Champions League

Champions League: Last matchday from 9pm LIVE

Manchester City squeezed through to the next round of the top flight.

(Bild: APA/AFP/Paul ELLIS)

Manchester City, FC Bayern Munich and Real Madrid finished in a play-off place in the Champions League at the end of the league phase. VfB Stuttgart lost 1:4 to PSG and slipped out of the top 24, while Borussia Dortmund also managed to shiver their way through. Bayer Leverkusen qualified directly for the round of 16.

Manchester City qualified for the Champions League play-offs after all on the final matchday of the league phase. The English champions defeated Belgian side Club Brugge 3:1 on Wednesday despite trailing at the break to make it into the top 24. Paris Saint-Germain, who were also threatened with elimination, also booked their place in the knockout phase with a 4:1 win in Stuttgart. Liverpool emerged victorious in the league phase.

Although the "Reds" lost in Eindhoven at the end, they still finished the basic round of the premier class at the top with 21 points. They were followed by Barcelona, Arsenal, Inter Milan, Atletico Madrid and Leverkusen. Lille and Aston Villa also progressed directly to the round of 16, while defending champions Real Madrid, Bayern Munich, Borussia Dortmund, Juventus Turin and AC Milan will have to take a detour via the play-offs.

Here are all the results:

Man City turned the game around after the break
A fire outside the stadium caused a stir in Manchester before kick-off, but the fire department were able to extinguish the blaze quickly and the game started on time. Manchester City exerted pressure right from the start, but rarely made a compelling impression. The setback came shortly before the break: Raphael Onyedika finished off a counter-attack for Bruges (45'). City turned the game around after the break. Mateo Kovacic (53'), an own goal from Joel Ordonez (62') and Savinho (77') gave coach Pep Guardiola a sigh of relief.

However, it was not a nail-biter for Paris Saint-Germain. The French side celebrated a clear 4:1 away win in Stuttgart, mainly thanks to a treble from Ousmane Dembele. As a result, PSG moved up to 15th place, while ManCity jumped to 22nd.

Here is the table:

Liverpool remain top despite defeat
Liverpool FC, who were without a blemish before the final matchday, lost 3-2 at Eindhoven with a B team but still retained their position at the top. Barcelona missed out on the top spot with a 2-2 draw against Atalanta Bergamo. Arsenal, who won 2-1 at Girona, ended the league phase in third place ahead of Inter Milan. Milan, for whom Marko Arnautovic came on in the 60th minute, defeated AS Monaco, coached by Adi Hütter, 3-0.

For Bayern Munich, a 3-1 home win against second-last Slovan Bratislava, who had no points, was not enough, with Kevin Wimmer in the starting eleven. The Munich side finished 12th behind Borussia Dortmund and Real Madrid. BVB defeated Shakhtar Donetsk 3-1 with Marcel Sabitzer, while defending champions Real Madrid won 3-0 at Stade Brest, with David Alaba coming on in the closing stages.

Two own goals from ÖFB legionnaire Trauner
Gernot Trauner had an unfortunate evening in Feyenoord Rotterdam kit. The central defender scored the opening goal in the 6-1 defeat at Lille, but later scored two own goals. Despite the defeat, Feyenoord made it into the play-offs in 19th place. These will be played on February 11/12 and 18/19, with the draw taking place on Friday.