The UEFA Champions League draw for the playoffs, including Manchester City, has been made, and the Cityzens face a great task against Real Madrid.
The league phase of the UCL came to a conclusion on Wednesday night as the 24 clubs that were to continue in this season's edition of the competition were decided.
The top eight, who have automatically qualified for the last round of 16 and won't require a playoff round, are Liverpool, Barcelona, Arsenal, Inter Milan, Leverkusen, LOSC Lille and Aston Villa.
Ninth to 24th on the table must go through a playoff tie, where the winner of each tie will accompany the top eight to make up the round of 16.
For Manchester City, many would have predicted the 2023 champions to finish in the top eight when the format was announced; however, we've seen a completely different story for the Sky Blues, whose main goal has been to avoid elimination, and they did so on the final day in 3-1 win over Club Brugge.
Manchester City fought to attain 22nd spot after they were on the brink of an early exit from the competition. Now, they must face Spanish giants Real Madrid for a place in the last 16.
The draw for the playoffs was made on Friday morning, with 16 teams waiting to find out who stands in their way of a last 16 place.
How the draw worked
While we have seen a completely new look for the group stage, we also have been given a revamped format for the draw.
The teams that had landed in the playoff positions found themselves paired up with another club, such as Atalanta (ninth) and Dortmund (10th); this meant they couldn't face each other and would each take on a club apart of another pair - leaving every club with only two potential opponents.
Then, Atalanta and Dortmund would be placed on the two different sides of the brackets, meaning they wouldn't be able to meet until the final.
Pair nine and 10 would take on pair 23 and 24, pair 11 and 12 against one of pair 22 and 21 and so on.
Manchester City, who finished on 22nd, were in a pair with 21st-place celtic; with their potential opponent either coming as Real Madrid or Bayern Munich.
Who were the pairs for the draw?
- Pair nine & 10: Atalanta and Borussia Dortmund
- Pair 11 & 12: Real Madrid and Bayern Munich
- Pair 13 & 14: AC Milan and PSV Eindhoven
- Pair 15 & 16: Paris Saint-Germain and Benfica
- Pair 17 & 18: Monaco and Stade Brest
- Pair 19 & 20: Feyenoord and Juventus
- Pair 21 & 22: celtic and Manchester City
- Pair 23 & 24: Sporting Lisbon and Club Brugge
How the draw worked
The clubs that are paired cannot play one another in any round unless it's the final. Two pairs are drawn against each other based on ranking. One team of each other pair takes on one of the teams from the drawn pair.
- Atalanta/ Dortmund (nine & 10) vs Club Brugge/ Sporting (23 & 24).
- Real Madrid/ Bayern Munich (11 & 12) vs Man City/ celtic (21 & 22).
- AC Milan/ PSV (13 & 14) vs Feyenoord/ Juventus (19 & 20).
- Paris Saint-Germain/Benfica (15 & 16) vs Monaco/ Brest (17 & 18).
Official playoff fixtures
The names highlighted in bold are placed on the left side of the bracket, while the ones that aren't highlighted are placed on the right side of the bracket.
- Manchester City vs Real Madrid
- celtic vs Bayern Munich
- Club Brugge vs Atalanta
- Sporting Lisbon vs Borussia Dortmund
- Monaco vs Benfica
- Stade Brest vs Paris Saint-Germain
- Feyenoord vs AC Milan
- Juventus vs PSV Eindhoven
What about the top eight teams?
The clubs to have finished the league phase in the top eight have already booked their places in the last round of 16. They have not been included in the draw as they do not require a playoff decider.
Once the playoffs are completed, there will be another draw to determine who out of the remaining 16 clubs will take each other on. They will also learn which side of the bracket they will be drawn to, which will fully reveal the path to the 2025 final.
But, it is to be noted that the top eight also have been paired up and already know which other pair (in the play-offs), they could be drawn against when the last 16 arrives.
Potential last 16 matches
- Liverpool/Barcelona (one & two) vs PSG/Brest/Monaco/Benfica
- Arsenal/Inter Milan (three & four) vs Juventus/PSV/Feyenoord/AC Milan
- Atletico Madrid/Leverkusen (five & six) vs Man City/ celtic/ Real Madrid/Bayern
- LOSC Lille/Aston Villa (seven & eight) vs Sporting/Dortmund/Atalanta/Club Brugge