Champions League: Who qualified to knockouts - and who could play who next?
2025-01-30
Category: sports

A dramatic final round of Champions League games has finished, and after some epic permutations for the first time we know who will be in the knockout rounds.Manchester City came from behind to beat Club Brugge and squeeze into a place in the play-offs, while Aston Villa and Arsenal joined Liverpool - who had long booked their place - in the last 16.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.These are the teams through to each stage: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.And we already have an idea of who could play who in the next rounds - with City and Celtic in particular about to face huge tests.
Who meets in the knockout phase play-offs?
The teams who finished between ninth and 24th play two-legged play-off ties on 11-12 and 18-19 February to decide who goes through 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.One of Celtic and Manchester City will play European champions Real Madrid - with the other taking on fellow giants Bayern Munich. Teams also know the two possible clubs they could face in the last 16 if they progress through the play-off.The winner of those ties involving City and Celtic will take on either Atletico Madrid or Bayer Leverkusen in the last 16.There is a 50% chance of Juventus facing AC Milan - and Paris St-Germain will face a Ligue 1 rival in either Monaco or Brest.
Who meets in the last 16?
Liverpool and Barcelona cannot meet until the final now after finishing in the top two.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.Clubs will know their potential route to the final by then - with the draws for the quarters and semis also taking place that day.
Which British clubs could meet further down the line?
There is a chance Liverpool and Aston Villa could meet in the quarter-finals if they both win their last-16 ties.Arsenal could meet Celtic or Manchester City in that round too.But all of those depend on which way the last-16 draw goes. It is also possible British teams could meet in the semis or final. All should become clearer after 21 February when the draws for the last-16 onwards are made.
Watch highlights of every Champions League game from 22:00 on Wednesday on BBC iPlayer and the BBC Sport website and app.There will also be a Champions League Match of the Day on BBC One on Wednesday, from 22:40 to 00:00.