A night of high stakes for Europe?s big guns, but is the new format a success?

Nail-biting drama awaits as 18 Champions League games take place all at once, and the nerves will be jangling at some of the biggest clubs
The level of chaos expected in the final round of European ?league phase? fixtures can be summed up by the fact Uefa officials have been directing clubs to a simulator that helps them make sense of the permutations affecting their team. They will also be able to monitor changes to their prospects in real time.
Nothing like Wednesday night?s Champions League denouement, when 18 games will take place simultaneously in a dramatic scramble for progress to the knockouts, has been seen before and the challenges are obvious. Swiftly communicating the implications of sudden swings in a densely packed table may tax the ablest of mathematical brains.
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