Liverpool, Barcelona, and Manchester City booked last-16 places in the Champions League on Wednesday night, as holders Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) and Real Madrid missed out on the top eight.
Liverpool thrashed Qarabag 6-0 in the eighth and final round of league-phase matches at Anfield to finish third in the 36-team table behind already-qualified Arsenal and Bayern Munich.
They were joined in the last 16 by Tottenham, Barcelona, Chelsea, Sporting Lisbon, and Man City.
But holders PSG will have to go through the knockout play-off round, as they did en route to glory last season, after a 1-1 home draw with Newcastle.
Record 15-time winners Real Madrid also missed out on direct last-16 qualification in a dramatic 4-2 loss at former coach Jose Mourinho’s Benfica, who snatched the final play-off spot thanks to a 98th-minute goal from goalkeeper Anatoliy Trubin.
Man City, Champions League winners in 2023, saw off Galatasaray 2-0 at the Etihad to grab eighth place with goals from Erling Haaland and Rayan Cherki.
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Barcelona, semi-finalists last season, came from behind to beat FC Copenhagen 4-1 at the Camp Nou, finishing fifth in the table.
Tottenham beat already-eliminated Eintracht Frankfurt 2-0 in Germany to take fourth, while Chelsea made it five English teams straight through to the last 16, knocking Serie A title holders Napoli out of the competition with a 3-2 win.
Inter Milan failed to seal a top-eight berth despite a 2-0 success over Borussia Dortmund, as did Juventus after their goalless draw at Monaco.
Atletico, Atalanta, Bayer Leverkusen, Dortmund, Olympiacos, Club Brugge, and Galatasaray are the other sides into the play-off round.
Arsenal made it eight wins from eight to wrap up top spot with a 4-1 victory over Kairat Almaty, while Bayern saw off PSV Eindhoven 2-1 with a winner from Harry Kane, knocking their Dutch opponents out of the competition.
The teams who finished ninth to 24th will learn who they will face in the playoffs in Friday’s draw.
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