That’s all from this epic evening in the Champions League. Thanks for reading this Clockwatch. Nighty night.
Match report: Manchester City 3-1 Club Brugge. City made it through after all. David Hytner was at the Etihad Stadium.
Match report: Aston Villa 4-2 Celtic. Ollie Watkins shut out the noises off, while Morgan Rogers notched a hat-trick. Ben Fisher reports from Villa Park.
Match report: Girona 1-2 Arsenal. There wasn’t too much riding on Arsenal’s match either, but what a winning goal! Sid Lowe was at Estadi Montilivi to watch the Gunners ease into the last 16.
Match report: PSV 3-2 Liverpool. Andy Hunter was at Philips Stadion as Liverpool lost their lost their 100% record but ended up top anyway.
Uefa’s official bracket for the play-offs and beyond can be found here. Probably for the best not to get too het up about things until everything’s confirmed at the draw on Friday. Having said that, a gentle stirring of the salivary glands is permitted, given that Manchester City’s reward for survival is a match-up in the play-offs with either Bayern Munich or Real Madrid.
The final league table
Liverpool claim top spot despite their B-team losing 3-2 at PSV tonight. Arsenal and Aston Villa both won, though, securing their places in the last 16. Manchester City survived a scare before eventually beating Club Brugge, and will be an unseeded team in the play-off stage. Celtic also qualify for the play-offs; they’ll be unseeded as well. It was a bad evening for Atalanta and Milan, though, with both teams dropping out of the top eight. Stuttgart, thrashed 4-1 at home by PSG, were the only team to drop out of the top 24.
| Pos | Team | P | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Liverpool | 8 | 12 | 21 |
| 2 | Barcelona | 8 | 15 | 19 |
| 3 | Arsenal | 8 | 13 | 19 |
| 4 | Inter Milan | 8 | 10 | 19 |
| 5 | Atletico Madrid | 8 | 8 | 18 |
| 6 | Bayer Leverkusen | 8 | 8 | 16 |
| 7 | Lille | 8 | 7 | 16 |
| 8 | Aston Villa | 8 | 7 | 16 |
| 9 | Atalanta | 8 | 14 | 15 |
| 10 | Borussia Dortmund | 8 | 10 | 15 |
| 11 | Real Madrid | 8 | 8 | 15 |
| 12 | Bayern Munich | 8 | 8 | 15 |
| 13 | AC Milan | 8 | 3 | 15 |
| 14 | PSV | 8 | 4 | 14 |
| 15 | PSG | 8 | 5 | 13 |
| 16 | Benfica | 8 | 4 | 13 |
| 17 | Monaco | 8 | 0 | 13 |
| 18 | Brest | 8 | -1 | 13 |
| 19 | Feyenoord | 8 | -3 | 13 |
| 20 | Juventus | 8 | 2 | 12 |
| 21 | Celtic | 8 | -1 | 12 |
| 22 | Man City | 8 | 4 | 11 |
| 23 | Sporting | 8 | 1 | 11 |
| 24 | Club Brugge | 8 | -4 | 11 |
| 25 | Dinamo Zagreb | 8 | -7 | 11 |
| 26 | Stuttgart | 8 | -4 | 10 |
| 27 | Shakhtar Donetsk | 8 | -8 | 7 |
| 28 | Bologna | 8 | -5 | 6 |
| 29 | Red Star Belgrade | 8 | -9 | 6 |
| 30 | Sturm Graz | 8 | -9 | 6 |
| 31 | Sparta Prague | 8 | -14 | 4 |
| 32 | RB Leipzig | 8 | -7 | 3 |
| 33 | Girona | 8 | -8 | 3 |
| 34 | Red Bull Salzburg | 8 | -22 | 3 |
| 35 | Slovan Bratislava | 8 | -20 | 0 |
| 36 | Young Boys | 8 | -21 | 0 |
The full-times
Aston Villa 4-2 Celtic
Barcelona 2-2 Atalanta
Bayer Leverkusen 2-0 Sparta Prague
Bayern Munich 3-1 Slovan Bratislava
Borussia Dortmund 3-1 Shakhtar Donetsk
Brest 0-3 Real Madrid
Dinamo Zagreb 2-1 AC Milan
Girona 1-2 Arsenal
Internazionale 3-0 Monaco
Juventus 0-2 Benfica
Lille 6-1 Feyenoord
Manchester City 3-1 Club Brugge
PSV 3-2 Liverpool
Red Bull Salzburg 1-4 Atletico Madrid
Sporting 1-1 Bologna
Sturm Graz 1-0 RB Leipzig
Stuttgart 1-4 Paris Saint-Germain
Young Boys 0-1 Red Star Belgrade
FULL TIME: PSV 3-2 Liverpool
Bang goes Liverpool’s 100-percent record … but it makes no difference to their league standing! They finish top.
