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.
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