5 big teams that could fail to qualify for the UEFA Champions League knockouts
The 2021-22 UEFA Champions League is four matchdays old, and the race for the knockouts has begun to take shape in all the groups.
Four teams - Liverpool, Ajax, Bayern Munich and Juventus - have already qualified for the Round of 16 with two games to spare. The quartet have won all four group-stage games this season, with the latter three teams conceding only twice.
Other top teams are also on track to qualify for the knockout round. However, a few big teams are in danger of missing the Champions League knockouts this season.
Things could change on the last two matchdays. However, at the moment, here are the top five teams that may not reach the Round of 16 this campaign. These are:
#5 Borussia Dortmund
Borussia Dortmund should not have made this list, considering the start they had to their 2021-22 Champions League campaign.
BvB opened their campaign with a 2-1 win at Besiktas and followed that up with a 1-0 home win over Sporting Lisbon. However, the former champions slumped to a 4-0 defeat at already-qualified Ajax on Matchday 3. It was Dortmund's biggest defeat in the Champions League, and Ajax's biggest win over German opposition in almost five decades.
4 - @AFCAjax have recorded their biggest European win against German opposition since 1973 (4-0 v Bayern Munich), while Borussia Dortmund suffered their biggest ever #UCL loss. Schade. https://t.co/5lDLbSD1ck
Still smarting from that defeat in Amsterdam, Marco Rose's men slumped 3-1 at home against the same opposition. BvB were not helped by the absence of their injured star striker Erling Haaland, who is not expected to return to action this year.
Successive defeats mean Dortmund cannot win the group. BvB are level on points with Sporting Lisbon, but ahead because of a better head-to-head result against the latter.
BvB travel to Sporting on Matchday 5. Another defeat would seriously jeopardize their hopes of making the Champions League knockouts this season. Rose's men will close their group campaign with a home game against Besiktas.
#4 Atletico Madrid
Atletico Madrid have struggled big time in the Champions League this season. The reigning La Liga champions have won just once in four games in the competition this campaign.
Diego Simeone's men are perched in a tough group containing three former winners - Liverpool, Porto and AC Milan. However, the two-time Champions League finalists have done themselves no favor by struggling to eke out results.
They opened their campaign with a disappointing goalless draw at home against Porto before winning 2-1 away at Milan. However, they were beaten at home by Liverpool in a five-goal thriller on Matchday 3. Atletico failed to score in the return game at Anfield, succumbing to a 2-0 loss.
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The sequence of results mean the Rojiblancos are a point adrift of Porto (5) with two games to go. They next meet Milan at home on Matchday 5 before concluding their group-stage campaign with a trip to Porto.
The Milan game appears winnable, considering the Rossoneri's stuttering Champions League campaign. If they beat Milan, Simeone's men could have everything to play for on the last day. It could be a winner-takes-all clash with Porto.