FULL TIME: Barcelona 2-2 Atalanta. Liverpool finish the league stage at the top of the tree, while Aston Villa are sure of a place in the last 16!
GOAL! Red Bull Salzburg 1-4 Atletico Madrid (Daghim 90). Adam Daghim lashes home a glorious consolation.
FULL TIME: Aston Villa 4-2 Celtic
As things stand, Villa are through to the last 16.
PSV 3-2 Liverpool. The 18-year-old defender Amara Nallo, on for his Liverpool debut, clumsily clatters into Johan Bakayoko from behind. Last man. He’s off.
GOAL! Aston Villa 4-2 Celtic (Rogers 90+1)
Dane Murray has the ball nicked off his toe by Ollie Watkins, who sits Kasper Schmeichel down before teeing up Morgan Rogers for his hat-trick.
Updated
Girona 1-2 Arsenal. Raheem Sterling jinks into the box from the right. He flips a cross. The ball whacks off Alejandro Francés’s arm. Francés was standing there like a scarecrow, so it’s as clear a penalty as there ever will be. Raheem Sterling to take. But he doesn’t hit it towards the bottom right with any great conviction. Pau López turns it around for a corner. Poor Sterling can’t catch a break right now.
FULL TIME: Manchester City 3-1 Brugge
Pep breathes a sigh of relief. Both clubs will survive.
GOAL! Bayern Munich 3-1 Slovan Bratislava (Tolic 90). Marko Tolic slaloms down the right and lashes home from a tight angle, six yards out. A stylish consolation.
GOAL! Stuttgart 1-4 PSG (Pacho og 77). Belated news of Willian Pacho throwing Stuttgart a scrap of consolation.
GOAL! Brest 0-3 Real Madrid (Rodrygo 78). Rodrygo hooks his second of the evening into the top right, and that “equaliser” seems an awfully long time ago now.
Updated
GOAL! Bayern Munich 3-0 Slovan Bratislava (Coman 84). Kingsley Coman makes sure of the win, but it’s not going to be enough for automatic last-16 qualification.
GOALS! Lille 4-1 Feyenoord (David 74); Lille 5-1 (Trauner og 76); Lille 6-1 (Cabella 80). Feyenoord have fallen to pieces like a cake in the rain. A second own goal for poor Gernot Trauner in there.
Updated
GOAL! Juventus 0-2 Benfica (Kokcu 80). Orkun Kokcu lashes home to surely secure the points for the Portuguese giants.
Updated
GOAL! Barcelona 2-2 Atalanta (Pasalic 79). Mario Pasalic slides in a second equaliser for Atalanta, though it’s not enough to get the Italians back into the top eight. They need a winner as things stand.
GOAL! Borussia Dortmund 3-1 Shakhtar Donetsk (Bensebaini 78). Ramy Bensebaini dances into the box down the inside-left channel. He sits one defender down, then lifts a stunning chip over the keeper – who hadn’t bought the dummy, but couldn’t stop Bensebaini anyway. What a finish!
GOAL! Sporting 1-1 Bologna (Harder 77). Conrad Harder forces a shot into the bottom left from close in, and Sporting are back in the play-off places.
Updated
Girona 1-2 Arsenal. Cristian Portu finds space down the right and crosses low for Cristhian Stuani, who slams home from close range. Wild celebrations! But he’s gone too early, and it won’t count.
GOAL! Manchester City 3-1 Brugge (Savinho 77)
Savinho lashes in from the left-hand corner of the six-yard box, and City are surely through to the knock-out stage now. Lovely diagonal pass from John Stones to find him.
