How Warriors could acquire Jimmy Butler; Kings open trade talks on De’Aaron Fox; UEFA Champions League preview

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THE UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE TEAMS

Do you like sports? (We’ll assume the answer is yes if you’re reading this newsletter!) Do you like drama? (Again, we’ll assume so if you like sports.)

So, to recap, if you answered “yes” at least once, you’re going to love today’s UEFA Champions League action: 18 simultaneous games, all streaming on Paramount+, with plenty up in the air on the final day of the league phase. It’s similar to Week 18 in the NFL: games at the same time, with high stakes and twists and turns aplenty across the sport. Pardeep Cattry says the new format is capturing American sports’ playoff push magic.

The top eight teams are automatically into the Round of 16. Teams seeded 9-24 will go into a playoff for the final eight Round-of-16 spots. Here’s a full explainer, and here’s where things stand entering the final matchday of the league phase:

• Clinched top eight (2 teams): Liverpool, Barcelona
• Clinched top 24 at least (16 teams) : Arsenal, Inter, Atletico Madrid, Milan, Atalanta, Bayer Leverkusen, Aston Villa, Monaco, Feyenoord, Lille, Brest, Borussia Dortmund, Bayern Munich, Real Madrid, Juventus, Celtic
• At risk of elimination (9 teams for 6 spots): PSV, Club Brugge, Benfica, Paris Saint-Germain, Sporting Lisbon, Stuttgart, Manchester City, Dinamo Zagreb, Shakhtar Donetsk
• Eliminated (9 teams): Bologna, Sparta Praha, RB Leipzig, Girona, Crvena Zvezda, Sturm Graz, RB Salzburg, Slovan Bratislava, Young Boys

Yes, both PSG and Manchester City are at risk. As such, both teams feature in Chuck Booth’s five most important games of the day.

1. VfB Stuttgart vs. PSG — “Stuttgart have won three games on the bounce to turn around their own outlook, now finding themselves in 24th during their first-ever Champions League campaign. PSG sit in 22nd place on 11 points and a draw could be enough to see them through on goal difference, but leaving things up to chance could end in heartbreak.”
2. Manchester City vs. Club Brugge — “Win and you’re into the knockouts. The goal is simple here but where it gets fascinating is that the winner will likely take the place of the loser in the knockout stage. … Hosting Brugge at home feels like a match that City should win easily but nothing has been easy for Pep Guardiola‘s men this season.”

We have expert picks for all 18 games, and while there’s plenty TBD about who advances, how about the race between Liverpool and Barcelona at the top? If Liverpool slips up against PSV (preview), Barca can grab the No. 1 seed with a win over Atalanta (preview). Here’s Jonathan Johnson’s pick ..

• Johnson: “Prediction: Barca 2, Atalanta 2 — A dream matchup for the neutral here and although it would be tempting to tip Barca to come out on top of an absolute goal fest like last week, it feels like the pressure is off now that a top eight place is secured. Expect an entertaining and goal-filled encounter with both sides level by the end.”

In his best bets, meanwhile, Chuck Booth envisions another high-scoring one in RB Salzburg-Atletico Madrid.

Here’s more:

👍 Honorable mentions

👑 And not such a good morning for …