All the 2024/25 Champions League league phase encounters are now done. Premier League side Liverpool finished top of the 36-team standings; Barcelona, Arsenal and Inter Milan finished in the top four and, concluding the top eight, were Atletico Madrid, Bayer Leverkusen, LOSC Lille and Aston Villa. The aforementioned teams will progress straight into the Round of 16.
By virtue of the competition’s new-look design, all clubs who ranked between ninth and 24th in the league phase – which includes the likes of Bayern Munich, AC Milan, Real Madrid and Manchester City – are now looking ahead of a two-legged play-off tie as they look to book themselves a spot in this season’s Round of 16.
Teams finishing between ninth and 16th in the league phase will be seeded for the play-off round. As such, they will face an unseeded team that finished between 17th and 24th in the table – with the seeded team also having the benefit of playing the second leg on home soil.
All 18 of Match Day’s eight encounters were played at the same time on Wednesday night to ensure that no team held the advantage of knowing what they needed to secure passage into the next round – and now the draw for the knockout phase play-offs has taken place. Who will the reigning champions, Real Madrid, face? Who will Pep Guardiola’s side have to lock horns with? Let’s find out.
In what could easily be the final of the tournament, reigning champions Real Madrid are set to face Manchester City, meaning that one of the pair will be crashing out at the play-off stage. Whichever team reigns victorious will have the small matter of Bayer Leverkusen or Atletico Madrid to face.
The winner of Celtic and Bayern Munich’s play-off tie will also play one of Xabi Alonso or Diego Simeone’s sides. Elsewhere, Arsenal and Inter Milan await one of Juventus, PSV Eindhoven, Feyenoord or AC Milan in the Round of 16.
Thiago Motta’s Juventus and PSV Eindhoven will go head-to-head in the play-off phase, while Feyenoord and AC Milan will also battle it out over two legs for a spot in the last 16.
Belgian outfit Club Brugge will play host to Atalanta, while Sporting CP – who beat Pep Guardiola’s men 4-1 in the league phase – will lock horns with Borussia Dortmund. The winners of both ties will either play Aston Villa or Lille in the Round of 16.
Paris Saint-Germain are set to face fellow Ligue 1 outfit Stade Brestois in the play-off phase and the winner will play against one of Liverpool or Barcelona – the two strongest teams in the competition, on paper. Monaco and Benfica are the final play-off phase match-up.
