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With the conclusion of the inaugural league stage of the Champions League, the teams have been whittled down to 24. Of the leading favourites to lift the trophy, Manchester City were given the biggest scare when they trailed Club Brugge 0-1 at half time knowing that only a win would secure them a place in the two-legged playoffs. However, goals from Mateo Kovačić, Joel Ordóñez (own goal), and Savinho ensured the champions from the 2022/23 season snuck into the playoffs to keep their chances of adding to that success alive.
Elsewhere, there were no real surprises up and down the table, with RB Leipzig the biggest name to crash out of the tournament along with the likes of Dinamo Zagreb, Sparta Praha, SK Sturm Graz, and Bologna. While those teams were not expected to pull up any trees in the new format, Champions League debutants, Brest, as well as fellow French side Lille were the surprise packages of the league stage, with Lille defeating reigning champions, Real Madrid, by 1-0 on Matchday 2.
The situation looked temporarily bleak for Real Madrid and Paris Saint-Germain going into Matchday 7, but both comfortably made it through to the playoffs in the end to live to fight another day along with some other big names. At the top end of the table, Liverpool and Barcelona led the way, with Hansi Flick’s Barce unable to usurp Arne Slot’s Liverpool at the top after only drawing 2-2 with Atalanta Bergamo on the final matchday. But with FC Bayern Munich, Borussia Dortmund, AC Milan, and Juventus joining Real and PSG in the playoffs, there is plenty more jeopardy expected in the next round.
Crunch tie for a place in the round of 16
The draw for the playoff round produced an mouth-watering matchup between two of Europe’s giants. Manchester City will face off against Real Madrid for the right to play either Bayer 04 Leverkusen or Atletico Madrid in the Round of 16. Betting markets available for UK players will be keenly following the build-up to the two matches in Manchester and Madrid in a tie that is too tight to call right now. It promises to be an explosive two-legged affair, with plenty of goals scored in the past encounters between the pair. Manchester City will have to do it the hard way again, as they had to on the way to lifting the trophy in 2023.
This encounter will be the fifth time the two sides have been drawn in a knockout two-legged tie in the last six seasons, with Manchester City triumphing 4-0 in the second leg in 2023 to progress 5-1 on aggregate. However, it is Real Madrid who currently hold the bragging rights after they defeated Pep Guardiola’s team on penalties last season after two pulsating matches ended 4-4 on aggregate. Real went on to win their 15th Champions League title last season but with neither team quite at the top of their powers, it will be an intriguing tie, but after it, one giant must fall.
Elsewhere in the playoffs
There is an all-French tie as Champions League surprise package, Brest, take on fellow Ligue 1 side PSG in a rerun of the recent league match between the two. On that occasion, PSG ran out 5-2 winners with Ousmane Dembélé bagging a hat-trick, but both teams will surely raise their levels another notch for the Champions League ties. Elsewhere, other European powerhouses Juventus and AC Milan were paired with Dutch teams PSV Eindhoven and Feyenoord respectively, while last year’s finalists, Borussia Dortmund and new manager Niko Kovac will have to overcome Sporting Lisbon. Fellow Bundesliga side FC Bayern Munich will take on Brendan Rodgers’ Celtic, with Club Brugge vs Atalanta and Monaco vs Benfica rounding off the playoff matches.
- Club Brugge vs Atalanta
- Sporting CP vs Borussia Dortmund
- Manchester City vs Real Madrid
- Celtic vs Bayern München
- Juventus vs PSV
- Feyenoord vs Milan
- Brest vs Paris Saint-Germain
- Monaco vs Benfica
Top eight watch and wait
The reward for finishing in the top eight is a direct passage to the Round of 16 and while sixteen teams do battle to progress to the next round, the following teams will be keeping a keen eye on certain fixtures to see who they will face in the next round:
- Liverpool
- Barcelona
- Arsenal
- Inter Milan
- Atletico Madrid
- Bayer 04 Leverkusen
- Lille
- Aston Villa
Here is where it gets slightly complicated. Due to where teams in the top eight finished, they can only play teams from certain positions from 9th to 24th. With teams in the top eight grouped in pairs counting down from 1st place, the top two can be drawn against the teams the finished in 15th, 16th ,17th, and 18th positions, or the two worst seeded teams and the two best unseeded teams in the playoffs.
At the other end of the spectrum, Lille and Aston Villa’s rewards for finishing in the bottom two of the top eight are potential ties with the top two of the teams that finished between 9th and 16th, i.e. Borussia Dortmund or Atalanta, or their respective opponents Sporting Lisbon or Club Brugge. Another draw will be made for the Round of 16, but before that, there could be a few more shocks to come in the playoffs.
