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"contents": "<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Four months after the rejigged European Champions League was finally launched, just one more match day remains. All 36 teams participating in the league phase, which replaced the tradition of four teams placed together in numerous groups, will play simultaneously on Wednesday, 29 January 2025. </span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A number of interlinked storylines will be at play during these matches. For example, Liverpool, who have been at the summit of the league phase from the onset, are aiming to become the first team to finish with a 100% record in the new format. </span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">As it stands, the Reds have seven wins from just as many matches. Arne Slot’s men are deservedly at the summit, too. They played and beat reigning European champions Real Madrid, as well as being tested by the likes of AC Milan, Bayer Leverkusen, RB Leipzig and Lille. Lille were unbeaten in 21 games before they encountered the high-flying Reds, whose armour has been almost impenetrable so far.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The English side has conceded just twice during the league phase run (joint-second with Arsenal). Only fourth-placed Italian outfit Inter Milan have a better defence than the two Premier League rivals, having conceded just one goal in their seven matches. </span>\r\n\r\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-full wp-image-2564781\" src=\"https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/GettyImages-2195509929.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1771\" height=\"1181\" /> <em>James McAtee of Manchester City is challenged by Lucas Hernandez of Paris Saint-Germain during their Champions League 2024/25 League Phase MD7 match at Parc des Princes on 22 January 2025 in Paris, France. (Photo: Mike Hewitt / Getty Images)</em></p>\r\n\r\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-full wp-image-2564782\" src=\"https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/GettyImages-2195868950.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1814\" height=\"1104\" /> <em>Arne Slot, the manager of Liverpool. (Photo: Gareth Copley / Getty Images)</em></p>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This is why, as the league phase reaches its conclusion, Slot’s side have become many people’s favourite to win the whole tournament. </span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">“Form-wise they have to be the favourites at the moment, but the trophy isn’t handed out now. They have been perfect so far,” said former Manchester United and England defender Rio Ferdinand to TNT Sports.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">“They have been fighting on all fronts before and run out of steam. So, keeping players as fresh as possible is imperative,” Ferdinand said. </span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">With the Reds already through to the round of 16, Slot may opt to rest a number of his key players when they finish the league phase with a clash against Dutch side PSV Eindhoven, even if it comes at the cost of a perfect league phase record. </span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In addition to being favourites to win a seventh Champions League title, the Reds are also leading the pack in the domestic English Premier League. They face in-form Bournemouth over the weekend, and will need to be on top of their game to avoid dropping precious points, as the likes of Arsenal and Nottingham lurk behind them. </span>\r\n<h4><b>City stragglers</b></h4>\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">While Liverpool adjusted to the new Champions League format with grace and finesse, fellow English club Manchester City has found itself toiling. After seven matches, Pep Guardiola’s men have just two wins to their name in Europe. They have managed just as many draws, while falling to defeat three times. </span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It’s unfamiliar territory for City, a club which Guardiola has transformed into a super-giant in global soccer since his arrival in 2016. However, that personality and elegance have been absent this season, even in the Premier League where City are gunning for a record fifth successive domestic crown. </span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Now City will play Belgium’s Club Brugge for a slot in the playoff. Under the new Champions League, the top eight teams qualify automatically for the round of 16. The teams that place from ninth to 24th on the table will participate in a playoff to determine the other eight teams that reach the round of 16.</span>\r\n\r\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-full wp-image-2564785\" src=\"https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/GettyImages-2192392989.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1808\" height=\"1124\" /> <em>Pep Guardiola, the manager of Manchester City. (Photo: Gareth Copley / Getty Images)</em></p>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">“When Rodri is here, when the defenders are here, when many players are here, we will not be 25th in the Champions League,” said Guardiola, pinning his team’s struggles this season on the absence of key players such as midfield anchor Rodri. </span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">“Sometimes when you experience these situations and then you achieve, it is a bigger success,” said Guardiola, hinting that they may still end the season smiling.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Spanish coach’s charges are one spot below the playoff cut-off placings. But the good news for them is that their destiny is in their hands. Brugge are just a few places above City on the table, and victory for the English champions would propel them above the Belgians on goal difference. </span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Effectively, the game between the two sides is a “winner takes all” battle. </span><b>DM </b>\r\n<h4><b>Selected Champions League round eight fixtures </b><b>(all with 10pm kick-off on Wednesday, 29 January)</b></h4>\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Barcelona vs Atalanta</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Bayer Leverkusen vs Sparta Prague</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Bayern Munich vs Slovan Bratislava</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Sporting vs Bologna</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Borussia Dortmund vs Shakhtar Donetsk</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">PSV vs Liverpool</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Stuttgart vs Paris Saint-Germain</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Girona vs Arsenal</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Brest vs Real Madrid</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Juventus vs Benfica</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Manchester City vs Club Brugge</span>",
