Tottenham Champions League Permutations Explained

The league phase of the UEFA Champions League concludes on Wednesday night with a feast of action as all 36 teams play at the same time.

Eighteen matches kick-off at the same time, making for some exciting twists and turns in how the table looks throughout the night, with teams swapping positions at will depending on results.

Only the top eight make it through to the last 16 automatically, with the teams finishing from ninth to 16th having to face off against the teams finishing 17th to 24th in a two-legged play-off in February for qualification to the round of 16.

Tottenham Impress In The Champions League

It is set to be a thrilling night of football in Europe’s premier competition, with only six teams out of 36 knowing their fate – the top two and the bottom four.

Tottenham Hotspur currently hold one of the eight positions at the top of the table, following a fine league phase campaign – in stark contrast to their domestic form in the Premier League. Spurs have won four and drawn two of their seven Champions League games thus far – their only defeat coming to reigning champions Paris Saint-Germain, in a game you could argue they did not deserve to lose.

That leaves the Lilywhites fifth in the table, but they have work to do to ensure a top eight finish.

How Tottenham Can Reach The Last 16

Things are made a touch easier for Thomas Frank’s side by the team they are up against on the final day – Eintracht Frankfurt. Spurs beat the German side on their way to UEFA Europa League glory last year and Frankfurt are struggling this season. They are eighth in the Bundesliga and one of the four sides at the bottom of the Champions League table who cannot qualify for the knockouts following a dismal campaign in which they have won just once.

So what do Spurs need to do to finish in the top eight?

They are already guaranteed being seeded for the play-offs, but they will want to qualify directly for the last 16. That is not going to be easy though as there are 13 teams within three points of each other in the race to finish in the top eight.

Three points separates third-placed Real Madrid from 15th-placed Juventus, meaning Spurs need to win to guarantee a spot in the top eight.

A draw would move Tottenham on to 15 points, and that would mean at least four of nine teams who are two points behind them presently, would need to win their games to overhaul them.

The teams in with a shout of the top eight

The remaining fixtures for those teams

Eintracht Frankfurt vs Tottenham

PSG vs Newcastle

Man City vs Galatasaray

Liverpool vs Qarabag

Borussia Dortmund vs Inter Milan

Barcelona vs Copenhagen

Atletico Madrid vs Bodo/Glimt

Benfica vs Real Madrid

Napoli vs Chelsea

Monaco vs Juventus

Union St Gilloise vs Atalanta

Athletic Club vs Sporting CP

Tottenham’s Hopes of Automatic Qualification

Only two of the teams chasing Spurs for a top eight spot are playing each other, with PSG hosting Newcastle, so both cannot win. That takes one team out of the equation, unless they draw and Spurs lose, which would see both of them leapfrog Tottenham.

Real Madrid, Atalanta, Sporting CP, Juventus, Chelsea and Inter all have tough-looking away fixtures, but Liverpool, Man City and Barcelona have favourable home matches.

It’s going to be tight, but Spurs just need to do their job at win in Frankfurt and nothing else will matter.