GOAL! Barcelona 2-1 Atalanta (Araujo 72). A corner from the right. Ronald Araujo stoops to meet and head home from close range. Barcelona are back on top of the table, and Atalanta are out of the top eight!
Updated
GOAL! Young Boys 0-1 Red Star Belgrade (Kanga 69). This goal counts for very little, with both teams already out … but what a strike it is! Guelor Kanga meeting a low cross from the left and pearling an unstoppable curler into the left-hand side of the net. What a connection!
Updated
GOAL! Barcelona 1-1 Atalanta. (Ederson 67). From the edge of the box, Ederson threads a shot into the bottom left, and Liverpool are back on top of the table.
GOAL! Inter Milan 3-0 Monaco (Martinez 67). A hat-trick for Lautaro Martinez.
Updated
Aston Villa 3-2 Celtic. Ollie Watkins draws a penalty from Auston Trusty. He takes it himself … and slips, John Terrying it miles high and wide right! Oh dear. He has the good grace to look utterly embarrassed. To add insult to injury, it’s a free kick to Celtic for a double-hit.
Updated
GOAL! Red Bull Salzburg 0-4 Atletico Madrid (Llorente 63). This one was over pretty much from the get-go. Marcos Llorente the latest on the scoresheet.
GOAL! Bayern Munich 2-0 Slovan Bratislava (Kane 63). Another Bundesliga giant doubles their lead. Harry Kane with the goal.
Updated
GOAL! Bayer Leverkusen 2-0 Sparta Prague (Tella 64). Nathan Tella doubles Leverkusen’s lead, and Xabi Alonso’s team look good for the top eight.
GOAL! Dinamo Zagreb 2-1 AC Milan (Pjaca 60). Marko Pjaca twists and turns down the left before entering the box and lashing home. That’s a hell of a way to retake the lead!
GOAL! Aston Villa 3-2 Celtic (Watkins 60)
John McGinn releases Jacob Ramsey down the inside right. Ramsey crosses for Ollie Watkins, who does what a £60m-rated striker does.
Updated
GOAL! Brest 0-2 Real Madrid (Bellingham 56). Good work down the right from Lucas Vázquez to tee up Jude Bellingham, who can’t miss. Brest inches away from equalising, but now look. Irritated boos from the home fans.
Updated
GOAL! Lille 3-1 Feyenoord (Hancko 57 og). Angel Gomes sashays his way into the box from the left. He shoots. A big deflection off David Hancko and Lille are on course for the Round of 16.
GOAL! Manchester City 2-1 Brugge (Ordoñez og 62)
Joško Gvardiol crosses low from the left. With Erling Haaland waiting to tap home, Joel Ordoñez has to try something. He does, but can only turn the ball into his own net. City on course to save themselves!
GOAL! Dinamo Zagreb 1-1 AC Milan (Pulisic 53). Christian Pulisic scored Milan’s first goal of this campaign, against Liverpool, and now spins and whips a shot into the bottom right. Milan into the top eight as things stand.
GOAL! Stuttgart 0-4 PSG (Dembele 54). PSG hit four for a second week in succession! Ousmane Dembele elegantly curls into the top right from the edge of the box. A hat-trick for a talent finally hitting his straps.
Updated
Brest 0-1 Real Madrid. Ludovic Ajorque takes a speculative prod at goal from the edge of the box. A cute poke towards the bottom-right. Thibaut Courtois is taken by surprise, and the ball squirts into the corner. But the flag pops up for offside. Shame, because that was a lovely finish for David versus Goliath.
GOAL! Borussia Dortmund 2-1 Shakhtar Donetsk (Marlon 50). Dortmund keeper Gregor Kobel faffs with the ball at his feet. Marlon closes him down. Kobel attempts to clear, with comedic consequences. Not over yet in Dortmund.
GOAL! Manchester City 1-1 Brugge (Kovacic 53)
Mateo Kovacic straight down the middle. He sweeps into the bottom left, giving Simon Mignolet the eyes and no chance. Daniel Harris with the details.
