UEFA Champions League 2024-25: Who can qualify for Round of 16 after Matchday 7?

The new format of the Champions League was met with serious concerns across stakeholders but looking at this point in time, the new format has given all the clubs an equal chance to qualify for the next round. In the previous format, where the top two advanced to the next round from their respective groups and the third team used to qualify for the Europa League, the current format gives the best eight teams amongst the competing 32 an automatic walk to the Round of 16, whereas the mid-16 will have to fight it out to make it to the next round. 

Barring the poor-performing teams, every team will get a chance to make it to the Round of 16, compared to the previous format. While retrospectively one could say this, the ongoing Champions League 2024-25 has been hit with a greater curiosity. In the current campaign, the treble winners Manchester City are in the 25th position whereas the likes of Brest, and Celtic are looking likely to make it to the two-legged playoffs. 

After the conclusion of Matchday 7, they are now the clear favorites to make it to the Round of 16 automatically while there is an outside chance for bigger clubs to make it too. Here are the teams who can qualify for the Round of 16 after Matchday 7:

The Automatic Qualifiers: Liverpool, Barcelona and Arsenal

After Matchday 7, Liverpool sits comfortably at the top of the table with 21 points, remaining the only unbeaten team in the competition. They have qualified for the Round of 16 automatically and will be playing PSV in their next game, who are eyeing for a spot in the two-legged tie. Alongside Liverpool, Barcelona also qualified for the Round of 16 as they scored 18 points in seven games. A loss or a draw against Atalanta could change their position on the table but is not a risk to their automatic qualification. 

On the other hand, Arsenal have 16 points after seven games which should suffice but there are several teams with 13 points. However, their goal-scoring form has come to the rescue as they have a healthy goal difference of 12, which will help them qualify automatically unless they have drastic drubbing against Girona. 

The middle pile: Inter Milan, AC Milan and Atletico Madrid

This is where everything gets interesting. Inter have 16 points after seven games in the tournament which should be enough for them to automatically qualify but the number of teams with 13 points and similar goal difference in the existing table is insanely huge. Inter will play Monaco on the final game day who have GD +5 and 13 points. A loss by three goals would put their position in jeopardy. 

Atletico Madrid and AC Milan find themselves with 15 points and a GD of +5 and +4 respectively. They are expected to sail through to the Round of 16 without a two-legged playoff but they face RB Salzburg and Dinamo Zagreb who have nothing to lose. A draw would suffice but the Spanish and the Italian outfit would not want to risk their place considering five teams can reach 16 points who have similar goal differences. A loss could push them to the playoffs as a combined 11 teams could potentially touch 15 points. 

The Touch and Go: Atalanta and Bayer Leverkusen

Atalanta and Bayer Leverkusen sit in seventh and eighth place in the Champions League table but have 14 and 13 points respectively. Both teams desperately need a win to keep their automatic qualification hopes alive. A win would put Atalanta ahead of the rest of the others in the table as they have GD +14 whereas Leverkusen have a comparatively easier fixture against Sparta Praha who are out of the competition. However, for Atalanta, they will need to overcome the Camp Nou challenge if they are to qualify automatically. 

The door-knockers:

The likes of Aston Villa and Monaco enjoyed being in the top eight of the competition at the start but their poor form has derailed their campaign. While they are sure of qualifying for the two-legged playoff, they would want to reduce the fixture congestion. The Dutch outfit Feyenoord and the other French outfit, Lille would also want to qualify for their top 8 with another set of results going their way. 

Of the four sides mentioned, Feyenoord will be up against Lille and only one has the chance to make it to the top 8 but the winning margin needs to be at least by three goals. At this moment, none of them would probably make it to the top-8.

On the other hand, Monaco will be playing Inter Milan and Aston Villa will face Celtic. Both games are expected to go hand-in-hand with teams of equal strength at display. If recent results and the potential are to go by, Aston Villa might sneak into the top 8 due to the GD in place of eighth-placed Bayer Leverkusen. 

A record 16 games will be kicked off at the same time on 29th/30th January with teams’ qualifications on the line. It remains interesting to see which team would come on top of the pile.