The current UEFA Champions League campaign officially ended for four clubs on Wednesday night as Match Day 7 fixtures concluded. Kairat Almaty, Eintracht Frankfurt, Villarreal, and Slavia Prague now face mathematical elimination from the tournament.
Despite one fixture remaining for every participant, these teams cannot gather enough points to reach the top 24 threshold required for the knockout phase. This season shows a higher level of late-stage competitiveness compared to the previous year, when nine teams had already suffered elimination by the same point in the schedule.
Tournament debutants Kairat Almaty exit the competition with a single point after their historic qualifying victory over Celtic. Spanish side Villarreal, once semi-finalists in this elite competition, also conclude a dismal run with only one point to their name. Slavia Prague departs the tournament with a total of three points, while former Europa League winners Eintracht Frankfurt exit with four.
The elimination of these established European names highlights the unforgiving nature of the revamped league phase format as the competition moves toward the final qualifying spots next week.
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