CL groups climax with Man U, Newcastle on the brink

LONDON (AP):

All options are open for struggling Manchester United and injury-hit Newcastle in their final Champions League group games this week: Advance to the round of 16, drop into the Europa League, or suffer the financial and sporting blow of outright elimination.

Man United must rebound from an embarrassing 3-0 loss on Saturday at home to Bournemouth in the Premier League and need to beat Bayern Munich, who already advanced a month ago.

Newcastle host AC Milan tomorrow in a must-win meeting of two teams facing the same jeopardy in the competition’s tightest group, where Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) and Kylian Mbappé can yet deny them both.

Four places in the round of 16 are left to fight for and the Premier League risks having just Manchester City and Arsenal in the draw on December 18.

That would be England’s weakest challenge in the knockout draw for 11 years and at the worst possible time. Bonus extra entries in the revamped 36-team Champions League next season are given to the two countries whose teams have the best collective record across the three UEFA competitions this season.

Man United whop play today are last in the Group A standings, one point behind both Copenhagen and Galatasaray, and must beat Bayern while hoping the other two play to a draw in Denmark.

Newcastle and seven-time champions Milan are tied on five points in Group F and only a win Wednesday can lift either above PSG two points ahead in second place.

PSG head to group leaders Borussia Dortmund knowing a point is enough to seal the head-to-head tiebreaker against Milan, but not against Newcastle. Dortmund have already secured their round of 16 place.

The other two round of 16 places – worth an initial UEFA prize money payment of 9.6 million euros (US$10.3 million) – will be decided in showdown games where teams in second place host a third-place opponent.

Napoli need only a draw against Braga today and would advance even with a loss by one goal because their overall group difference is better. Real Madrid already won that group before visiting Union Berlin.

A draw would suit Porto against Shakhtar Donetsk on Wednesday because of beating the Ukrainian champions in the group opener in September. Barcelona lead the group and will finish at Royal Antwerp, the only team with five straight losses.

Though Inter Milan and Real Sociedad will be in the round of 16, they meet in Italy today with leadership of Group D at stake. A draw is enough for Sociedad to ensure being seeded in the round of 16 draw as the group winners – and avoid facing Man City or Bayern next.

Atletico Madrid host Lazio on Wednesday with a similar scenario in play for Group E.

ROUND OF 16 TEAMS

Group winners (seeded in December 18 draw): Arsenal, Bayern Munich, Manchester City, Real Madrid.

Runners-up (unseeded): Leipzig, PSV Eindhoven.

Qualified, still competing to win group: Atletico Madrid, Barcelona, Borussia Dortmund, Inter Milan, Lazio, Real Sociedad.

In the round of 16, teams cannot play an opponent from their own country or a team they already faced in the group stage.