 at home, meaning they will progress should they finish on the same points.

With Benfica the overwhelming favourites to beat Dynamo Kiev, while Barcelona were thumped 3-0 at home to Bayern, that is now a real possibility.

Remaining fixtures:

December 8: Benfica vs Dynamo Kiev
December 8: Bayern Munich vs Barcelona

Group F

Briefly under the guidance of Michael Carrick, Manchester United sealed a spot in the last-16 as Group F winners with a hugely important 2-0 win at Villarreal last time out.

Again, it’s head-to-head record that has the first say should two teams finish level on points; and with United beating Villarreal twice, they can’t be caught regardless of Wednesday’s results.

The group is still very much alive, however, with the battle for both the runner-up and the Europa League spot still yet to be determined.

Manchester United have already qualified as Group F winners and will feature in the last-16

Jadon Sancho was among the goals as United beat Villarreal to wrap up Group F in style

Sat on seven points, reigning Europa League champions Villarreal are in the driving seat to finish as Group F runners-up. If they avoid defeat against Atalanta on Wednesday, they will go through.

As for Serie A outfit Atalanta, their task ahead is also clear: win against Villarreal and they’ll be through to the knockouts. With a better head-to-head record than Young Boys, a draw will be enough to secure third place.

Young Boys kept their hopes of a Europa League spot alive with a draw against Atalanta last time out, but any hopes of progression to the knockouts is now gone, having lost twice to Villarreal.

They can gain a Europa League spot if they beat United at Old Trafford, so long as Villarreal win against Atalanta.

Remaining fixtures:

December 8: Manchester United vs Young Boys
December 8: Atalanta vs Villarreal

Group G

Group G is one of the more open of the eight, with just three points separating Lille in first and Wolfsburg in fourth.

Plenty of twists and turns are expected yet, however, with Lille travelling to Wolfsburg on Wednesday, while RB Salzburg host Sevilla.

Lille are currently in pole position, with just a draw enough to guarantee a top-two finish. A win would cement first place in Group G, while a loss could see them drop into third.

Group G remains entirely up for grabs, with all four teams still in contention to qualify

Lille celebrated their most recent victory over RB Salzburg to take control of Group G

Wolfsburg would be behind Sevilla on head-to-head record, meaning anything but a win would see them finish in fourth. A win would propel the German side into second place, however. They would finish above current leaders Lille but would be overtaken by one of Salzburg or Sevilla should they win.

Meanwhile, Salzburg need just a point against Sevilla to secure a top-two finish, regardless of what happens between Wolfsburg and Lille.

Sevilla simply need to win in Germany if they are to progress to the knockouts. With defeat, they will drop into the Europa League – so long as Wolfsburg don’t beat Lille.

Remaining fixtures:

December 8: RB Salzburg vs Sevilla
December 8: Wolfsburg vs Lille

Group H

Group H is already largely decided, with Chelsea and Juventus progressing to the knockouts and Zenit dropping into the Europa League. Malmo are out.

What is yet to be decided, however, is who will take top spot, with both Chelsea and Juventus still able to top the group.

Chelsea were highly impressive as they beat Juventus 4-0 last time out, though, and it’s in their hands with one fixture remaining.

Chelsea and Juventus are already through, with Zenit St Petersburg finishing in third place

Chelsea celebrated a stunning 4-0 win over Juventus to confirm their progression

Chelsea travel to Zenit for their final fixture, where a win will guarantee them top spot. Ultimately, they just have to match Juventus’ result against Malmo, though anything but a win for the Italians would be a shock.

As for Juventus, they need a favour from Zenit if they are to win the group. As stated, if Chelsea win, there’s nothing the Serie A side can do.

Remaining fixtures:

December 8: Juventus vs Malmo
December 8: Zenit St Petersburg vs Chelsea

What happens if two teams finish on the same points?

If two teams finish on equal points, the following criteria is applied in order (as per UEFA):

Higher number of points obtained in the group matches played among the teams in question
Superior goal difference from the group matches played among the teams in question
Higher number of goals scored in the group matches played among the teams in question
If, after having applied criteria a) to c), teams still have an equal ranking, criteria a) to c) are reapplied exclusively to the matches between the remaining teams to determine their final rankings. If this procedure does not lead to a decision, criteria e) to k) apply in the order given to the two or more teams still equal
Superior goal difference in all group matches
Higher number of goals scored in all group matches
Higher number of away goals scored in all group matches
Higher number of wins in all group matches
Higher number of away wins in all group matches
Lower disciplinary points total based only on yellow and red cards received by players and team officials in all group matches (red card = 3 points, yellow card = 1 point, expulsion for two yellow cards in one match = 3 points)
Higher club coefficient