In this season, Inter is making a great European campaign with a second place in the Champions League, which makes all fans and also the coach Simone Inzaghi happy. After five rounds, only Liverpool are ahead of Lautaro Martinez and his teammates, who have collected 13 points, two less than the Reds.

There are still three games left to complete the eight-match Champions League schedule, and the goal of the Nerazzurri is certainly to reach one of the first eight places in the standings to secure a direct pass to the last sixteen without going through the playoffs.

As analyzed by Football Meets Data, the mathematical certainty of a place in the top eight is reached with 18 points, while with 17 it drops to 97%. Finally, with 16 points which Inter would reach in case of another victory, the certainty of having a pass to the round of sixteen is settled at 69%.

In the last three matches, Inter will face Bayer Leverkusen on their field in Germany, then Sparta Prague on the road again, and finally Monaco back home at San Siro to conclude the journey.

Liverpool is already very close to the mathematical certainty of a place in the last 16, Barcelona and Borussia Dortmund are also doing well.

The first place in the standings in this new edition of the Champions League is in the hands of Liverpool who are still with full points and have the second-best defense of the tournament with only one goal conceded only Inter are better with zero. The Reds will still face Girona, Lille, and PSV Eindhoven. Arne Slot and his group only need one more victory to be certain of the spot.

Two other big names of European football, Barcelona first in the Spanish Liga and Borussia Dortmund finalists in the last edition of the tournament, are smiling too as they are at 12 points. The Spaniards and the Germans will face each other in the next round, and then will play respectively against Benfica and Atalanta, while Bologna and Shaktar are the second’s opponents.

Atalanta, with 11 points, can hope to reach one of the top eight places in the standings but still has a complicated journey ahead. They still have to face in order Real Madrid, Sturm Graz, and Barcelona.

In the big group at 10 points, Arsenal and Sporting can dream.

Behind the Bergamo team there are so many teams with 10 points, seven to be exact. The easiest schedule, at least on paper, is perhaps that of Arsenal which will face Monaco, Dinamo Zagreb and Girona. Sporting Lisbon can also be optimistic, who will face Bruges, Leipzig, and Bologna.

Aston Villa Leipzig, Monaco, and Celtic, Brest PSV Eindhoven, Shakhtar, and Real Madrid, and Lille Sturm Graz, Liverpool and Feyenoord will all have stimulating and challenging journeys until the end.

Two teams also with 10 points, Bayer Leverkusen and Monaco, will have to work a lot in order not to be left out of the top eight positions. The calendars of these next two challengers of Inzaghi and his boys are not at all easy: the Germans will still face Inter, Atletico Madrid and Sparta Prague while the Monegasques will face Arsenal, Aston Villa and Inter.

Who needs to catch up: Bayern on the decline, City in difficulty while Milan and Juve…

Next, looking at the standings, there are so many teams with very few points, among them also some big names who want to make a great comeback and retake a place at the top. Among them, the easiest way is perhaps Bayern Munich’s 9 points who will play against Shakhtar, Feyenoord, and Slovan Bratislava.

Manchester City, who is in a moment of crisis and has 8 points, still has to play against strong teams like Juventus and PSG before closing with Bruges. For Guardiola, it will not be easy to enter the top eight and therefore the fear of having to go through the playoffs is alive.

For the Italians Milan 9 points and Juventus 8, there is still hope for a direct pass to the round of sixteen in case of a course without errors or almost. The Rossoneri will play with Red Star, Girona and Dinamo Zagreb while the Bianconeri still have Manchester City, Bruges, and Benfica.

Finally, we analyze two superpowers of European football that, however, surprisingly, are struggling so far: Real Madrid and PSG. The Spaniards with 6 points in five games are barely in the 24th place useful for not being eliminated and will still battle with Atalanta, Salzburg and Brest. The Parisians, on the other hand, with 4 points today would be out