Man Metropolis will face certainly one of two European heavyweights in nightmare play-off as Arsenal, Liverpool and Aston Villa be taught their route by way of Champions League knockout phases

Manchester Metropolis‘s reward for scrapping into the subsequent stage of the Champions League is a conflict towards European heavyweights Actual Madrid or Bayern Munich. 

Pep Guardiola‘s aspect earned a 3-1 victory over Belgian aspect Membership Brugge on the Etihad on Wednesday evening, although the ultimate end result failed to color an correct reflection of the tensioned-filled encounter.

Metropolis trailed on the break figuring out solely a victory would extend their European journey. However the 2023 champions produced a efficiency that has been sorely missing this time period and responded with objectives from Mateo Kovacic, Savinho and an personal objective by Joel Ordonez. 

The Manchester membership’s treacherous passage to the play-off spherical finest exemplified the enchantment of the revamped Champions League and their subsequent opponents additional spotlight the upside of the format. 

Metropolis might want to get previous Madrid, who dumped them out of the competitors 12 months in the past on their path to their fifteenth triumphed or German giants Bayern to affix fellow Premier League sides Liverpool, Arsenal and Aston Villa within the last-16. 

Their opponent shall be confirmed when the draw for the subsequent stage of the competitors takes place on January 31. 

Ought to Metropolis make it by way of that gauntlet, they may meet both Bayer Leverkusen or Atletico Madrid within the last-16.  

Liverpool got here into the ultimate League Part matches assured of ending in one of many prime two positions and regardless of defeat by PSV Eindhoven, they ended the primary stage atop the 36-team desk. 

Forward of the sport, Arne Slot revealed that he determined to depart 12 first-team gamers at house for the fixture as a result of he was uncertain whether or not securing prime spot mattered to their future prospects within the competitors. 

That time continues to be unclear, nevertheless, the Reds now know that they’re prone to face a French aspect within the last-16, with AS Monaco, Brest, PSG and Benfica their potential opponent. 

Elsewhere, Arsenal ended the primary stage third, degree on factors with Barcelona in second and simply two factors behind their Premier League rivals. 

Their 2-1 win over Girona ensured a gathering towards certainly one of AC Milan, Juventus, PSV or Feyenoord. 

The Gunners will fancy their probabilities towards all 4 groups on their day however every might pose issues for Mikel Arteta’s outfit. 

The ultimate inclusion within the top-eight was Aston Villa, who booked their place within the subsequent spherical with an exhilarating 4-2 win over Scottish champions Celtic at Villa Park. 

Unai Emery’s aspect will little question be delighted to have secured a spot amongst Europe’s elite of their first marketing campaign in additional than 40 years however 

their comparatively lowly place opened them as much as a troublesome knockout spherical conflict. 

Nevertheless, the Midlands membership seemed to have prevented a large European aspect in the meanwhile. Their potential matchups are towards Atalanta, Borussia Dortmund, Sporting Lisbon and Brugge. 

The Italian aspect can be the one outfit Emery might lose sleep making an attempt to gameplan for. 

Away from the Premier League groups, Celtic are additionally now confirmed to play both Madrid or Bayern for a spot within the last-16. 

The revamp competitors has additionally thrown up a lot of potential heavyweight clashes, together with last-16 ties between AC Milan and Inter Milan and a Actual vs Atletico Madrid derby.