Real Madrid Face Champions League Play-off
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Real Madrid were stunningly dumped into the qualifying playoffs of the Champions League by former coach Jose Mourinho on Wednesday and will be joined there by Paris Saint-Germain.
Real Madrid saw their league phase top 8 hopes crash and burn on Wednesday after a disappointing 4-2 defeat to Benfica in the Champions League. The result means they finish 9th in the standings,
Ibrahima Konate is out of contract at Liverpool at the end of the season, while Virgil van Dijk is 34 now. With Marc Guehi joining Manchester City from Crystal Palace in the January transfer window, the need and urgency for a new centre-back for Liverpool has never been higher.
In a hectic last round of the Champions League opening phase Wednesday, 16 into eight just won't go. With all 36 teams playing in 18 games that kick off simultaneously, at 2000 GMT, only table-topping Arsenal and second-place Bayern Munich have sealed direct entry to the round of 16 with guaranteed top-eight finishes.