Updated
GOAL! Barcelona 1-0 Atalanta (Yamal 47). Lamine Yamal went close in the first half. He’s not taken too much time to go one better in the second. Raphinha crosses low from the right. Yamal takes receipt on the edge of the box and rounds Marco Carnesecchi to score. Barca going top of the table!
Updated
The second halves are underway. We go again!
The table: as it stands
Despite losing at PSV, Liverpool are still on course to finish the league stage on top. Barcelona need a win to have any chance of knocking them off, but they’re currently drawing at home with Atalanta. Borussia Dortmund, Bayern Munich and Real Madrid are doing what they can, but as of the moment, their wins won’t take any of them into the top eight. And then there’s Manchester City. Big half-time team-talk coming up for Pep.
| Pos | Team | P | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Liverpool | 8 | 12 | 21 |
| 2 | Barcelona | 8 | 15 | 19 |
| 3 | Arsenal | 8 | 13 | 19 |
| 4 | Inter Milan | 8 | 9 | 19 |
| 5 | Atletico Madrid | 8 | 8 | 18 |
| 6 | Bayer Leverkusen | 8 | 7 | 16 |
| 7 | Lille | 8 | 3 | 16 |
| 8 | Atalanta | 8 | 14 | 15 |
| 9 | Borussia Dortmund | 8 | 10 | 15 |
| 10 | Bayern Munich | 8 | 7 | 15 |
| 11 | Real Madrid | 8 | 6 | 15 |
| 12 | AC Milan | 8 | 3 | 15 |
| 13 | Aston Villa | 8 | 5 | 14 |
| 14 | PSV | 8 | 4 | 14 |
| 15 | Club Brugge | 8 | -1 | 14 |
| 16 | PSG | 8 | 5 | 13 |
| 17 | Benfica | 8 | 3 | 13 |
| 18 | Feyenoord | 8 | 1 | 13 |
| 19 | Monaco | 8 | 1 | 13 |
| 20 | Celtic | 8 | 1 | 13 |
| 21 | Brest | 8 | 1 | 13 |
| 22 | Juventus | 8 | 3 | 12 |
| 23 | Dinamo Zagreb | 8 | -7 | 11 |
| 24 | Sporting | 8 | 0 | 10 |
| 25 | Stuttgart | 8 | -4 | 10 |
| 26 | Man City | 8 | 1 | 8 |
| 27 | Bologna | 8 | -4 | 8 |
| 28 | Shakhtar Donetsk | 8 | -8 | 7 |
| 29 | Sturm Graz | 8 | -9 | 6 |
| 30 | Red Star Belgrade | 8 | -10 | 4 |
| 31 | Sparta Prague | 8 | -13 | 4 |
| 32 | RB Leipzig | 8 | -7 | 3 |
| 33 | Girona | 8 | -8 | 3 |
| 34 | Red Bull Salzburg | 8 | -22 | 3 |
| 35 | Young Boys | 8 | -20 | 1 |
| 36 | Slovan Bratislava | 8 | -19 | 0 |
The half-times
Aston Villa 2-2 Celtic
Barcelona 0-0 Atalanta
Bayer Leverkusen 1-0 Sparta Prague
Bayern Munich 1-0 Slovan Bratislava
Borussia Dortmund 2-0 Shakhtar Donetsk
Brest 0-1 Real Madrid
Dinamo Zagreb 1-0 AC Milan
Girona 1-2 Arsenal
Internazionale 2-0 Monaco
Juventus 0-1 Benfica
Lille 2-1 Feyenoord
Manchester City 0-1 Club Brugge
PSV 3-2 Liverpool
Red Bull Salzburg 0-3 Atletico Madrid
Sporting 0-1 Bologna
Sturm Graz 1-0 RB Leipzig
Stuttgart 0-3 Paris Saint-Germain
Young Boys 0-0 Red Star Belgrade
Dinamo Zagreb 1-0 AC Milan. Belated news of a red card in Zagreb, as Yunus Musah picks up a second yellow for some rugby stylings on the edge of his own box, and Milan are down to ten men.
PSV 3-2 Liverpool. In fact that might be an Andy Robertson own goal. The cross took a nick off him en route to the net, and nothing’s 100 percent clear. Either way, it’s a goal and PSV hit the lead for the first time.
