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Manchester City may need a helping hand to qualify in the top eight of the Champions League first phase and this is how it could happen
Manchester City know exactly what they need to do to achieve their target of a top-eight finish in this first phase of the Champions League. Win against Real Madrid, win against Bodo Glimt, and win against Galatasaray and their tally of 19 points will be enough to ensure they go straight through to the last-16.
Football is never that easy though. There are already some concerns over the artificial surface that Bodo will be far more used to for City's game there in January, but before then Pep Guardiola has to take his side back to the Bernabeu where Real Madrid have beaten City teams far stronger than the current version in recent years.
The Madrid match is why those 10 changes for the home defeat to Leverkusen felt so costly, for if they had beaten the German side City would be sitting pretty in second place and heading to Spain knowing a draw would keep them above Real. As it is, they are currently just outside of the top eight on goal difference.
City probably need at least six points to be able to qualify from their last three games, and seven may possibly be needed to be sure. Guardiola would love for it to be in their own hands, although - especially if they lose on Wednesday - they may be reliant on others.
Who else can help them then, and how? Arsenal are five points ahead of City so probably too far ahead to be caught, but there are seven other teams above them and also Atalanta on the same number of points as them that are all best-placed to make the top eight with three games remaining.
One interesting case is Athletic, the Basque club who have had a tough time of it so far lying in 27th place. It won't get any easier for them either, with their last three fixtures coming away to Paris Saint-Germain, at home to Atalanta and then away to Sporting; as it stands, all of those teams are currently in the top 10 so any points that Athletic can pick up in their three games will directly help City to finish above those teams around them.
Then there are the head-to-heads in the top 10. City have one, playing Real on Wednesday night in a match where should Guardiola's side win they will climb above the Spanish giants and therefore into the top eight.
However, there are also other opportunities. Sporting's fixture list is tricky, with the Portuguese team having to play Bayern Munich away and PSG at home as well as travelling to Athletic so points will be lost by one of the leading teams.
Inter also have two games against top-10 sides; they host Arsenal next time out and their final game is away at Dortmund. They are also at home to Liverpool this week, with Arne Slot's side another looking to defy their recent form and crash their way into the best qualifying places.
Finally, Chelsea and Atalanta - two of the teams who are sitting level with City on 10 points - play each other this week to guarantee more dropped points for at least one of them.
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