Who is through in Champions League and what’s next?
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After some epic permutations for the first time, the Champions League final round has come to an end, and who will face off in the knockout rounds has been announced.
Aston Villa and Arsenal joined Liverpool in the last 16, who had already long secured their spot, as Manchester City defeated Club Brugge to advance to the play-offs.
Celtic, who lost 4-2 to Aston Villa, will be in the play-offs too – as all five British teams progressed through the league phase.
Through each stage, these teams exist:
Last 16: Liverpool, Barcelona, Arsenal, Inter Milan, Atletico Madrid, Bayer Leverkusen, Lille, Aston Villa.
Knockout phase play-offs: Atalanta, Borussia Dortmund, Real Madrid, Bayern Munich, AC Milan, PSV, Paris St-Germain, Benfica, Monaco, Brest, Feyenoord, Juventus, Celtic, Manchester City, Sporting, Club Brugge.
Eliminated: Dinamo Zagreb, Stuttgart, Shakhtar Donetsk, Bologna, Sparta Prague, Leipzig, Girona, Red Star Belgrade, Sturm Graz, Salzburg, Slovan Bratislava, Young Boys.
Who meets in the knockout phase play-offs?
The teams that placed between ninth and twenty-fourth place match up in two-legged play-off matches on February 11-12 and 18-19 to determine who advances to the last 16.
The draw will take place on Friday, 31 January at 11: 00 GMT… but teams already know which sides they have a 50-50 chance of meeting because of their final positions in the league phase.
Real Madrid will face one of the two teams, while Bayern Munich will face one of the former champions of Europe.
In addition, players are aware of the two possible opponents in the last 16 if they advance to the play-off.
In the final 16 of those City and Celtic ties, the winner will face Bayer Leverkusen or Atletico Madrid.
In the final 16 meetings, who meets?
After finishing in the top two, Liverpool and Barcelona can’t compete until the end.
The Reds will play one of Monaco, Brest, PSG or Benfica in the last 16 – with Barca facing another of those teams.
Arsenal, who finished third, will play Feyenoord, Juventus, AC Milan or PSV.
Aston Villa, who just finished in the top eight after beating Celtic, will take on Sporting, Club Brugge, Atalanta or Borussia Dortmund.
Those ties will take place on 4-5 and 11-12 March.
But they will not know which team exactly until the last-16 draw takes place on 21 February.
Which British clubs might be joining later?
If Liverpool and Aston Villa both win their last-16 games, there is a chance they could meet in the quarter-finals.
In that round, Arsenal might also face Celtic or Manchester City.
But all of those depend on which way the last-16 draw goes. British teams might also compete in the semi-finals or final.
Watch highlights of every Champions League game on BBC iPlayer, BBC Sport, and the BBC Sport website and app from 12:00 to eve of the match.
Related topics
- UEFA Champions League
- Football
Source: BBC
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