Paris: Arsenal and Chelsea are among the sides looking to claim one of five remaining places in the last 16 in Wednesday’s final round of group matches in the Champions League.
The pressure is on Jose Mourinho and his Chelsea players to avoid an early exit in Europe, even more so after the Blues were condemned to a stunning 1-0 home loss against Bournemouth at the weekend which left them just two points clear of the drop zone.
Chelsea go into their final group game top of the pile on 10 points, level with Porto, and will go through as group winners with a victory while a draw would see them advance as runners-up.
“It’s an important week for us. On Wednesday we have to win to make sure we are first and qualified. That will be a big boost for the team as well,” said goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois, who returned to the line-up at the weekend after three months out.
Porto’s setback against Dynamo Kiev on matchday five has left the Portuguese requiring a win to guarantee qualification. A draw against Porto could also be enough to go through, in first as well, but only if Kiev don’t win.
At Piraeus, Greece, Arsenal’s qualification hopes rest on a knife edge with the Gunners knowing they have to beat Olympiakos — either by two goals or by scoring at least three times — to pip the Greeks to second place.
At Leverkusen, Bayer need to beat runaway group winners Barcelona to stand any chance of advancing to the last 16. The Germans would then still need Roma to drop points against BATE Borisov in the group’s other game to reach the knockout rounds. At Rome, Roma remain in pole position to snatch second place in Group E.
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