The league stage of the first-ever season of the Champions League in its new format has come to an end. Tremendous uncertainty and constant shifts in the standings marked a historic night in which all 18 matches of the final round were played simultaneously. The happiest teams are Liverpool, Barcelona, Arsenal, Inter, Atletico Madrid, Bayer Leverkusen, Lille, and Aston Villa, who secured a spot among the top eight in the standings and thus directly advanced to the Champions League Round of 16.The league phase is complete ✅#UCL pic.twitter.com/8Ix7MvcqI4— UEFA Champions League (@ChampionsLeague) January 29, 2025 These teams will be able to skip playing in February and take a break from Champions League duties until March. However, the fate of the teams that finished between 9th and 24th place is entirely different. They will have to take the field in just two weeks when the first play-in matches—or knockout round playoffs—will be played. It is already clear that February will bring a spectacular two-legged showdown, no matter what the draw on Friday decides.UCL: City are saved! Arsenal win and Reds suffer their first loss in ‘Jekyll and Hyde’ halvesManchester City advanced to the knockout phase as the 22nd-placed team in the standings, meaning their two potential opponents are the 11th and 12th-placed teams—Bayern Munich and Real Madrid. One of these two giants will face the Cityizens, while the other will go up against Celtic.Neither Bayern Munich, Real Madrid, nor Manchester City secured a place among the top eight, and now we know that at least one of these three teams will pay the price, as they will be eliminated from the Champions League before the Round of 16—something that hasn’t happened to any of them in a long time. Real Madrid has never failed to reach the last 16 in the Champions League era, Bayern last suffered such a fate in the 2002/03 season, and Manchester City in 2012/13.UCL: Big guns don’t miss crucial shot – PSG, Madrid and Bayern are through but not in Top 8Another major classic, this time an Italian one, is possible in the knockout round playoffs. Milan and PSV, finishing 13th and 14th in the standings, could face Feyenoord and Juventus, who placed 19th and 20th. This means there is a 50% chance that we will witness a Juventus vs. Milan showdown in February. In that case, we would also see a direct clash between Dutch giants PSV and Feyenoord. Otherwise, the matchups would feature two Italy vs. Netherlands encounters: Juventus vs. PSV and Milan vs. Feyenoord.Among the teams that qualified for the play-in round, the most satisfied must be Atalanta and Borussia Dortmund. La Dea and the Black and Yellows finished the league stage in 9th and 10th place, meaning their potential opponents are the 23rd and 24th-ranked teams—Sporting Lisbon and Club Brugge. The Portuguese and Belgian sides barely squeezed into the knockout phase and will now face either Atalanta or Borussia.On to the next ✊ pic.twitter.com/v7xIkee61X— Borussia Dortmund (@BlackYellow) January 29, 2025 What we already know today is that the knockout round playoffs will feature an all-French showdown, as Paris Saint-Germain and Benfica’s potential opponents are Monaco and Brest. This means PSG will face one of their Ligue 1 rivals—it’s just a question of whether it will be Monaco, the stronger team on paper, or Brest, the surprise package of this season’s Champions League. The team that avoids PSG will face Benfica in the playoffs.PLAY-OFF ROUNDMonaco/Brest vs. Paris Saint-Germain/BenficaSporting Lisbon/Club Brugge vs. Atalanta/Borussia DortmundCeltic/Manchester City vs. Real Madrid/Bayern MunichFeyenoord/Juventus vs. Milan/PSVROUND OF 16Liverpool/Barcelona vs. Paris Saint-Germain/Monaco/Benfica/BrestArsenal/Inter vs. Milan/Juventus/PSV/FeyenoordBayer Leverkusen/Atletico Madrid vs. Real Madrid/Bayern Munich/Manchester City/CelticLille/Aston Villa vs. Borussia Dortmund/Atalanta/Sporting Lisbon/Club Brugge
