Man City to face Real Madrid in CL play-offs as Celtic draw Bayern

Manchester City will face Real Madrid in a blockbuster Champions League play-off with Celtic taking on Bayern Munich in a bid to reach the last 16.

Contents

When will top-eight clubs learn last 16 opponent?Champions League knockout schedule Confirmed knockout phase play-offs Draw format explained Who will British teams play in the next round – and who could they face in the last 16?Liverpool (Ranked No 1)Arsenal (Ranked No 3)Aston Villa (Ranked No 8)Celtic (Ranked No 21)Manchester City (Ranked No 22)When are the 2024/25 Champions League knockout fixtures?

Having beaten Club Brugge 3-1 in their final league-phase game to scrape through to the next round, Pep Guardiola’s side must go up against the 15-time European champions in the glamour tie of the play-off round.

City’s draw against Madrid means that Celtic will go up against Bayern Munich, now managed by former City captain Vincent Kompany.

The draw sets up the fifth two-legged tie between City and Madrid in the last six seasons. Last year Madrid ended City’s hopes of retaining the Champions League as they won in a penalty shoot-out at the Etihad in the quarter-finals.

The year before, City beat Madrid in the semi-finals on their way to completing a treble, conquering Europe for the first time in the club’s history.

The winners of the tie will advance to face either Atletico Madrid or Bayer Leverkusen in the last 16. The same applies for Celtic should they progress against Bayern.

City’s second leg at the Santiago Bernabeu takes place just a few days before they host Liverpool in the Premier League, live on Sky Sports.

Juventus were drawn against PSV Eindhoven, Feyenoord were paired with AC Milan, while Club Brugge will face Atalanta.

There is an all-French tie between Brest and Paris St Germain, Monaco will take on Benfica, and Sporting were drawn against Borussia Dortmund.

The first legs of the knockout play-off round take place on February 11-12 with the return legs a week later.

When will top-eight clubs learn last 16 opponent?

Despite Friday’s draw, Arsenal, Liverpool and Villa’s options have not been narrowed down. The draw for the last 16 is on February 21, two days after the play-off round finishes.

From this point, the path to the final in Munich will become a lot clearer. There will then be a draw straight after to determine home advantage in the quarter-finals and semi-finals.

Aston Villa snuck into the top eight by the skin of their teeth after Atalanta failed to beat Barcelona and dropped into the play-offs, meaning Unai Emery’s side will face one of Atalanta, Borussia Dortmund, Sporting or Club Brugge in the last 16.

Liverpool top the overall table and will now face one of Paris Saint-Germain, Benfica, Monaco or Brest.

Arsenal could face AC Milan, PSV, Feyenoord or Juventus as their possible last-16 opponents.

Confirmed knockout phase play-offs

Club Brugge (BEL) vs Atalanta (ITA)
Sporting CP (POR) vs Borussia Dortmund (GER)
Manchester City (ENG) vs Real Madrid (ESP)
Celtic (SCO) vs Bayern München (GER)
Juventus (ITA) vs PSV (NED)
Feyenoord (NED) vs Milan (ITA)
Brest (FRA) vs Paris Saint-Germain (FRA)
Monaco (FRA) vs Benfica (POR)

Draw format explained

Teams finishing between ninth and 16th in the league will be seeded for the play-off round.

They will face an unseeded team that finished between 17th and 24th in the table – with the seeded team also having the benefit of playing the second leg at home.

Sides will also be paired together in the draw, meaning that the two sides who finished ninth and 10th will be drawn against either the 23rd or 24th placed sides.

Teams who finished 11th and 12th will be drawn against either the 21st or 22nd-placed sides, and so on.

The eight winners from the play-offs will meet the teams who finished in the top eight from the initial league phase in the last-16, where the familiar theme of knockout rounds will run all the way to the final.