Manchester City face a blockbuster Champions League play-off tie against Real Madrid or Bayern Munich after scraping through the new league phase with a 3-1 victory over Club Brugge.
The Premier League champions, enduring their most turbulent season in Pep Guardiola’s all-conquering reign, again underwhelmed but recovered from a 1-0 deficit at half-time against the Belgian underdogs.
It was a goal-laden Wednesday night elsewhere in the final matchday of the group phase, with Aston Villa overwhelming Celtic 4-2 and Arsenal winning 2-1 away at Girona. An understrength Liverpool, their place already safe, slipped to a 3-2 defeat at PSV.
When is the Champions League knockout draw?
The draw for the knockout stage takes place in Nyon, Switzerland, on Friday, January 31. It will start at 11am UK time (12pm European time) and will be live-streamed on Uefa.com.
How does the play-off round work?
Teams that finished the new Swiss-format league phase between ninth and 16th are seeded for the first draw for the knockout phase and will face a team placed 17th to 24th. The seeded team will, in principle, play the return leg at home. Potential opponents are also pre-defined by pairings of teams’ final league positions. For example, teams finishing ninth and tenth will face the sides that ended 23rd or 24th; teams finishing 11th or 12th will be drawn against either the 21st or 22nd-placed sides and so on.
Who will Manchester City and Celtic face?
Celtic’s 21st place finish, with City immediately beneath them means they will face either Real Madrid or Bayern Munich, who finished 11th and 12th respectively. The draw starts with the unseeded teams, in this case City and Celtic.
Who can Liverpool face?
Liverpool, Arsenal and Aston Villa finished in the top eight so progress directly into the last-16. The Merseyside club’s top spot and top seed status hands them a tie against either PSG, Benfica, Monaco or Brest.
Who can Arsenal face?
Arsenal’s third place finish means they face either Milan, PSV, Feyenoord or Juventus.
Who can Aston Villa face?
Villa’s eight-place slot hands them either Atalanta, Dortmund, Sporting or Club Brugge.
What happens to the teams who are knocked out?
There will be no buffer of the Europa League like years gone by. Those teams who finished 25th or below have been eliminated and, to use that old football adage, can concentrate on the league. The Europa League and Europa Conference are also using the Swiss Model format.
