An Opta simulation, reported by Gazzetta dello Sport, shows that 16 points in the league phase will be enough to qualify for the Champions League round of 16, while nine will secure a place in the knockout phase playoffs should.

The third round of the Champions League begins today with three Serie A clubs involved: Milan meets Club Brugge at the San Siro, Juventus welcomes Stuttgart to the Allianz Stadium and Bologna visits Aston Villa, where they are looking for their first win this season competition goes.

The simulation predicts how many points are needed for the round of 16 of the Champions League

The new format of the Champions League makes it difficult to predict how many points will be needed to qualify for the second phase. However, a simulation from Opta suggests that 16 points should be enough to finish in the top eight and progress to the round of 16.

Teams placed 9th to 24th qualify for the knockout stage playoffs and the Opta supercomputer has predicted nine points will grant entry to this stage.

The Opta study was based on over 50,000 simulations and in 98% of cases 16 points were enough to place in the top eight.

This means that clubs can theoretically qualify for the round of 16 with five wins and one draw or four wins and four draws.