Man City avoid exit as Arsenal, Liverpool reach Champions League last 16

Manchester City came from behind against Club Brugge to reach the Champions League knockout phase, where they were safely joined by Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) as Arsenal and Liverpool qualified directly for the last 16 on Wednesday in the final round of league-phase matches.

Inter Milan, Atletico Madrid, Bayer Leverkusen, Lille, and Aston Villa also followed Barcelona in securing top-eight finishes to skip the new play-off round.

On a dramatic night in which only two of the closing 18 games were dead rubbers, City got the win they needed to avoid an embarrassing exit with a nervy 3-1 victory over Club Brugge.

Reigning Premier League champions City will face either holders Real Madrid or Bayern Munich in a blockbuster play-off tie next month.

PSG, who defeated City 4-2 last week, produced an emphatic display in a 4-1 triumph at Stuttgart.

Liverpool, Barcelona win to reach Champions League last 16

Arsenal only needed a point to wrap up a last-16 berth and goals from Jorginho and Ethan Nwaneri gave them a 2-1 victory at Girona.

“Hopefully more belief in that dressing room that we are a good team and can face anyone and still perform and win games,” said Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta.

Inter finished fourth in the standings by seeing off 10-man Monaco 3-0, while Atletico made it five straight Champions League wins with a 4-1 thumping of Salzburg in Austria.

Bayer Leverkusen also completed the job, beating Sparta Prague 2-0, as Lille were the only French side to seal a top-eight slot thanks to a 6-1 thrashing of Feyenoord.

Aston Villa snuck into eighth place in their first appearance in the competition in 42 years, as Morgan Rogers’ hat-trick helped them to a 4-2 win over Celtic.

Atalanta, Borussia Dortmund, Real Madrid, Bayern, and AC Milan all ended one point off the top eight.

The other teams in Friday’s play-off draw are PSV Eindhoven, Benfica, Monaco, Brest, Feyenoord, Juventus, Celtic, Sporting Lisbon, and Club Brugge.

The Star