UCL Knockout Stage: Breakdown by Domestic League

UEFA Champions League Group stage came to a close Wednesday. The 32 clubs are going through to the next stage of the competition. They will learn their next opponents on November 7. Domestic leagues are responsible for the majority of European teams going to this stage. The Round of 16 matches will take place in the middle of February.

English Premier League sides are showing why they are the best domestic league in the world. Manchester City and Liverpool both made it through their respective groups. Chelsea took 1st in Group E, while Tottenham came second. All 4 teams will pose a threat to their opponents in Round of 16.

The domestic league that qualified five teams for the Champions League knockout stage is the Bundesliga. Bayern Munich, Borussia Dortmund and RB Leipzig are the other teams that made it to the knockout stages. Eintracht Frankfurt was only in the competition because of their Europa League title from the end of last season. The EPL, Bundesliga and La Liga get four slots into the UCL. The Europa league is Europe’s second-best European competition behind the UEFA Champions league.

Juventus were the only Italian team not to qualify for the next round of the UCL. Napoli were unbeaten until their 2-0 defeat at Anfield on Tuesday. AC Milan and Inter Milan qualified for Round of 16 from Serie A. Inter won the final matchday against RB Salzburg.  

Barcelona, Atletico Madrid and Sevilla are out of the Champions League. The only Spanish-side safe through the group stage is the defending champions Real Madrid.

Paris Saint Germain are aiming to win the UCL for the first time in club history. PSG are second all-time in Ucl wins for a club that has not won the competition.

Portugal's top league gets 2 of their 3 participants in the UCL into the knockout stage. FC Porto finished 1st in Group B. Benfica overtook PSG on top of the table in their group after they defeated Maccabi Haifa 6-1 on the final match day.

Club Brugge is the only non-top league-side to make it through to the knockout stage of the UEFA Champions League. The Belgian side did not concede a single goal through the first four matchdays. FC Porto beat them 4-0 in the fifth matchday.

UCL Knockout Stage: Breakdown by Domestic League is published by The Game Haus.