What Barça need to do to qualify

Barça needed to beat Benfica to be certain of a place in the last sixteen, but the game ended 0-0 and instead nothing will be decided until December 8, when Barça visit Bayern Munich and Benfica host Dynamo Kyiv.

The Germans are already through as group winners, and the Ukrainians will finish bottom whatever happens. So it’s all about Barça and Benfica. Whoever finishes second goes into the knockout stage, whoever comes third will drop down to the Europa League.

The good news is that Barça go into the final games with a two point advantage on the Portuguese club. Their fate is in their own hands.

If Barça win in Munich...

A win at the Allianz Arena means Barça qualify regardless of what Benfica do. The 3-0 defeat to the Germans at Camp Nou does not bode well, but the Bundesliga side are already safely through and at least in theory, that should play to Barça favour...

If Barça draw in Munich...

Things get tricky if Barça draw. If Benfica beat Dynamo, they’d be tied on points with Barça and thanks to their 3-0 win in Lisbon have the better head-to-head. In other words, if Barça draw, they will only qualify if the Portuguese side fail to win against a Dynamo side that’s only picked up one point in the competition so far.

If Barça lose in Munich...

For all intents and purposes, a defeat is no worse than a draw for Barça. Benfica would still have to beat Dynamo – a draw would be no good for them. In other words, if Benfica fail to beat Dynamo, then Barça qualify whatever happens.