The Champions League first round ended on Wednesday with mouthwatering clashes with all the heavyweights qualifying for the second round.
Defending champions, Real Madrid earned a 3-0 win over Brest to seal a playoff spot thanks to a brace from Rodrygo, and Jude Bellingham scored the other goal.
Manchester City survived an early scare to record a 3-1 victory over Brest with Mateo Kovacic, Savinho and an own goal. The victory ensured they booked a playoff place.
The likes of Liverpool, Barcelona, Arsenal, Inter Milan, Atletico Madrid, Bayer Leverkusen, Lille, Aston Villa all qualified for the second round automatically.
While Atalanta, Borussia Dortmund, Real Madrid, Bayern Munich, AC Milan, PSV, Paris St-Germain, Benfica, Monaco, Brest, Feyenoord, Juventus, Celtic, Manchester City, Sporting, Club Brugge will negotiate a two-legged play off to seal their places in the second round of the competition.
Dinamo Zagreb, Stuttgart, Shakhtar Donetsk, Bologna, Sparta Prague, Leipzig, Girona, Red Star Belgrade, Sturm Graz, Salzburg, Slovan Bratislava, Young Boys were all eliminated from the competition, and there is no opportunity for them to enter the Europa League round of 32 as previously done.
The teams which finished between ninth and 24th will play two-legged play-off ties on 11-12, and 18-19 February to decide who goes through to the last 16.
Celtic or Manchester City will face Real Madrid or Bayern Munich in the playoffs. The winners will meet either Atletico Madrid or Bayer Leverkusen in the Round of 16.
Teams will also know the two possible clubs they could face in the last 16 if they progress through the play-off.
The winner of those ties involving City and Celtic will take on either Atletico Madrid or Bayer Leverkusen in the last 16.
Feyenoord or Juventus will face AC Milan or PSV Eindhoven in the playoffs. The winners will meet either Arsenal or Inter Milan in the Round of 16.
Liverpool and Barcelona cannot meet until the final now after finishing in the top two.
The Reds will play one of Monaco, Brest, PSG or Benfica in the last 16 – with Barca facing another of those teams.
Arsenal, who finished third, will play Feyenoord, Juventus, AC Milan or PSV.
AS Monaco or Brest will face Paris St Germain or Benfica in the playoffs. The winners will meet either Liverpool or Barcelona in the Round of 16.
Sporting or Club Brugge will face Atalanta or Borussia Dortmund in the playoffs. The winners will meet either Lille or Aston Villa in the Round of 16.
Aston Villa, who just finished in the top eight after beating Celtic, will take on Sporting, Club Brugge, Atalanta or Borussia Dortmund.
Those matches will take place on March 4-5, and 11-12.
But they will not know which team exactly until the last-16 draw takes place on 21 February.
Clubs will know their potential route to the final by then – with the draws for the quarters and semis also taking place that day.
Liverpool topped the first round group with 21 points from 8 matches, while Barcelona came second with 19 points. Arsenal finished third with the same points as Barcelona, and fourth-placed Inter Milan.
Champions League First Round Records:
A total of 470 goals were scored in the first round, beating the previous group-stage best of 308 set in 2019.
Barcelona scored the most goals with 28 strikes to set a group-stage record.
The highest scoring match was Bayern Munich’s opening day 9-2 win over Dinamo Zagreb.
Atletico Madrid recorded the biggest away win by spanking Sparta Prague 6-0 on matchday five.
There were 144 games in total and only eight of them ended in a 0-0 draw.
Barcelona’s Lewandowski and Borussia Dortmund’s Serhou Guirassy are the competition’s top scorers with nine goals each.
Bologna received the most yellow cards (30) with AC Milan and Real Madrid having the second most (26).
Manchester City received the fewest cards with 10 yellows. They also committed the fewest fouls (61).
