Arsenal, Man Utd and Newcastle Champions League fates could be decided this week

The penultimate matchday of this season's UEFA Champions League group phase will shape the round of 16 stage even further as Arsenal aim to confirm qualification.

After recording impressive wins over Sevilla home and away, the Gunners have taken full control of Group B and go into Wednesday night's game against RC Lens knowing another victory will be enough to guarantee a top-two finish which means they'll still have a place at Europe's top table after Christmas.

As things currently stand, the worst-case scenario for Arsenal is finishing third and thus transferring over to the Europa League. The only way this can happen is if they lose both of their remaining games in addition to PSV Eindhoven AND Lens picking up maximum points.

Having said that, the north London outfit require a single point to be assured of a place in the knockout stage. If they manage that on Wednesday they will join Bayern Munich, Real Madrid, Real Sociedad, Internazionale, Manchester City and RB Leipzig in the round of 16 draw which takes place at the House of European Football in Nyon, Switzerland on Monday 18 December.

Of course, as per UEFA rules, the Gunners - if they qualify - can't be paired with Man City - but the incentive for Mikel Arteta's side to advance as group winners is they will avoid Bayern Munich and it's likely they will be kept apart from Real Madrid who need another point to seal top spot in Group C.But Arsenal aren't the only side who can confirm qualification this week. Napoli face Los Blancos away from home and will book their place in the round of 16 as long as they match or better Braga's result against Union Berlin. Meanwhile, Atletico Madrid and Lazio will qualify with wins over Feyenoord and Celtic respectively.

All four teams are in with a chance to progress from Group F aka this season's 'Group of Death'. However, things can be settled as early as Tuesday night because Borussia Dortmund and Paris Saint-Germain will qualify if they beat AC Milan and Newcastle United respectively.

Barcelona know victory over Porto will end their three-year wait to reach the last-16 again but a draw will send both teams through if Antwerp - who have lost all four games in Group G so far - record a surprise win over Shakhtar Donetsk in the early kick-off on Tuesday evening.

The only group where nothing else can be decided this week - in terms of qualification - regardless of how results go is Group A. Manchester United, Copenhagen and Galatasaray are battling to finish runners-up to Bayern Munich and there's a scenario where Erik ten Hag's side are eliminated with a game to spare.

So with six teams already qualified for the Champions League knockout stages, 10 more spots are up for grabs. But with as many as 20 sides - including Arsenal, Man United, Newcastle, Celtic, Barcelona and PSG - all in with a chance, the final two rounds of fixtures in the group phase promise to be exciting.