GOAL! PSV 3-2 Liverpool (Pepi 45)
Joey Veerman crosses from the left. Ricardo Pepi slams home from six yards. A check for VAR, but the goal stands, and what a turnaround by the hosts!
Updated
GOAL! Sturm Graz 1-0 RB Leipzig (Malic 42). Nowt riding on this one, with both teams already out. Arjan Malic with the opening goal, for the record.
GOAL! Manchester City 0-1 Brugge (Nwadike 45)
The Etihad rocked back on its collective heel! Daniel Harris tells it how it was.
GOAL! Red Bull Salzburg 0-3 Atletico Madrid (Griezmann 45). Antoine Griezmann guides a diagonal shot into the bottom right, and Atleti are home and hosed before the break.
Updated
GOAL! PSV 2-2 Liverpool (Saibari 45)
It’s all happening in Eindhoven, where Ismael Saibari roofs from the left-hand corner of the six-yard box.
GOAL! Lille 2-1 Feyenoord (Trauner og 38). A scrappy mess by the base of the left-hand post. Gernot Trauner with the own goal.
GOAL! Girona 1-2 Arsenal (Nwaneri 42)
Ethan Nwaneri cuts in from the right, takes a couple of touches on the edge of the penalty box, and sends an unstoppable screamer into the bottom left! He’s 17!
Updated
GOAL! Girona 1-1 Arsenal (Jorginho pen 38)
Jorginho levels from the spot, and then …
Updated
GOAL! PSV 1-2 Liverpool (Elliott 40)
Federico Chiesa was OK to continue, and here he is, pearling a shot from the right-hand edge of the D. It’s saved by Walter Benítez, but only parried into the road of Harvey Elliott, who slams home.
Updated
GOAL! Stuttgart 0-3 PSG (Dembele 35). Fabian Bredlow makes a stunning save on his line to deny Désiré Doué. But it’s all for nought when PSG launch another attack 60 seconds later, Ousmane Dembele putting the finishing touches to it.
GOAL! Aston Villa 2-2 Celtic (Idah 38)
Adam Idah meets a right-wing cross this time, and sweeps into the net. A possible 3-0 lead has suddenly turned into a 2-2 scoreline! Unai Emery utterly stunned.
Updated
GOAL! Aston Villa 2-1 Celtic (Idah 36)
It was so close to 3-0. Now there’s just a goal in it, Adam Idah meeting a deep cross from the left and hooking a crisp close-range shot into the net.
Updated
GOAL! PSV 1-1 Liverpool (Bakayoko 35)
Johan Bakayoko sits both Andy Robertson and Jarell Quansah down with one smooth swivel, then hammers home to level for PSV.
Aston Villa 2-0 Celtic. Ollie Watkins dinks over Kasper Schmeichel but Alistair Johnston arrives to hook off the line.
GOAL! Brest 0-1 Real Madrid (Rodrygo 27). A glorious solo goal by Rodrygo, who drops a shoulder to jink his way into the Brest box from the left, before lashing home. The champions making sure of their play-off spot … and maybe even more?
Updated
GOAL! Bayer Leverkusen 1-0 Sparta Prague (Wirtz 32). Jeremie Frimpong tears down the right and crosses low for Florian Wirtz, who whistles a forensic first-time shot into the bottom left. Lovely goal.
GOAL! Girona 1-0 Arsenal (Danjuma 28)
A simple ball down the middle, and Arnaut Danjuma is sent clear. Neto is on a weird walkabout, so Danjuma, 40 yards out, curls over the keeper’s head and into the unguarded net.
Updated
GOAL! PSV 0-1 Liverpool (Gakpo 28 pen)
Cody Gakpo, playing against his old club, fizzes the penalty nervelessly into the bottom right. No word on Chiesa yet.
Updated
PSV 0-0 Liverpool. Joey Veerman takes a heavy touch in his own box. Federico Chiesa nips in and is clattered for his trouble. Chiesa stays down a while. It’s a penalty, but also a worrying moment for a player who has had more than his fair share of injuries.
GOAL! Stuttgart 0-2 PSG (Dembele 17). Bradley Barcola turns provider this time, making good down the left and crossing for Ousmane Dembele to double PSG’s lead.
