How many points will Barcelona need to qualify directly for the Champions League knockouts?

Barcelona’s defeat to AS Monaco on Matchday 1 of the UEFA Champions League was far from the start Hansi Flick would have expected in the competition.

For a team flying high on confidence, it was indeed gutting to go down to the French opposition. However, the Catalans know well that the result was dictated largely by the early sending-off of Eric Garcia.

Unlike previous editions, Barcelona do not play in a group stage this season and the new ‘league’ format only improves the margin of error in the competition.

As reported by Alex Pintanel, the Blaugrana are calm after the defeat and understand that the format change only gives them a bigger chance of qualifying despite the defeat.

Points needed to qualify

The Spanish journalist’s report reveals that a team will need at least 17 points to finish in the top 8 this season as per calculations, meaning that Barcelona still have hope.

Barcelona’s UCL campaign did not get off to the best of starts. (Photo by Denis Doyle/Getty Images)

With eight more games to go in the league stage, they can win five of their remaining fixtures and draw two to hit the 17-point mark. If they lose any game, however, they must win the remaining six.

In any case, finishing outside the top 8 would also not be the end of the world. Teams placed between 9th and 26th place will participate in an additional round of games, winners of which will again reach the knockout stages.

Flick and co., needless to say, will be aiming to get through to the Round of 16 without playing an extra game.

For that, they must step up in their upcoming clashes, especially with Bayern Munich, Atalanta and Borussia Dortmund on their schedule.

After the defeat to Monaco, Barcelona’s next UCL game is at home against Young Boys before they take on the mighty Bayern Munich at Montjuic once more.