Historic Night in the UEFA Champions League: 18 Matches, All to Play For

January 29 2025, will be historic in many ways and will be remembered in the years coming.

The new format of the UEFA Champions League implemented this season has caused different reactions among the public, pundits, and fans. As in almost everything, we heard various opinions, but it all led to this date - January 29, 2025. This is the day when the new format of the biggest club football competition will peak - and it will be an absolute cracker!

As many as 18 matches will start in the exact second! The legendary Champions League anthem will be played in 18 stadiums at the precise moment, and then the ball will roll, and the spectacle will begin!

Everything to play for

And everything is at stake, in fact, almost everything. If you are a literalist - out of 18 matches, only two clashes have no result significance (they have financial importance, though, as each triumph brings 2.1 million euros).

This means that 27 teams play for a minimum of additional duels and the February play-off.

The team with the best form in TOP leagues, Liverpool, is in the best position. Arne Slot's side secured its fourth win at Anfield in the last round and pushed Lille below the Top 8 line. A point in Eindhoven would give Slot the first seed and avoid the second-placed team in the final – Barcelona is the closest to that spot.

PSV, although on 11 points, is not entirely safe, just like Brugge, who probably has the toughest opponent – ​​Manchester City, who are fighting for its life Etihad. The 23rd European champion suffered a collapse in Paris and is in a situation he could not have dreamed of, with eight points sitting in the 25th place. A triumph could take Guardiola to an underprivileged company before the playoff draw, which is the same system as the one in tennis.

Liverpool or Barça?

Let's go back to the top because the most exciting duel awaits us there - Barça from Montjuic dreams of first place, and along with Liverpool, they are the only safe team in the round of 16. They host Atalanta, who is on the edge of the Top eight with 14 points. The attacking football of both teams guarantees fun, and we will see who actually has fun in Catalonia at the end.

Arsenal and Inter are lurking for Barça's slip-up, with the Gunners having a trip to last season's sensation in La Liga Girona.

Meanwhile, the unpredictable Monaco arrives at San Siro with the dream of a sensational place in the Top 8 - currently only three goals behind Leverkusen and a point behind seventh-placed Atalanta.

Atletico Madrid and Milan have already secured dates for the middle of February. Only miracles in Austria and Croatia can push them into the play-off zone.

Former teammates in Lazio from the beginning of the 21st century, Simeone and Conceição, will watch what Bayer is doing with Sparta in Leverkusen. Xabi Alonso's side needs a win to confirm the round of 16.

Aston Villa, Celtic, Lille, and Feyenoord have everything to play for.

Brest, the stunning story of this Champions League, lost away to Shakhtar and Barcelona and will conclude the story as it should be – with a duel against the UCL record-holders. The defending champions, Real Madrid, are coming to Guingamp's stadium with a dream of being in the Top 8. However, it will be difficult for Ancelotti's side, who will still seek victory for a better place in the draw for the February play-off.

With just theory on their side after seven points in seven games, Shakhtar will visit last year's finalists Dortmund, and Slovan Bratislava, with the worst defence in the Champions League, will arrive in Munich to face mighty Bayern.

Juventus and Celtic are also on 12 points each – we said that the Scots are going to Birmingham. The Old Lady welcomes Benfica, which certainly does not put the fans in Turin at ease, as Juve has a terrible experience with the Portuguese teams.

Benfica knocked them out in the group two seasons ago, Porto in the round of 16 two years earlier. The Lisbon giants arrive wounded after two big shocks. First with Barça in the match of the season, then on the road at Casa Pia in the championship.

No room for mistake for PSG

Paris Saint-Germain is grabbing one of the last cards in a direct duel with Stuttgart. It will be one of four matches in Germany this Wednesday, with only Leipzig as the away team.

Sporting, struggling without Ruben Amorim, still maintains primacy in Portugal, largely thanks to Benfica and Porto. The Italian side has just five points and is out of the playoff race, but it could spoil the Lisbon side's plans.

That's 18 matches for the end of the league season that can bring shocks and fairy tales, followed by the play-off draw in which the second quarter of the teams in the standings will be favoured. According to this, the ninth and 10th will have the 23rd and 24th teams as potential rivals. And so on until the clashes of the 15th and 16th with the 17th and 18th in the standings.

One of the days that will be remembered, and every match is waiting for you at tether.bet.

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