Updated
GOAL! Sporting 0-1 Bologna (Pobega 21). Another close-range header. Tommaso Pobega with this one.
GOAL! Juventus 0-1 Benfica (Pavlidis 16). Evangelos Pavlidis opens the scoring in Turin, and the Old Lady’s hopes of a seeded finish in the play-off places are compromised.
GOAL! Dinamo Zagreb 1-0 Milan (Baturina 19). Matteo Gabbia stands on the ball, allowing Martin Baturina to race off and slot. A dreadful error.
GOAL! Inter Milan 2 -0 Monaco (Martinez 16). Lautaro Martinez drives home from the edge of the box, and ten-man Monaco are in a world of pain.
GOAL! Borussia Dortmund 1-0 Shakhtar Donetsk (Guirassy 17). A scrappy mess but they all count. Serhou Guirassy with the opener.
Updated
GOAL! Red Bull Salzburg 0-2 Atletico Madrid (Griezmann 13). Rodrigo De Paul sends Giuliano Simeone clear down the right. Alexander Schlager rushes out of his box rashly. Simeone rounds him and rolls across for Antoine Griezmann, who can’t miss. A goal and now an assist for the manager’s boy!
GOAL! Lille 1-1 Feyenoord (Gimenez 14). A corner in from the right. Gernot Trauner heads down. Santiago Giménez pokes home from close range.
Inter 1-0 Monaco. Marcus Thuram has already won a penalty. Now his bustle down the middle teases Christian Mawissa into showcasing his rugby tackling skills. Off Mawissa goes, and Monaco are in all sorts.
Barcelona 0-0 Atalanta. Lamine Yamal nearly opens the scoring in jaw-dropping style, gliding in from the right and curling a shot towards the top corner. Misses by inches.
GOAL! Lille 1-0 Feyenoord (Sahraoui 4). Osame Sahraoui sends a low forensic shot across Feyenoord keeper Justin Bijlow and into the bottom left.
GOAL! Bayern Munich 1-0 Slovan Bratislava (Muller 8). Another close-range header, this time from the old boy Thomas Muller.
GOAL! Stuttgart 0-1 PSG (Barcola 6). Fresh from giving Manchester City a good hiding, PSG continue on their upward climb. A corner from the right flicked on and headed home by Bradley Barcola from close range.
Updated
GOAL! Red Bull Salzburg 0-1 Atletico Madrid (Simeone 5). The manager’s son Giuliano Simeone opens the scoring for Atleti.
GOAL! Aston Villa 2-0 Celtic (Rogers 5)
It’s two for Villa, and two for Rogers, who lashes a spectacular one into the top right. Oh Brendan. Back to his bad ways in Europe.
Updated
GOAL! Inter 1-0 Monaco (Martinez 3). Denis Zakaria clips Marcus Thuram from behind. Penalty. Lautaro Martínez hammers it home.
Updated
GOAL! Aston Villa 1-0 Celtic (Rogers 3)
Jacob Ramsey tears down the left and crosses low for Morgan Rogers, who can’t miss from six yards. What a start at Villa Park!
Updated
Aston Villa 0-0 Celtic. A great chance for Hyunjun Yang to release Reo Hatate clear through on goal, but he overhits the pass woefully. Villa’s high line getting away with one.
A distinct lack of first-minute goals. Probably shouldn’t moan about this. In lieu of early drama, here’s John Parry: “My prediction is that the most fun will come in the final five minutes, when some team somewhere, relaxing into slowing the game down with a two-goal lead, blows the lot affecting some other teams half a continent away.”
Here we go, then. It’s on. I’m going in. Good luck everyone.
The teams are out! Of the 36 currently doing their stretches, politely listening to corporate anthems, shaking hands, tossing coins and swapping pennants, only 11 are sure of their fate. Liverpool and Barcelona are definitely through to the last 16; Bologna, Sparta Prague, RB Leipzig, Girona, Red Star Belgrade, Sturm Graz, RB Salzburg, Slovan Bratislava and Young Boys already know the jig is up. Everyone else pensive, in their special place. A kind of hush, all over the continent tonight. The calm before the storm. We’ll be off in a couple of minutes.
