Manchester City and Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) secured their spots in the knockout stage of the UEFA Champions League on Wednesday. Arsenal advanced directly to the Round of 16.
Inter Milan, Atletico Madrid, Bayer Leverkusen, Lille, and Aston Villa also made it into the top eight. Meanwhile, Liverpool and Barcelona finished in the top two. These eight teams will not have to play in the new playoff round format.
A total of 18 matches took place simultaneously on the same day. Manchester City, needing to avoid defeat to stay in the competition, defeated Club Brugge 3-1. PSG secured a 4-2 victory over Stuttgart.
Similarly, Arsenal defeated Girona 2-1. Inter secured fourth place by beating Monaco 3-0, while Atletico outclassed Salzburg with a 4-1 victory. Leverkusen claimed a 2-0 win against Sparta Prague.
Lille was the only French team to make it into the top eight, easily defeating Feyenoord 6-1. Meanwhile, Aston Villa, playing in Europe’s top competition after 42 years, knocked out Celtic 4-2 thanks to a hat-trick from Morgan Rogers.
Atalanta, Borussia Dortmund, Real Madrid, and AC Milan were all just one point away from the top eight. The teams that advanced to the playoff draw included PSV Eindhoven, Benfica, Monaco, Brest, Feyenoord, Juventus, Celtic, Sporting Lisbon, and Club Brugge.
