Wednesday, November 24, 2021 at 11:44 PM• Last update: 23:51

Ajax has secured the group win in group C of the Champions League on Wednesday evening. This means that the team from Amsterdam will be linked to a club that has come second in its group in the draw for the eighth finals of the billion-dollar ball. Ajax will mainly fear Paris Saint-Germain, which will finish behind Manchester City in Group A.

Ajax cannot draw pursuer Sporting Portugal, because both teams are in the same group. Apart from Sporting and PSG, no teams have yet been assured of second place after round five in the Champions League. Ajax does know for sure that Manchester City, Liverpool, Bayern Munich and Manchester United will in any case be avoided: the four superpowers, just like the team from Amsterdam, have assured themselves of winning in their own group.

Chelsea will normally join them if the Londoners win the final group game against Zenit St Petersburg. In that case, Juventus will grab second place in Group H and become a possible opponent of Ajax. Furthermore, Real Madrid and Internazionale fight in a mutual duel for a win against Group D. The Madrilenians have one point enough at home to keep Inter in second place.

Villarreal must get at least one point in Group F in the last game with Atalanta for second place, otherwise the Italians will continue. Barcelona fear that they will lose second place in Group E if they don’t beat Bayern Munich, because then Benfica can come alongside by winning at home against Dynamo Kiev.

There are still two groups where the battle for second place is completely open. FC Porto (five points) defends that position in Group B in a home game against Atlético Madrid (four points). AC Milan (four points) may still benefit in the home game against Liverpool. In Group G, even four teams can finish in second place: the differences between Lille OSC (eight points), Red Bull Salzburg (seven points), Sevilla (six points) and VfL Wolfsburg (five points) are minimal.

Teams guaranteed group win:
Manchester City
Liverpool
Ajax
Bayern Munich
Manchester United

Teams guaranteed second place:
Paris Saint Germain
Sporting Portugal (cannot draw Ajax)

Teams currently in second place:
FC Porto (can be taken over by AC Milan/Atlético Madrid)
Internazionale (still fighting Real Madrid for place one)
Barcelona (could be taken over by Benfica)
Villarreal (can be taken over by Atalanta/Young Boys)
Red Bull Salzburg (can be taken over by Lille/Sevilla/Wolfsburg)
Juventus (still fighting with Chelsea for place one)