Roma among bunch pushing for top eight finish
The top eight sides at the conclusion of the league phase will advance directly to the last 16 of the competition. They will be joined by the winners of the knockout round playoffs, contested between the teams who finish between ninth and 24th.
After last week's results, Lyon and Aston Villa have locked down round-of-16 places. They face PAOK and Salzburg, respectively, to close their group phase action. The Ligue 1 club also earned a top-eight finish last season, and are the only ones to repeat that feat this time around.
While not official, Freiburg have all but secured a spot in the top eight. A point at Lille will make it absolutely official, but they don't have to worry.
Midtjylland, Sporting Braga, AS Roma, Ferencvaros, and Real Betis enter the round holding places four through eight. With the exception of Betis, victories for the other quartet will see them in February's round-of-16 draw.
Los Verdiblancos currently hold eighth place over Porto thanks to having scored one more goal. So, goal difference will play a role there.
Beyond those six, Genk and Crvena zvezda sit a point back of the top eight. The Serbs face fellow round-of-16 hopefuls Celta Vigo, who, alongside PAOK, Stuttgart, and Bologna, also have desires of avoiding the knockout playoffs.
Last term, 14 points were enough to finish eighth, albeit thanks to some stunning results in the final round. Expect at least 15 points to be required on this occasion.
For that reason, the other four teams to have already qualified for the knockout stages have no realistic shot at skipping the playoffs.
This applies to Nottingham Forest, Viktoria Plzen, Fenerbahce and Panathinaikos. Remarkably, Plzen are one of the three unbeaten teams at this point, though five of their first seven matches ended level.
Celtic & Feyenoord looking to avoid early elimination
Perhaps the real chaos is in the bottom half of the league phase standings, where there are only four spots realistically up for grabs. While Dinamo Zagreb are not officially through, the likelihood of them being eliminated is next to nil.
It leaves Lille, Brann, Young Boys, and Celtic under pressure to hold off six teams and make it through. The Hoops are on eight points, while the other three have one more. That puts extra pressure on the Scottish champions, who have not had a smooth domestic campaign so far.
The good news for all four is that victory will ensure their progression. Anything less, however, forces them to watch results elsewhere.
Ludogorets, who lost at Ibrox last week, are the only ones on seven points heading into matchday eight. They host the already-eliminated Nice, and will be the most serious competitor in passing a club above them.
Outside of the Bulgarians, Feyenoord, Basel, RB Salzburg, FCSB, and Go Ahead Eagles face must-win contests. Anything less than three points will end their European journey. Things already look challenging enough for FCSB and Go Ahead Eagles due to their poor goal difference.
While 10 points ended up being the requirement to move on last season, it is expected that nine points should do the trick this time around.
The six teams that are already eliminated heading into the round are Sturm Graz, Rangers, Nice, Utrecht, Malmo, and Maccabi Tel Aviv. The latter two, along with Nice, were knocked out at this stage last term. Ludogorets are the only other side that could succumb to this unwanted feat.
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