Updated
Pre-pandemonium postbag. “The nonsense of the new Champions League format spilling into January means that Man City cannot field their expensive new striker to help them get over the line. Meanwhile, while Eintracht Frankfurt are virtually over the line in the Europa League, they must surely be also mildly [word redacted by Family Website editor] at losing their top scorer before the job is fully done” – Ben Chia
“Before you say ‘Liverpool are disrespecting European heritage and the opposition with this outrageous rotation’, I say Slot has earned the right to field what could still be a competitive side” – Michael
“Raheem Sterling then. He’s got a certain fund of goodwill to draw on, but it’s running out a bit quicker than must be comfortable for him; and you sense he feels it, and wants to do something to top up the credit. But what? He’s 30 and never a great runner anyway. He can dribble and move his legs about in mysterious ways, but so could Nicolas Pépé, and see where that got him. He knows he’s there on sufferance. He’s been through a lot, and deserves better. May he score a double hat-trick tonight, before the waters close over him” – Charles Antaki
Man City v Brugge team news
Manchester City: Ederson, Nunes, Stones, Akanji, Gvardiol, Kovacic, Gundogan, De Bruyne, Silva, Foden, Haaland.
Subs: Ortega, Carson, Grealish, Savinho, Wright, Alleyne, O’Reilly, Lewis, McAtee.
Club Brugge: Mignolet, Seys, Ordonez, Mechele, De Cuyper, Onyedika, Jashari, Talbi, Vanaken, Tzolis, Jutgla.
Subs: Romero, Vetlesen, Van de Heuvel, Vermant, Nilsson, Skoras, Nielsen, Jackers, Siquet, Spileers, Sabbe.
Daniel Harris has all the details here ☟☟☟☟☟.
Girona v Arsenal team news
Girona: Lopez, Martinez, Tsygankov, Ruiz, Asprilla, Danjuma, Romeu, Juanpe, Frances, Martin, Yaakobishvili.
Subs: Gazzaniga, Danso, Van de Beek, Stuani, Miovski, Herrera, Solis, Portu, Comas, Clua, Kim, Artero.
Arsenal: Neto, Partey, Kiwior, Gabriel, Calafiori, Jorginho, Merino, Odegaard, Nwaneri, Sterling, Trossard.
Subs: Setford, Porter, Saliba, Tierney, Martinelli, Timber, Zinchenko, Havertz, Butler-Oyedeji, Rice, Lewis-Skelly, Oulad M’Hand.
Arsenal are pretty much certain of a top-eight finish, so Mikel Arteta gives his starting XI a good old shoogle. Neto makes his first start in goal, with David Raya putting his feet up at home. Ethan Nwaneri, Raheem Sterling, Jacob Kiwior and Jorginho all start.
PSV v Liverpool team news
PSV: Benitez, Karsdorp, Boscagli, Obispo, Junior, Bakayoko, Land, Veerman, Saibari, Pepi, Til.
Subs: Drommel, Schiks, de Jong, Driouech, Babadi, Kuhn, Ledezma, Nagalo, Abed.
Liverpool: Kelleher, Bradley, Robertson, Quansah, Tsimikas, McConnell, Endo, Elliott, Chiesa, Danns, Gakpo.
Subs: Jaros, Davies, Nallo, Norris, Morton, Nyoni, Kone-Doherty, Mabaya, Morrison.
Liverpool make wholesale changes with top-two qualification guaranteed and a trip to Bournemouth this weekend uppermost in mind. Jayden Danns makes his first start up front, alongside the lesser-spotted Federico Chiesa. Andy Robertson is getting a run-out in central defence by the looks of it.
Aston Villa v Celtic team news
Aston Villa: Martinez, Cash, Konsa, Bogarde, Digne, Tielemans, Kamara, Bailey, Rogers, Ramsey, Watkins.
Subs: Olsen, Zych, McGinn, Duran, Nedeljkovic, Maatsen, Swinkels, Patterson, Young.
Celtic: Schmeichel, Johnston, Scales, Trusty, Taylor, Engels, McGregor, Hatate, Kuhn, Idah, Yang.
