The fourth week of Champions League competition 2015 2016 showed a light at the end of the tunnel that has been the tournament's group stage. Indeed, following this week's matches, three teams have guaranteed round of 16 slots for themselves, while several others are drawing close. At the same time, several big-name football clubs officially saw their chances of knockout stage advancement dashed upon the rocks, while others got reprieves after slow starts.
The Guarantees
The three soccer squads that are guaranteed slots in the round of 16 at this point are Real Madrid, 
Manchester City, and Zenit St. Petersburg. Real Madrid accomplished the feat by beating Paris Saint Germain 1-0 to establish a three-point lead in Group A. PSG could still feasibly pass the Vikings to top the group, but cannot feasibly be caught by the group's other soccer teams (Malmo FF and Shakhtar Donetsk) in the final two games of the stage.
Manchester City, meanwhile, beat Sevilla 3-1 in an away fixture to secure their round of 16 spot. Man City lead the way in Group D, where Juventus and Sevilla will spend the final two weeks battling 
for the second spot. Borussia Monchengladbach, meanwhile, are out of the running.
Zenit St. Petersburg, finally, continued to dominate Group H. Zenit have never won the Champions League title, but they are the only football club with a perfect record in the group stage so far, having won all four of their matches. They are also guaranteed first place in H, though all of the other teams in the group-Valencia, Gent, and Lyon-still have legitimate statistical chances of scoring the second place slot.
The High Likelihoods
While only three round of 16 spots are spoken for, many of the other teams that are likely to progress are 
easy to predict. Paris Saint Germain, by virtue of not having to play Real Madrid again, should be able to skate to a second-place spot in Group A.
Benfica and Atletico Madrid are fair bets from Group C, though not guaranteed. The Mattress Makers had a golden opportunity to lock down a spot this week, facing Astana, a team they beat 4-0 just a few weeks ago. Instead, they stumbled to a scoreless draw and will now have to work a lot harder in the final two games of the group stage.
Juventus have been broken during most of the 2015 2016 campaign, playing dreadfully in the Italian Serie A. However, the reigning UCL runners-up are currently in second in Group D and are five points ahead of Sevilla. Keep an eye on their December 8th match against 
Sevilla to decide their fate.
The reigning champions are in good shape to land a round of 16 slot. FC Barcelona cruised to a 3-0 win against BATE Borisov this week, and while they could statistically still fall to third place in Group E, they are all but guaranteed to advance.
The same is true of Bayern Munich, who flattened Arsenal 5-1 this week to hold the lead in Group F. They've scored 13 goals, more than any other team in the tournament right now, and have enough of a goal difference advantage to reach the knockout stage, even if they lose their final two games. Greece's Olympiacos, meanwhile, are also high likelihoods, tying with Bayern in point tally (nine).
Porto, finally, kept a three-point lead in Group G by beating Maccabi Tel Aviv this week. Expect to see them in the round of 16.
The Stragglers
If all of the teams listed above reach the knockouts, that means 11 of the 16 slots are spoken for. But who will take the final five spots?
Group B is too close to call at this point, with Manchester United, PSV Eindhoven, Wolfsburg, and CSKA Moscow separated by just three points in the standings. Any of them could reach the round of 16 though our money is on Man United and Wolfsburg.
Roma are in a good position, after beating Bayer Leverkusen 3-2, but either team could progress. So are Chelsea, having secured a key win against Dynamo Kyiv this week. As for group H, flip a coin to choose between Valencia and Gent for your predictions.
The biggest loser of the week is Arsenal, who have now lost three of their four 2015 2016 UCL matches. The Gunners could still feasibly progress, but don't hold your breath for the club, whose bad Champions League form has been one of the bigger head-scratchers of this season.
The next Champions League games will be played on November 24th and 25th. Prepare for them by picking up jerseys for your favorite football clubs from Soccer Box! Whether you are looking for a Barcelona shirt 2015 2016 or a Bayern Munich jersey, you can bet that we have it in stock!
