January 30 – Manchester City’s ‘reward’ for narrowly avoiding an embarrassing UEFA Champions League exit on Wednesday night is a play-off against a European juggernaut. A 3-1 comeback victory over Club Brugge clinched 22nd place in the league phase and a match against either Bayern Munich or Real Madrid, who finished 12th and 11th respectively, just to reach the Round of 16. Celtic, who came 21st, will take on the other giant.
Heading into the thrilling final matchday, which left so much still to play for, only Liverpool (1st) and Barcelona (2nd) had secured a top-eight finish and an automatic place in the last 16. As the results unfolded across the continent, Arsenal (3rd), Inter Milan (4th), Atlético Madrid (5th), Bayer Leverkusen (6th), Lille (7th), and Aston Villa (8th) joined them.
Meanwhile, 16 other teams landed in the play-off round, where they will battle for the remaining eight knockout phase spots.
Aside from the Real/Bayern-City/Celtic match-ups, the others see Atalanta (9th) and Borussia Dortmund (10th) facing either Sporting CP (23rd) or Club Brugge (24th); AC Milan (13th) and PSV (14th) meeting either Juventus (20th) or Feyenoord (19th); and PSG (15th) and Benfica (16th) playing Monaco (17th) or Brest (18th).
For Pep Guardiola’s (pictured above) side, the challenge ahead is immense. Their inconsistent campaign has left them with the most difficult path forward, guaranteeing a meeting with one of the two biggest clubs in the competition.
They have endured painful eliminations against Real Madrid in recent seasons (though won convincingly in 2022-23), while Bayern Munich would be an equally daunting task.
The play-offs will be played over two legs, with the first matches on February 11-12 and the return legs on February 18-19. The winners will advance to the last 16, where they will join the eight automatic qualifiers.
For Manchester City, who are already facing unforeseen challenges this season, the hard work has only just begun.
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