Subs: Sinisalo, Bain, Palma, McCowan, Nawrocki, Bernardo, Montgomery, Murray, Cummings, Ralston.
Ollie Watkins – reportedly the subject of a £60m bid from Arsenal – starts for Villa. Fellow transfer target Jhon Duran is on the bench. Celtic meanwhile fill the gap vacated by the departed Kyogo Furuhashi with Adam Idah.
Jeopardy Corner. Liverpool are guaranteed a top-two finish. Arsenal are almost certainly going to qualify automatically for the Round of 16. Aston Villa and Celtic – who face off in this week’s Battle of Britain – are shoo-ins for the play-offs, and both have a chance of a top-eight finish if things go their way. Manchester City, however, are in a spot of bother, so their must-win game with Brugge gets the full MBM treatment, courtesy of Daniel Harris. Please toggle between us to your heart’s content.
The mega-table, as it stands going into the final matchday. I can categorically state that we will not be updating this every time a goal goes in. We love doing things for you, but there are limits.
| Pos | Team | P | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Liverpool | 7 | 13 | 21 |
| 2 | Barcelona | 7 | 15 | 18 |
| 3 | Arsenal | 7 | 12 | 16 |
| 4 | Inter Milan | 7 | 7 | 16 |
| 5 | Atletico Madrid | 7 | 5 | 15 |
| 6 | AC Milan | 7 | 4 | 15 |
| 7 | Atalanta | 7 | 14 | 14 |
| 8 | Bayer Leverkusen | 7 | 6 | 13 |
| 9 | Aston Villa | 7 | 5 | 13 |
| 10 | Monaco | 7 | 3 | 13 |
| 11 | Feyenoord | 7 | 2 | 13 |
| 12 | Lille | 7 | 2 | 13 |
| 13 | Brest | 7 | 2 | 13 |
| 14 | Borussia Dortmund | 7 | 8 | 12 |
| 15 | Bayern Munich | 7 | 6 | 12 |
| 16 | Real Madrid | 7 | 5 | 12 |
| 17 | Juventus | 7 | 4 | 12 |
| 18 | Celtic | 7 | 1 | 12 |
| 19 | PSV | 7 | 3 | 11 |
| 20 | Club Brugge | 7 | -2 | 11 |
| 21 | Benfica | 7 | 2 | 10 |
| 22 | PSG | 7 | 2 | 10 |
| 23 | Sporting | 7 | 1 | 10 |
| 24 | Stuttgart | 7 | -1 | 10 |
| 25 | Man City | 7 | 2 | 8 |
| 26 | Dinamo Zagreb | 7 | -8 | 8 |
| 27 | Shakhtar Donetsk | 7 | -6 | 7 |
| 28 | Bologna | 7 | -5 | 5 |
| 29 | Sparta Prague | 7 | -12 | 4 |
| 30 | RB Leipzig | 7 | -6 | 3 |
| 31 | Girona | 7 | -7 | 3 |
| 32 | Red Star Belgrade | 7 | -10 | 3 |
| 33 | Sturm Graz | 7 | -10 | 3 |
| 34 | Red Bull Salzburg | 7 | -19 | 3 |
| 35 | Slovan Bratislava | 7 | -18 | 0 |
| 36 | Young Boys | 7 | -20 | 0 |
Preamble
Welcome to chaos. There are 36 clubs playing 18 fixtures to determine which eight qualify automatically for the Round of 16 and which 16 go into the play-off round. Here are those fixtures …
Aston Villa v Celtic
Barcelona v Atalanta
Bayer Leverkusen v Sparta Prague
Bayern Munich v Slovan Bratislava
Borussia Dortmund v Shakhtar Donetsk
Brest v Real Madrid
Dinamo Zagreb v AC Milan
Girona v Arsenal
Internazionale v Monaco
Juventus v Benfica
Lille v Feyenoord
Manchester City v Club Brugge
PSV v Liverpool
Red Bull Salzburg v Atletico Madrid
Sporting v Bologna
Sturm Graz v RB Leipzig
Stuttgart v Paris Saint-Germain
Young Boys v Red Star Belgrade
… and this ☟☟☟☟☟ is what each club needs to do. Kick off is at 8pm GMT. Bedlam ahoy!
