By Ntokozo Magongo
MBABANE – The 2022/23 Champions League winners, Manchester City, face elimination from the tournament if they fail to win their final group match against Belgian side Club Brugge tonight.
Pep Guardiola’s side needs a victory to advance to the last-16 stage of the revamped Champions League. A draw or a loss will not be enough, meaning they will be eliminated from both the Champions League and European football altogether.
The 2024/25 Champions League reaches the final stage of the group phase tonight, with 18 matches set to kick off at 10 PM.
Liverpool and Barcelona have already secured their places in the last 16, as they sit first and second in the 36-team standings.
With one game remaining in the group stages, 25 of the 36 teams are still waiting to learn their fate.
According to Daily Mail Sports, out of the 36 teams participating in the league phase of the Champions League, 24 will progress to the knockout phase. Clubs finishing in the top eight of the table will automatically qualify for the last-16 stage.
Under the new format, teams ranked between ninth and 16th will be seeded and drawn against one of the clubs that finish between 17th and 24th, where they will play a two-legged knockout play-off.
The winners of the eight play-off games will then progress to the round of 16, where they will face teams that finished in the top eight.
Daily Mail Sports has confirmed that the following 24 teams are guaranteed a play-off spot: Arsenal, Inter Milan, Atletico Madrid, AC Milan, Atalanta, Bayer Leverkusen, Aston Villa, Monaco, Feyenoord, Lille, Brest, Borussia Dortmund, Bayern Munich, Real Madrid, Juventus, and Celtic.
Teams whose progression remains uncertain include Manchester City, PSV, Club Brugge, Benfica, PSG, Sporting, Stuttgart, Dinamo Zagreb, and Shakhtar Donetsk.
Meanwhile, the teams already eliminated from the competition are Bologna, Sparta Prague, Leipzig, Girona, Red Star Belgrade, Sturm Graz, Salzburg, Slovan Bratislava, and Young Boys.