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"description": "<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Four months after the rejigged European Champions League was finally launched, just one more match day remains. All 36 teams participating in the league phase, which replaced the tradition of four teams placed together in numerous groups, will play simultaneously on Wednesday, 29 January 2025. </span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A number of interlinked storylines will be at play during these matches. For example, Liverpool, who have been at the summit of the league phase from the onset, are aiming to become the first team to finish with a 100% record in the new format. </span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">As it stands, the Reds have seven wins from just as many matches. Arne Slot’s men are deservedly at the summit, too. They played and beat reigning European champions Real Madrid, as well as being tested by the likes of AC Milan, Bayer Leverkusen, RB Leipzig and Lille. Lille were unbeaten in 21 games before they encountered the high-flying Reds, whose armour has been almost impenetrable so far.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The English side has conceded just twice during the league phase run (joint-second with Arsenal). Only fourth-placed Italian outfit Inter Milan have a better defence than the two Premier League rivals, having conceded just one goal in their seven matches. </span>\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_2564781\" align=\"alignnone\" width=\"1771\"]<img class=\"size-full wp-image-2564781\" src=\"https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/GettyImages-2195509929.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1771\" height=\"1181\" /> <em>James McAtee of Manchester City is challenged by Lucas Hernandez of Paris Saint-Germain during their Champions League 2024/25 League Phase MD7 match at Parc des Princes on 22 January 2025 in Paris, France. (Photo: Mike Hewitt / Getty Images)</em>[/caption]\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_2564782\" align=\"alignnone\" width=\"1814\"]<img class=\"size-full wp-image-2564782\" src=\"https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/GettyImages-2195868950.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1814\" height=\"1104\" /> <em>Arne Slot, the manager of Liverpool. (Photo: Gareth Copley / Getty Images)</em>[/caption]\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This is why, as the league phase reaches its conclusion, Slot’s side have become many people’s favourite to win the whole tournament. </span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">“Form-wise they have to be the favourites at the moment, but the trophy isn’t handed out now. They have been perfect so far,” said former Manchester United and England defender Rio Ferdinand to TNT Sports.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">“They have been fighting on all fronts before and run out of steam. So, keeping players as fresh as possible is imperative,” Ferdinand said. </span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">With the Reds already through to the round of 16, Slot may opt to rest a number of his key players when they finish the league phase with a clash against Dutch side PSV Eindhoven, even if it comes at the cost of a perfect league phase record. </span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In addition to being favourites to win a seventh Champions League title, the Reds are also leading the pack in the domestic English Premier League. They face in-form Bournemouth over the weekend, and will need to be on top of their game to avoid dropping precious points, as the likes of Arsenal and Nottingham lurk behind them. </span>\r\n<h4><b>City stragglers</b></h4>\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">While Liverpool adjusted to the new Champions League format with grace and finesse, fellow English club Manchester City has found itself toiling. After seven matches, Pep Guardiola’s men have just two wins to their name in Europe. They have managed just as many draws, while falling to defeat three times. </span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It’s unfamiliar territory for City, a club which Guardiola has transformed into a super-giant in global soccer since his arrival in 2016. However, that personality and elegance have been absent this season, even in the Premier League where City are gunning for a record fifth successive domestic crown. </span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Now City will play Belgium’s Club Brugge for a slot in the playoff. Under the new Champions League, the top eight teams qualify automatically for the round of 16. 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(Photo: Gareth Copley / Getty Images)</em>[/caption]\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">“When Rodri is here, when the defenders are here, when many players are here, we will not be 25th in the Champions League,” said Guardiola, pinning his team’s struggles this season on the absence of key players such as midfield anchor Rodri. </span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">“Sometimes when you experience these situations and then you achieve, it is a bigger success,” said Guardiola, hinting that they may still end the season smiling.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Spanish coach’s charges are one spot below the playoff cut-off placings. But the good news for them is that their destiny is in their hands. 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James McAtee of Manchester City is challenged by Lucas Hernandez of Paris Saint-Germain during their Champions League 2024/25 League Phase MD7 match at Parc des Princes on 22 January 2025 in Paris, France. (Photo: Mike Hewitt / Getty Images)
Arne Slot, the manager of Liverpool. (Photo: Gareth Copley / Getty Images)
Pep Guardiola, the manager of Manchester City. (Photo: Gareth Copley / Getty Images)