After the defeat of Dinamo by Arsenal 3:0, it is clear that Dinamo must beat Milan in the last round of the Champions League in order to even have a chance to qualify for the play-offs of the Champions League, among the 24 places that lead to that stage of the competition.
It’s Dynamo currently in 26th place with eight pointswhile Stuttgart in 24th position has two more points. Therefore, even victory does not guarantee passage for the Croatian champion, because it also depends on other results.
Ahead of the final round, 18 clubs secured placement in the next phase of the competition, while the last nine clubs dropped out of each combination for passage. This means that along with Dinamo and Stuttgart, PSV, Club Brugge, Benfica, PSG, Manchester City, Sporting and Shakhtar are also in the mix to advance to the knockout phase, writes HRT.
In 26th place, Dinamo has eight points and -8 goal difference, so it can hardly expect to be able to overtake any of the clubs with 11 points. They are currently PSV (goal difference +3) and Club Brugge (goal difference -2). The Dutch welcome Liverpool in the last round, and the Belgians visit City. City is also chasing a pass, so with a possible convincing victory maybe could help the “Blues”, but both a draw and a Brugge win in that game would suit the Blues precisely because City is a direct competitor to Dinamo.
At the same time, Shakhtar is not a team that Dinamo has to worry about, considering that they have less points than Dinamo, seven to be exact, so they are the only team among the candidates for further placement whose result the Blues do not have to worry about in the event of a victory over Milan.
By celebrating against Milan, Dinamo could leapfrog Benfica, PSG, Sporting and Stuttgart, who have 10 points each, as well as City, who have the same points as Dinamo. but with a greater goal difference.
As it was promised during the presentation of the new format of the Champions League, in the last round we really have an interesting situation waiting for us in the fight to advance to the play-offs of the Champions League, that is, for the last places that lead to the 1/16-finals of the knockout phase.
Everyone will have their own calculationsthere are even two head-to-head matches between the candidates for further placement, and here are the results the Blues need in the last round matches, if Milan really win at Maksimir.
Matches of Dinamo’s opponents for placement in the knockout phase in the last round of the Champions League (January 29, all matches from 9:00 p.m.):
- Manchester City – Club Brugge – a draw or a win for Club Brugge (a win for City also counts, if Brugge’s goal difference ends up being worse than Dinamo’s)
- Juventus – Benfica – Juventus win
- Sporting – Bologna – victory of Bologna
- PSG – Stuttgart – win by either PSG or Stuttgart (only a draw does not suit Dinamo)
- PSV – Liverpool – Liverpool win, but only on the condition that PSV’s goal difference is worse than Dinamo’s
Of these five scenarios, the two results must match so that Dinamo could go on.
Dynamo without a shot on goal, Arsenal scored three goals without difficulty
(www.jabuka.tv | Photo: X)
