Champions League group stages: Who is closing in on the last-16?

We’ve reached the halfway point of the Champions League group stage, with Tuesday night’s fixtures marking the start of the return encounters.

Six teams – Paris Saint-Germain, Manchester City, Bayern Munich, Napoli, Juventus  and Atletico Madrid can book their place in the last-16 with a victory on matchday four.

But who are the teams with work to do to maintain their place in Europe’s elite tournament? Sportsmail runs through each group.

GROUP A

PSG can seal a place in the last-16 on Wednesday if they emerge victorious at home to Bruges, and will be widely expected to do just that.

Real Madrid have a trickier tie at home to Turkish club Galatasaray but three points there would leave them in a strong position to join PSG in the knock-out stages.

Bruges and Galatasaray will be feeding off scraps to seal a place in the Europa League and the Belgian side are currently third, with two points.

Kylian Mbappe and PSG can reach the Champions League last-16 by beating Bruges

GROUP B

The stand-out story in Group B is the precarious situation of Tottenham, last year’s Champions League runners-up. 

Their 7-2 humbling by the now managerless Bayern Munich left them only a point above Red Star (Crvena Zvezda) in third and they travel to Serbia for their fourth match of the group. 

It’s a tricky trip – Liverpool fans will remind Spurs that they lost 2-0 there last season and Mauricio Pochettino’s men also have to head to Germany to play Bayern in their final group game.

Bayern can go through on Tuesday with a win at home to Olympiakos. 

Tottenham have work to do in Group B and an away trip to Red Star is a difficult fixture 

GROUP C

Manchester City are three points away from the last-16 and win over Italian side Atalanta on Wednesday would send them through with two games to spare.

It has, so far, all been quite routine for Pep Guardiola’s men, for whom Champions League glory is an ultimate target. 

Dinamo Zagreb and Shakhtar Donetsk are battling it out for second place, both with four points apiece after three matches 

Raheem Sterling celebrates scoring for Manchester City against Atalanta 

GROUP D

Juventus and Atletico Madrid are unsurprisingly leading the charge out of Group D and wins for both teams would see them make the last-16 – Juventus are in Russia against Lokomotiv Moscow and Atletico are in Germany to play winless Bayer Leverkusen.

Both Juve and Atletico are as safe a bet as you could wish for to reach the knockout rounds.

It should be a formality for Juventus to qualify for the last-16 of the Champions League 

GROUP E

Holders Liverpool got off to a rocky start with a 1-0 defeat by Napoli but fans will recall that a defeat in Naples occurred last season, too – and things didn’t turn out too badly then.

A win for Napoli against Red Bull Salzburg on Tuesday takes them into the last-16 but Salzburg are no fools and striker Erling Braut Haland will pose a risk to any defence. 

Liverpool host Genk at Anfield on Tuesday knowing a win would be a giant step towards securing a place in the last-16. 

For Liverpool, a win over Genk on Tuesday would go a long way to sealing a place in the last-16

GROUP F 

One of the more tantalisingly poised groups, with one big scalp set to fall.

It’s unlikely to be Barcelona – they lead the standings with seven points and know a win over Slavia Prague all but seals progress. 

It leaves Inter Milan and Borussia Dortmund to fight it out for the second qualifying place. 

They meet at the Westfalenstadion on Tuesday and the victor will take command of their fate but with both still to play Barcelona for a second time, there will undoubtedly be a twist or two along the way.

Barcelona have a tough group but should still quality for the last-16 of the Champions League 

GROUP G 

Julian Nagelsmann’s side lead the standings at the halfway stage in the group but there is plenty of work to be done to seal a place in the knockout stage.

Only three points splits leaders Leipzig with bottom side Benfica, with Zenit and Lyon level with four points. Leipzig have a tricky away trip to Russian side Zenit while Lyon host Benfica.

GROUP H

A strong start by Chelsea and Frank Lampard and Tuesday’s home match against Ajax could be key to how this delicate group eventually unfolds.

Valencia are hot on the heels of the current top two – they are only two points behind and host bottom side Lille on matchday four. 

Chelsea’s home advantage – they play two of their last three at Stamford Bridge – makes them strong favourites to reach the last-16.

Chelsea lead the standings in Group H and still have two home matches to play