This is how the playoff matches of the Champions League would look for Atlético de Madrid
The Champions League enters a crucial moment with the last round of the league phase, in which 18 matches will be played at the same time. The top eight will be directly qualified for the round of 16, teams between ninth and twenty-fourth place will have to play a previous playoff and, from twenty-fifth place onwards, will be eliminated from the Champions League.
As for the Spanish teams, after the seventh round, Barcelona is second, Atlético is fifth, Real Madrid is sixteenth and Girona is thirty-first. Simeone’s team would already be in the round of 16, Ancelotti’s team would have to play an additional round and Míchel’s team is mathematically out of the competition.
In the playoff round, which will be played between February 11 and 12 and, the return matches, a week later, between February 18 and 19, there could be two Spanish teams involved: Atlético de Madrid and Real Madrid.
The mattress team depends on themselves to avoid them: if they beat Salzburg, they will be mathematically in the top eight. Ancelotti’s team, despite their victory against Salzburg, will need several favorable results from other teams to reach the top eight and, consequently, it is most likely that they will have to play this previous round.
Girona, after losing to Milan, is mathematically eliminated. Those who pass the cut of the already explained playoffs will advance to the round of 16, a round in which they will already be waiting for the top eight, including Barcelona, with the top eight guaranteed with one round to go. Atlético also has a good chance of reaching that privileged position, but to do so, they will have to win in Salzburg.
