Man City will face one of two European heavyweights in nightmare play-off as Arsenal, Liverpool and Aston Villa learn their route through Champions League knockout stages

Manchester City’s reward for scraping into the next stage of the Champions League is a clash against European heavyweights Real Madrid or Bayern Munich. 

Pep Guardiola’s side earned a 3-1 victory over Belgian side Club Brugge at the Etihad on Wednesday night, though the final result failed to paint an accurate reflection of the tensioned-filled encounter.

City trailed at the break knowing only a victory would prolong their European adventure. But the 2023 champions produced a performance that has been sorely lacking this term and responded with goals from Mateo Kovacic, Savinho and an own goal by Joel Ordonez. 

The Manchester club’s treacherous passage to the play-off round best exemplified the appeal of the revamped Champions League and their next opponents further highlight the upside of the format. 

City will need to get past Madrid, who dumped them out of the competition 12 months ago on their path to a 15th triumphed or German giants Bayern to join fellow Premier League sides Liverpool, Arsenal and Aston Villa in the last-16. 

Their opponent will be confirmed when the draw for the next stage of the competition takes place on January 31. 

The Premier League giants mounted a spirited second-half comeback against the Belgians

City will found out whether they will face Real Madrid or Bayern Munich at the draw on Friday

The new Champions League format allows team to plot their course all the way to the final in Munich

Should City make it through that gauntlet, they will meet either Bayer Leverkusen or Atletico Madrid in the last-16.  

Liverpool came into the final League Phase matches guaranteed of finishing in one of the top two positions, and despite defeat by PSV Eindhoven, they ended the first stage atop the 36-team table. 

Ahead of the game, Arne Slot revealed that he decided to leave 12 first-team players at home for the fixture because he was unsure whether securing top spot mattered to their future prospects in the competition. 

That is still unclear, however, the Reds now know that they are likely to face a French side in the last-16, with Monaco, Brest, PSG and Benfica their potential opponents. 

Elsewhere, Arsenal ended the first stage third, level on points with Barcelona in second and just two points behind their Premier League rivals. 

Their 2-1 win over Girona ensured a meeting against one of AC Milan, Juventus, PSV or Feyenoord. 

The Gunners will fancy their chances against all four teams on their day but each could pose problems for Mikel Arteta’s outfit. 

The final inclusion in the top-eight was Aston Villa, who booked their place in the next round with a thrilling 4-2 win over Scottish champions Celtic at Villa Park. 

Liverpool topped the League Phase despite losing their final match to PSV and they could face French champions PSG in the next round

Arsenal finished third in the standings but they have a trickier set of potential opponents in the next round

Aston Villa secured eighth place in the League Phase and qualification for the last-16, where they could meet Atalanta, Borussia Dortmund, Sporting Lisbon or Club Brugge

Unai Emery’s side will no doubt be delighted to have secured a spot among Europe’s elite in their first campaign in more than 40 years but their relatively lowly position opened them up to a tough knockout round clash. 

However, the Midlands club looked to have avoided a giant European side for the time being. Their potential matchups are against Atalanta, Borussia Dortmund, Sporting Lisbon and Brugge. 

The Italian side would be the only outfit Emery may lose sleep trying to gameplan for. 

Away from the Premier League teams, Celtic are also now confirmed to play either Madrid or Bayern for a place in the last-16. 

The revamped competition has also thrown up a number of potential heavyweight clashes, including last-16 ties between AC Milan and Inter Milan and a Real vs Atletico Madrid derby.