Champions League teams struggle for 10 points in difficult week for coaches Amorim, Alonso, Ancelotti

The first team in the Champions League this week will collect 10 points and will likely secure a place in the knockout stages as unproven format of the standings of 36 teams reaches the middle

Liverpool or Bayer Leverkusen’s Xabi Alonso will have 10 points when they meet at Anfield on Tuesday, while Manchester City can also do so by beating Sporting Lisbon, who are still coached by Ruben Amorim he joins Manchester United in a week

English teams hold the first three places in the tablewhich is being watched by recent European champions Man City and Liverpool surprises the leader of Aston Villa.

Villa, winners of the European Cup in 1982, will be looking for a fourth straight win at Club Brugge on Wednesday.

Far down the table, the two teams with the most titles in the competition’s 70-season history – both under Carlo Ancelotti – meet in Spain.

Real Madrid, a record 15-time champion, hosted Milan with seven titles. It’s Tuesday’s clash between the teams ranked 12th and 25th after three of the eight rounds.

The new format sends only the top eight teams directly to the round of 16 in January. Teams ranked 9-16 are seeded in a playoff round in February against teams ranked 17-24. The winners of these two-legged meetings advance to the round of 16 in March.

UEFA preseason simulations suggested that just eight points from eight games would be enough to qualify for the play-off phase.

Still, an upset loss so far for the Madrid, Barcelona and “Bayern” showed how predictions can be overturned.

Unbalanced schedules

All 36 teams were given a balanced list of opponents by drawing two teams from each of the four seeding pools based on UEFA competition results over the past five years.

The fixture schedule, however, can be one-sided, with Leipzig slumping to zero points after defeats against three high-profile opponents. Leipzig are currently playing against lower seeded Celtic.

Sporting are also the third team, giving Man City a third lower-ranked opponent in the first half of the programme.

Liverpool excelled despite the front loaded fixture list. Leverkusen became his third high-profile opponent, with Real Madrid next up at Anfield on November 27.

Atletico Madrid are 27th and play Paris Saint-Germain on Wednesday, but the three-time finalists have one of the softest upcoming schedules.

Sliding doors

Xabi Alonso could stay in the home team game on Tuesday. Liverpool have offered their former star midfielder, who won the Champions League in the epic 2005 final, the chance to succeed Jurgen Klopp this season.

Alonso decided to stay at Leverkusen and lead the unbeaten Bundesliga champions into the Champions League. Liverpool have turned to Feyenoord’s Arne Slot which has a historically good start with Premier League leader.

Ruben Amorim is in action against Manchester City on Tuesday, just weeks after being named as the club’s next manager.

Pep Guardiola’s future plans are unclear his contract expires next year and Man City have already announced that Amorim’s current Sporting boss Hugo Vian will be their director of football next season.

Dominant English

Played 12, won 10, two draws, no defeats.

Four English teams have not even conceded a goal since the third minute of the first round, when AC Milan’s Christian Pulisic scored in Liverpool’s 3-1 win at the San Siro.

The English Premier League uses financial power to its advantage, and such an indicator of results will earn bonus fifth record in next year’s competition.

Man City and Arsenal return to Europe after defeats at the weekend. Guardiola’s side will be looking to avoid a rare third successive defeat against Viktor Gokeres, who is in Sporting’s form. The Swedish forward spent five seasons on loan at lower-tier teams in Germany and England before joining Sporting last year.

Arsenal return to Italy to face Inter Milan after starting with a Draw 0:0 against Atalanta in nearby Bergamo.

Amazing French

Few saw this coming out of the four-team competition from France. Monaco and Brest is undefeated in fourth and fifth place respectively, with Lille in the top half of the standings and PSG behind.

Brest play one of their lowest rivals Sparta Prague again on Wednesday, with games against Real Madrid and Barcelona in the second half.

Monaco have already beaten Barcelona and now go to Bologna, who are among the top four teams who have yet to score.

Lille host Juventus on Tuesday at Stade Pierre-Maurois, where Real Madrid were stunned 1-0 a month ago.

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