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How the new Champions League knockout phase play-offs work as Man City scrape through
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01/30/2025 08:01 AM
The new-look 36-team Champions League has finally reached the end of the League Phase.
The inaugural edition of the revamped competition saw an exciting conclusion as all teams kicked off at the same time, and there was plenty on the line.
Liverpool finished top of the table despite a 3-2 defeat to PSV Eindhoven.
Arsenal and Aston Villa also made it through to the last-16 after beating Girona and Celtic, respectively.
For Manchester City, they have a different path after making it into the play-offs, just.
A 3-1 win over Club Brugge at the Etihad ensured that City finished 22nd.
That means they will have to take part in the play-offs, and they are going to face Bayern Munich or Real Madrid…
How do the knockout phase play-offs work?
As a result of the Champions League expansion, teams that finish in the top eight of the table will automatically qualify for the last-16.
Clubs that end from ninth to 24th can still reach the knockouts but via successfully winning a two-legged play-off.
From the play-offs onwards, the Champions League format evolves from a table to a bracket.
The teams that finish between 9th and 16th after the League Phase will be seeded for the draw and have the return leg at home.
They will play a side that ended between 17th and 24th – with teams finishing ninth and tenth facing the club that ended 23rd or 24th.
The eight victorious play-off winners will complete the Champions League last-16, with the losers being eliminated altogether.
- Top-eight: Liverpool, Barcelona, Arsenal, Inter Milan, Atletico Madrid, Bayer Leverkusen, Lille, Aston Villa
- Play-offs seeded: Atalanta, Borussia Dortmund, Real Madrid, Bayern Munich, AC Milan, PSV Eindhoven, Paris Saint-Germain, Benfica
- Play-offs unseeded: Monaco, Brest, Feyenoord, Juventus, Celtic, Manchester City, Sporting Lisbon, Club Brugge
- Eliminated: Bologna, Sparta Prague, Leipzig, Girona, Red Star Belgrade, Sturm Graz, Salzburg, Slovan Bratislava, Young Boys, Dinamo Zagreb, Stuttgart, Shakhtar Donetsk
Champions League table
Pos | Club | MP | W | D | L | GD | Pts |
1 | Liverpool | 8 | 7 | 0 | 1 | 12 | 21 |
2 | Barcelona | 8 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 15 | 19 |
3 | Arsenal | 8 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 13 | 19 |
4 | Inter | 8 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 10 | 19 |
5 | Atletico Madrid | 8 | 6 | 0 | 2 | 8 | 18 |
6 | Leverkusen | 8 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 8 | 16 |
7 | LOSC | 8 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 7 | 16 |
8 | Aston Villa | 8 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 7 | 16 |
9 | Atalanta | 8 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 14 | 15 |
10 | Dortmund | 8 | 5 | 0 | 3 | 10 | 15 |
11 | Real Madrid | 8 | 5 | 0 | 3 | 8 | 15 |
12 | Bayern | 8 | 5 | 0 | 3 | 8 | 15 |
13 | Milan | 8 | 5 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 15 |
14 | PSV | 8 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 14 |
15 | PSG | 8 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 5 | 13 |
16 | Benfica | 8 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 13 |
17 | Monaco | 8 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 13 |
18 | Brest | 8 | 4 | 1 | 3 | -1 | 13 |
19 | Feyenoord | 8 | 4 | 1 | 3 | -3 | 13 |
20 | Juventus | 8 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 12 |
21 | Celtic | 8 | 3 | 3 | 2 | -1 | 12 |
22 | Man City | 8 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 11 |
23 | Sporting | 8 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 11 |
24 | Club Brugge | 8 | 3 | 2 | 3 | -4 | 11 |
25 | Dinamo Zagreb | 8 | 3 | 2 | 3 | -7 | 11 |
26 | VfB Stuttgart | 8 | 3 | 1 | 4 | -4 | 10 |
27 | Shakhtar Donetsk | 8 | 2 | 1 | 5 | -8 | 7 |
28 | Bologna | 8 | 1 | 3 | 4 | -5 | 6 |
29 | Crvena zvezda | 8 | 2 | 0 | 6 | -9 | 6 |
30 | SK Strum Graz | 8 | 2 | 0 | 6 | -9 | 6 |
31 | Sparta Praha | 8 | 1 | 1 | 6 | -14 | 4 |
32 | RB Leipzig | 8 | 1 | 0 | 7 | -7 | 3 |
33 | Girona | 8 | 1 | 0 | 7 | -8 | 3 |
34 | RB Salzburg | 8 | 1 | 0 | 7 | -22 | 3 |
35 | Slovan Bratislava | 8 | 0 | 0 | 8 | -20 | 0 |
36 | Young Boys | 8 | 0 | 0 | 8 | -21 | 0 |
9 to 24 entered into play-off
25 to 36 eliminated
Champions League gameweek eight results
Here, are the full results from matchday eight…
- Aston Villa 4-2 Celtic
- Barcelona 2-2 Atalanta
- Bayer Leverkusen 2-0 Sparta Prague
- Bayern Munich 3-1 Slovan Bratislava
- Borussia Dortmund 3-1 Shakhtar Donetsk
- Brest 0-3 Real Madrid
- Dinamo Zagreb 2-1 AC Milan
- Girona 1-2 Arsenal
- Inter Milan 3-0 Monaco
- Juventus 0-2 Benfica
- Lille 6-1 Feyenoord
- Man City 3-1 Brugge
- PSV 3-2 Liverpool
- RB Salzburg 1-4 Atletico Madrid
- Sporting Lisbon 1-1 Bologna
- Sturm Graz 1-0 RB Leipzig
- Stuttgart 1-4 PSG
- Young Boys 0-1 Red Star Belgrade